Coley Wallace Floored Rocky Twice!

Marciano lost in a prelim of a regional championship, what are you talking about?

 

Ted Lowry a 160 to 170 pound club fighter rocked Marciano in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round and could of knocked him out when ever he choose. Lowry beat Marciano and got robbed. Yet Marciano could beat 220 plus fighters like Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe because of reasons.

 

What I’m talking about is the Marciano v Wallace fight was for the NATIONAL title. In order to make to that final Rocky only had to win 4 or 5 bouts. In a huge country with hundreds of boxers how can this be possible?????

 

It was not for a national title.

 

Rocky was 8-4 as an amateur, with a career spanning maybe 1-2 years. It does not mean much. He wasn't stopped only DQ'd once. Newbies in boxing are seldom good with balance. They can be on their toes when they should be flat footed and vice versa, sometimes crossing their legs as they move.

Joe Louis was down several times, I think 5 in his first amateur match,

Joe Frazier was down twice and in trouble in a high stakes amateur match in New Jersey,

 

So he battered him enough to nearly knock him out and had the skill and audacity to ensure none of those shots were the final nail in the coffin.

 

Lowry could have won but didn't want to upset the script by beating the local prospect.
He might have found it hard to get fights if he went around doing that.

 

This bout piqued my interest, especially with all the conflicting info. So I did some research and this is what I came up with.

-This was the Eastern GG championships. Also known as the Eastern Seaboard championships. GG champs from various areas on the east coast meeting for this title.
-Marciano was one of the 8 man contingent of New England GG champs
-He was fighting under his real name of Rocco Markegiano (with a 'K' not with a 'C' like we're used to seeing)
-The date was March 1, 1948
-It was referred to as the first round of the tournament and Wallace won a split decision. Referee Barney Smith and a judge named Delaney voted for Wallace while judge Rudy Keppler voted for Rocky. In the report it did not sound like officials cards would have been read. But further stated that there was a demand to know how this was scored, which is how it became public how the officials voted.
-The place went up for grabs apparently for 15 minutes with the crowd firmly behind Rocky.
-No knockdowns were reported in a very comprehensive report that described Wallace as the worse for wear.
-Rocky stated afterwards that aside from his time in the army, he has been fighting for 3 months.
-Two nights later Wallace fought the semi-finals and the Finals on the same night. Beating Terry Teague in the Semis and Bob Baker in the Finals (the same Bob Baker who went on to become a top contender and beat Wallace twice as a pro).
-The winners of this tournament were to go on to engage winners of the Chicago tournament at a later date and officials were so impressed with Rocky's showing that they were suggesting him as the alternate heavyweight from the Eastern tournament. Rocky replied when he heard this, "Why can't I go as the #1 heavyweight? I think I could lick Wallace again."

 

So Lowry had it that easy he took his frustrations out on Marciano by showing to the crowd that he could knock out Marciano any time he wanted, sounds very fishy to me.

 

Have you read all ringside reports or just a select few? I ain't saying they're lying if that's what they believe but I'd want to check a good few sources before accepting it as fact.