Did Marciano train down to the 180s?

Good Lord, Peter Marciano and Lou Duva? Really?

Not exactly what I would call the most reliable sources.

And again, I posted two contemporary accounts of his regimen, reported by sources who were being favorable to him. Was not the stuff of monklike dedication. The thing he seemed most dedicated to was putting space between he and Barbara.

 

The underlined is simply the logical truth. It’s how history was recorded. Nobody should really be trying to dispute anything that is written here.

 

And a good number of contemprorary accounts in this thread: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/contemporary-evaluations-of-rocky-marciano.647401/page-8

One says he did 10 miles a day for three weeks, the other 15 are 2-7 miles a day, most 5-6 miles. The discreprancy might be that the odd one out is wrong, that he had different phases or, most likely imo, that the 10 miles also include the walks that are mentioned in the others.

A few quotes on what he did every day:

Jack Cuddy, "Trainer Denies Rocky Overtrained; Claims Champ is a Superman," News-Herald, June 7, 1954:
“It’s a pleasure to train Rocky because he gets a pleasure out of training. Six miles on the road every morning. From four to six rounds of sparring in the afternoon. And more than an hour of gymnasium exercises after the sparring.”

Harold Kaese, “In a Game That’s Noted for Its Punks, Phoneys, Rocky Stands for Class, Boston Globe, Sept. 20, 1952:
"Each day for a month, Marciano has got up at 7 a.m. He then has a cup of tea (sugar and lemon) and usually runs between three and five miles."

Jimmy Breslin, "Rocky Still Has Faults, But Hurts You With Every Punch," Marshfield News Herald, June 14, 1954:
“His daily routine calls for five miles and he follows it, jogging along the hilly roads which surround this huge resort. Every 15 minutes or so, Rocky will cut down his stride and begin firing punches into the morning air, snorting, and growling.”

"The Lineup by Joe Custer," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Sept. 14, 1955:
“Marciano: A Champion’s Training Schedule
…
WORKOUTS—Roadwork in morning, 5-6 miles…gymnasium in the afternoon—heavy and light bag-punching, sparring, calisthenics, rope-skipping, shadow-boxing."


And there seemed to have tapering towards the end of camp:

"Rocky Starts Tapering Off," Boston Globe, September 15, 1952:
"Goldman explained that the challenger’s road work also would be cut down to three miles every other morning, instead of his previous four miles each morning.”

 

And as can bee seen, he of course did calisthenics.

 

So that's 15 different contemprorary accounts that he did the kind of training that you would expect of a full time pro in camp at that time. And had the diet you would expect as well.

So he was like the large majority of champions. Trained well and dropped about 10% of his body weight in camp.

There is nothing here. He was around 185 lbs in the ring because that was his best weight with typical training and diet for the time. Simple as ****ing that.

 

At this point we run into a reality check. Sure, Marciano trained with a lot of focus but his regimen was not some crazy exhaustive superhuman endeavor. And this should come as an assumed to anyone who has ever been a competitive athlete. The body needs rest. It just breaks down with too much stress. You will notice how much napping and downtime Rocky employed in his regimen. Some people can take more training than others without going stale but, in my experience, it's not a real broad spectrum at the elite level.

This leaves us with one conclusion. Even if we can say his competition was largely older and somewhat underwhelming head to head against other eras, we have to accept that Marciano was naturally a VERY TALENTED fighter. Maybe not the best balance, the quickest snap to all his punches, but his instincts, gameness, stamina, strength, power, flexibility (watch the torture he does on his back) were extraordinary. He was a fighter to the core. And again I will note that fighters are fighters first and athletes second. Like any fighter, he had his vulnerabilities, and perhaps the narrow spectrum of opponents he faced did not expose these, but in the end, we must say it was more innate talent than some sort of Paul Bunyan work ethic.

 

One hour running and 1,5 hour work in the gym, plus walks two times a day, is a good regimen and will be taxing enough if it's done intensensly, which it likely was. It actually says in one of the quotes that he would walk most of the flat stretches of his route and run the uphill ones, so a kind of interval training. That would explain it taking an hour, but still being intense. Just a few sprints uphill will kill you.

The walks are smart too. Good way to burn of some calories without fatiguing yourself further.

A good regimen that looks quite similar to the ones we've seen from Ali and Louis for example. As does the diet.

 

He over an hour to run 6 miles. I'm 53 years old, same weight as Rocky and do that at least 10 minutes faster. So, his runs were not intense.

I'm sure his regimen worked perfectly for him. He knew his body. But the stuff was there before he ever stepped into a gym. He was a natural.

 

If he ran the uphill parts at a high pace and walked the flat ones, which it seems he did, it might very well have been intense even taking an hour. There are also some other reports of him taking a break to shadow box or throw stones, which also would make it take longer.

But just running 6 miles over an hour is not very taxing for someone at that level, no.

 

Funny is that guys are trying their best to prove that Rocky's training was average but he trained more than any HW in history.

And they're trying to make any source and quote not from his close people not valid , just because they don't like to hear that he trained down 185 and that his regime was the hardest.

Plus is funny, that smaller man can be fit at 200 but somehow he doesn't, just because they don't like him.

 

See we find ourselves agreeing time to time. I think running 10 miles plus a day would be horrific on the body. Even for the best of athletes the body needs rest. The training regimen u posted seems fine to me and exhaustive enough. Remember he was running in the mountains not some flat track, the time seems fine to not kill ur self. I do think he trained harder then most but it was prob similar to most obsessed heavy weights bent on winning the crown.

 

Agreed.

My point was that you can't have it both ways. Either he was an undertalented overachiever whose incredible work ethic allowed him to succeed. Or he was a diligent pro who put in the normal pro-level work in preparation but was incredibly talented. I love making fun of the guy (because his cult adherents are hilarious) but he was really talented despite what I see as underwhelming opposition.

 

He actually retired for a number of reasons, but yes, the back problem and arthritis made it more difficult to do the legendary training, and that is the point.

 

Actually his whole family talked about it.

And who are you to doubt them? I'm not going to believe Lou Duva, but I will believe you? C'mon, pal.

 

They aren't just trying,they are providing concrete unbiased PROOF of his regimen .In contrast you, and the other Rockista's are providing NOTHING.