Rocky Marciano vs Ezzard Charles II Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns Is there something in the Brockton water? Maybe some killer bug? Does blood amount to something regarding that bug?
I grew up in Boston, MA which is not far from Brockton. Brockton in the 1970s was a different place from Brockton in the 40s and 50s. Macro-economic changes saw the flight of industry from what was a working class area. Marciano's dad worked in a shoe factory -thousands of men worked at places like this around Brockton, which was, if I remember, the shoe making capital of the world. Rocco was working class tough. He was also old-school Italian proud -raised strictly with a lot of love and discipline and most of all... character. Marvin moved to Brockton after the industries had left or were leaving. It was a depressed city. For Marvin, it was a step up from Newark, NJ and the riots that they were fleeing. I'd say that Rocco's iron will was rooted in ethnic and familial pride, while Marvin's was rooted in ghetto rage. Brockton still breeds fighters and has about 3 active gyms for a relatively small city. Not many approach those two, so you have a big problem of false positives here.
