Rocky Marciano v Carmine Vingo

Burt Bienstock is definitely the go-to guy here at ESB Classic to elaborate on Marciano-Vingo:

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7771768&postcount=10

 

Vingo almost put Marciano in candyland

 

Hya M, this little but clear clip of the Marciano/Vingo bout brings tears in my eyes as my dad and i sat right above the ring for that near fatal bout...
After the violent ko where the terribly battered Vingo lay on his back with a foot twitching , there was a hush in the crowd silently praying that Vingo would survive...Dr Vincent Nardiello entered the ring along with a stretcher that took Carmine Vingo across the street to Polyclinic Hospital where he was put in intensive care for a long spell...Survive Carmine did, and eventually left the hospital with the use of crutches...After that bout I knew that Marciano from out of town [Brockton] was the real deal...What a night I can never forget...

 

Thanks for your appearance here, Burt. Rocky always said that Vingo was his toughest fight. We've only seen these brief clips of that war, while you saw the whole thing. Naturally, I'm curious. Was Marciano-Vingo indeed the toughest fight of the Rock's you ever saw in person or viewed footage of, or was Marciano being kind to a gallant warrior? Accounts suggest Marciano-Vingo may indeed have been more of a war for a less experienced Rocky than his title winning effort over Jersey Joe (who we do have extensive footage of really punching the **** out of Marciano at times, especially at the beginning).

 

D, what could a gracious victor say other than "Vingo was my toughest fight" ? . I recall that after the first round when Carmine hit the much smaller Marciano with a right-hand uppercut that seemed to lift Rocky off the canvas, and after the second round, Marciano was in the driver's seat and was giving the BRAVE Carmine a beating ...It was tough for Rocky
because Vingo was hit with everything by Marciano, but wouldn't quit the fight until that fateful sixth round...I believe Marciano had tougher fights with Walcott #1 and Ezzard Charles as they were in the fight until the thirteenth and fifteenth rounds...We will never know how far Carmine Vingo
would have progressed if Carmine hadn't been matched with Marciano ?
Carmine was a hell of a heavyweight prospect...Cheers...

 

Many thanks Burt! This assessment could only have come from an eyewitness report.

 

Good to see you back Burt. Always enjoy your posts. What a nightmare Marciano must've been for many of his opponents. He just kept coming throwing bombs and never seemed to get tired. Discouraging to say the least. A true warrior. It must've been something to actually see him live. Okay I'll admit it...Im jealous.

 

thanks burt, as always a pleasure. the rocky marciano movie covered this pretty well. i've wanted to know more about vingo for some time; from the little i've seen it looks like he coulda been something

 

Some time after seeing the Marciano ko of Carmine Vingo in 1949, I and a couple of young pals traveled to the Grossinger's airport in Sullivan County, NY.,to see the young Brockton Blockbuster train. I remember arriving at the training camp at the hanger at Grossinger's, Al Weil ,Rocky's manager collected one buck apiece for entry in the hanger.
We sat in the first row by the ring, and watched Marciano from about 3 feet away.
To see and HEAR Marciano's thudding punches directed at his sparmates was a revelation
to me because of the power coming from Rocky's 185 pound body...Thud, thud, thud
coming from Rocky's launching pad, his massive thighs...Sitting there a few feet away
sure discouraged me from starting any ring career. Yessir...

 

Was Vingo really 6'4" and 190 pounds? He looks pretty burly here.

 

Maybe they exaggerated his height.
I agree, he doesn't look quite slender enough to be 190 at 6'4

 

My uncles were big on Carmine Vingo, even though he was still green and did not yet develop the finishing skills or the defensive skills they felt he was a great raw product and said he had excellent power. At this stage of their career it was a good fight but I wonder had Vingo not been matched with Marciano at this point how he would have developed. Marciano was also green and even though Vingo had power it did not match the freakish power that Marciano was born with and developed under Charlie Goldman...unfortunately for Vingo he faced one of the greatest LB 4 LB punchers ever to fight.

 

As you may have noted, I am not one especially taken by nostalgia... However, the more I study the history of the sport and watch and rewatch film, Marciano truly does seem to be one of those very select "special" fighters... along the lines of a Gans, Langford, Louis, Leonard... He really needs to be looked in the P4P sense to appreciate how great he was.

 

Incredibly, Bingo Vingo is still with us at 82. Ironically, the boxer who came closest to being killed by Rocky's fists is very possibly the last survivor among Marciano's professional opponents, yet the only one who had no recollection of fighting Rocky. (Can anybody confirm any other living punch for pay opponent who squared off with Marciano?)