Marciano v Cokkell In Color D Brown The Plusses & The Negatives

Cockell has good footwork. Rocky is closing him down and looking to make an impression with single blows before he can step up the workrate. In the first four rounds especially Don boxed very well. Cockell was able to box and beat Rocky to the punch within a distance Rocky usually had the advantage. It prevents Rocky from stringing more than two punches together. By the time Rocky is responding Don completes the exchange then steps off forcing Rocky to readjust. They bump together often and Don dosnt give ground. Which is probably something else Rocky isn’t used to. Don can turn him. Usually Rocky has landed on the way in, he bumps into the guy, who gives ground and Rocky gets the next punch off. Here Don lands first, rocky falls inside and he is turned. I think it was Cus DaMato who said this was always the right way to fight Rocky. Until this point Don replied every butt and every elbow with intentional ones of his own. It was even.

From round Five Rocky was able to trap Don and land overhand rights from outside and double up as he came in behind them for the first time. He was beginning to stun Don for the first time. And let his hands go with less reply from Cokkell. Body attacking and mauling began to favour Rocky. A gradual breaking down process had begun once Rocky was landing leads. Don isn’t keeping up and is beginning to be overwhelmed as Rockys work increases.

From round 7 Don Is groggy. He’s doing enough to stay in the fight but he has been reduced. Rocky steps it up in round 8. And Don is beaten senseless. It’s one of those occasions where a heavy hitter has probably already punched the guy out but his body hasn’t quite short circuited properly. It happened sometimes with Foreman too. And this is why a referee or a corner needs to save a fighter from himself.

 

I can never watch this without wincing at Don's pitiable courage. He was finished after this and no wonder.

 

Positive: Marciano had good D in close. DC threw a couple of nice flurries in the trenches, but wasn't really able to tag Marciano with anything clean.

Negative: Didn't really try to jab his way consistently. Got clipped on the way in a couple of times as a result.

 

Don put the “nut” on Rocky whenever Rocky did it to him and he put the elbow across Rockys throat right after Rocky left his own elbow out too long and “fell in” with it. In the first 4 rounds Rocky got away with nothing because Don did it right back to him. Each and every time. The ref never cautioned either fighter because it was expertly done by both men.

Only when Don was beyond help and should have been saved by either the corner or the referee did Rocky begin to get away with his roughhouse tactics without response. By then they had no baring on the fight because Don was that far “gone” anyway.

Don’t make it sound like it was Rockys dirty work that won him the fight. That would not be honest.

as you know foot positioning is not always hindered by a smaller ring. If one guy gets off first, turns the other guy when he falls in then takes one step away in either direction, he won’t need an extra four feet to do it.

 

On the plus side, he got the job done I suppose, it was a ko stoppage and that's the way a hard hitting heavy should end a fight.
But on the other hand, it seemed to take a lot of effort to get him out of there. OK, Don had heart and soaked up his shots like a sponge but, in all honesty, Don against a guy like Tyson, Lewis, Frazier, Dempsey or Tua, would have probably been out a lot earlier. I know it's easy to say, and I've respect for Rock, but at that point in his career, an heavyweight champ should have got the job done against a Don C a little easier and faster.

 

In Marciano’s worst performance in his second to last fight I’d say he looked frustrated and not fully prepared for a championship fight. He fouled far to often but he got the job done eventually never looking like he was in trouble

 

https://www.si.com/vault/1955/05/30...ing-battle-it-almost-restarted-the-revolution

Interesting article from after the fight by Bud Schulberg in Sports Illustrated. Schulberg wrote On the Waterfront, The Harder they fall, A star is born, and was voted into the Boxing HOF.

 

Well once could be an accident lol several times you’re being dirty