On this day in 1955, Rocky Marciano had his last fight.

When Patterson did knock out Archie, Moore was at an obviously out of shape (inexplicably so) 188 pounds, and Sports Illustrated was scathing of the Mongoose's conditioning for this one. Obviously, this never happened to Rocky after his humiliating amateur debut before his hometown supporters against Ted Lester. (It's been decades since I read Biography of a First Son, but if memory serves, Marciano capitulated by kneeing Lester in the balls, and the crowd groaned, as if Jack "The All-American Boy" Armstrong had kicked the villain in the nuts. But it turned Rocky, who up till then had immense physical strength and a right hand punch, into a conditioning fanatic.)

Valdes? We do have that brief visual of home movie color film showing Rocky repeatedly hitting the 6'4" Carmine Vingo with those overhand rights, although the right uppercut knockout itself does not seem to have been preserved. We do have ample footage of the 6'3" Nino, including Machen's eighth round knockout from a single right hand to the body in July 1956. Between Machen 2X and Folley, 1956 was not a good year for Valdes. We don't have footage of Marciano with the 6'4" Johnny Shkor, but he could certainly manage big guys with his low center of gravity, especially after mastering the left hook in time to surprise an extremely impressed Louis.

I think 6'2" Bob Baker might've been the guy in early 1956 for Rocky to get number 50 against, and he was being discussed.

 

The guy who I think may have been able to spoil things for Rocky had he ventured one would have been if they had chosen Willie Pastrano in that time frame.

It’s possible Willie is just too small or unable to keep Marciano off him, but if Rocky’s lost half a step he may always be just a bit behind Pastrano’s footwork and Willie might dance his way to a decision win (with the possibility of cutting Marciano also in play).

Not saying I’d favor him, but style-wise at this point in Rocky’s road Willie may have been poison for him.

 

This is an opinion I've posted extensively before, and it would've been a very different style for Marciano to deal with. Additionally, nobody ever decked Pastrano with a head shot, and he got up from the body shot Chegui decked him with in his final bout to try battling on for a couple more rounds.

Willie was the most consistent top ten heavyweight contender at that time. He was on an undefeated streak from 1954 to 1956, going the ten round limit around 20 times. No fireworks from Pastrano, but the potential to promote a competitive challenge was there.

 

If Willie had fought and upset Marciano, it would have been a great watch for fans of technical boxing like me and a stinker for most of the audience of that time. I could see Willie literally boxing circles around him … and could also see Rocky landing a big punch somewhere along the way and leaving Pastrano looking up at the lights.

I think Marciano’s people were smart enough to steer him away from a guy who would present so many stylistic problems for him, especially if it was a ‘farewell’ fight to go out 50-0. They’d have found a soft-chinned slugger who would stand toe to toe for a couple rounds before a grand exit.

 

Yeah, I think this is why Bob Baker may have been the guy. He was previously filmed getting knocked out in one by Satterfield in what was nonetheless a scorcher for the two and a half minutes it lasted. He'd also been knocked out by Clarence Henry and Moore, but then would never be stopped again. Marciano could have been the fourth and final fighter to knock Baker out.

 

Great pick, my mind exclusively went to Patterson, Valdes, Johnson and Maxim.

 

He was an embarrassing defeat in the making once he matriculated beyond the Providence NE ham and egg circuit. A smart guy, he realized there were levels to this game, he had found his, and there were several above. God forbid he hang around long enough to meet Liston, but I think Patterson could have taken care of him just as well.

 

Patterson’s camp would disagree whole heartedly. So much so they kept him from the HW division till Rocky retired