Complete Analysis (Record) of The Brocton Blockbuster

[HomicideHenry]

The Brockton Blockbuster


-With only 12 amateur fights under his belt, Marciano was actually opted to go into the Olympic Trials, but failed to make the cut due to a broken hand. This shows that even at his crudest, Marciano was such a power house that he could beat much more experienced and skilled fighters.

-As an amateur Marciano held the AAU Heavyweight championship. He also lost a highly controversial decision in the Golden Gloves All-East Championship tournament to Coley Wallace, a fighter who was 17-0 with 17 kayos, who was already being touted as being the next big star in professional boxing, though history shows he had a less than stellar professional career.

-Total amateur record: 8 wins, 4 losses, 7 via kayo. 1 loss by DQ, 1 by controversial decision, the rest was legit losses, though on both those occasions Rocky had a broken hand, so was fighting one armed.

-Began his professional boxing career during his amateur days, as he fought under the name Rocky Mack, a 3rd round kayo over another novice. He then went back into the amateur ranks, though after failing to make the Olympic trials he went straight back into the professional ranks.

-Scored 16 straight kayos in his first 16 bouts. In just three years he was already facing off with the likes of Roland LaStarza, Carmine Vingo, Phil Muscato, and Ted Lowry. After the LaStarza fight it was a meteoric rise to the number one contender slot, as he scored 10 kayos in his next 12 fights, the victims included Joe Louis (the number one contender), Rex Layne, and Freddie Beshore.

-After his 8th round kayo over Louis, he scored four kayos in a row before facing against champion Jersey Joe Walcott, whom he knocked out in 13 rounds, in what was called the greatest Heavyweight title fight of all time, as well as the greatest knock out of all time.

-Marciano made 6 title defenses, two against Ezzard Charles, another against Jersey Joe Walcott, and against British champion Don Cockell, a rematch with his old nemesis Roland LaStarza and Light Heavyweight champion Archie Moore. In an odd way, most fighters generally start losing their kayo powers after rising in the ranks, let alone winning a title, but Marciano was the opposite as his kayo rate picked up, despite facing the best fighters of the era.

-Retires in 1955, names Tommy Jackson, Archie Moore and Floyd Patterson as the three leading contenders for his vacated Heavyweight championship.

-Rumors circulated of a Marciano-Patterson match up. Though never happening, Marciano once commented ‘If I said I could beat Patterson, you would think I was bragging. If I said I would lose, then I would be lying.’

-Marciano signs a contract that if Ingemar Johansson could defeat Patterson in their rubber match, that he would come out of retirement to fight the former champion ‘Ingo’. Johansson failed to do so, the match was scrapped; other rumors were said that the fight didn’t occur not because of the decision of the 3rd Ingo-Patterson match, but by Marciano’s family asking him to not pursue the fight.

-Rumors are spread that Marciano and champion Sonny Liston exchanged words at Liston’s training camp. The lore goes that a reporter asked Liston if he thought he hit harder than Marciano ever did in his prime, to which Liston said ‘Yes’. Marciano over heard and told Liston that if he felt so sure of himself, that the two of them could settle the question once and for all in the gym. Liston reportedly declined.

-In 1967 Marciano is one of 16 fighters selected to be in a ‘fantasy’ tournament, the results of each fight to be determined by an NCR-315 computer that used 129 different variables. Marciano ‘won’ over Gene Tunney, Max Baer, James J. Jefferies to put him into the finals against Jack Dempsey who ‘defeated’ the likes of John L. Sullivan, Joe Louis and Gentleman Jim Corbett. Marciano ‘wins’ the title of ‘All-Time Heavyweight Champion’ over Jack Dempsey via 15th round kayo.

-Marciano also is awarded a championship belt that was encrusted with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and gold that had an estimated worth of $10,000 dollars.

-Muhammad Ali sues the producer of the ‘All-Time Heavyweight Championship Tournament’ Murray Woroner for $1,000,000 by claim of defamation, because he faired poorly in the tournament, ‘winning’ a 15 round decision over Max Schmeling and then ‘losing’ a 15 round decision to James J. Jefferies.

-Woroner ‘settles’ the lawsuit by convincing Ali and the ‘All-Time Heavyweight’ championship winner Marciano to have their own ‘match’, to be filmed, so Woroner could cash in on the closed circuit market. He offered both Marciano and Ali $10,000 to do the film project. Both men agreed to do so, as Ali needed the funds and Marciano felt he needed to ‘prove’ himself.

-Marciano begins training, as he is at an all time high of 240+ pounds. He must get himself into shape for the film, else the whole project would end in shambles. The result of his training was a weight loss of almost 60 pounds. Marciano felt that he had to train harder for this film project than ever before, that if the punches (head shots were to be pulled, body shots were open season) became real, he had to feel he was in shape to not just show up Ali, but to win.

-To show how much in shape the ‘Rock’ was, his waist line was actually trimmer than the much younger Muhammad Ali. As far as other height and weight disparities, Ali was 4” taller and around 15 pounds heavier with an 80” reach, compared to Marciano being 5’11’’ and around 195 pounds with a 68” reach. Not to mention the age gap, but Marciano was 46 years old and Ali was 27.

-Inside the secluded Miami Beach gym for a period of a week the two men filmed over 75 one minute rounds, as well as filming 7 various endings, virtually the only part of the ‘film’ that was scripted. According to Murray Woroner, Angelo Dundee and Ferdie Pacheco, among other witnesses at the scene, Ali asked Woroner for an additional $2,000 because of Marciano beating his arms and body too bad. He was given more money.

-The wig incident is possibly one of the most obscure, if not fascinating, incidents in boxing history. According to Ferdie Pacheco, Ali had knocked off Marciano’s wig, to which Marciano told him to not do it ever again. Ali seemed to ignore Marciano’s words as he managed to knocked the wig off again. Marciano warned Ali, ‘Don’t you do that again!’ A few minutes later Ali sent the wig flying, and with no hesitation Marciano fired a viscous body shot to Ali’s body. Ali literally doubled over and fell to the floor. Dundee, Pacheco, and Woroner all jumped into the ring and separated the two men so that there would be no further damage. Marciano called out Ali and said that if he was game, the two men could fight for real then and there. Ali apologized, and his attitude seemed to be different after the incident.

-The film, as were all information on the two men were supposedly fed into the NCR-315 computer. Since 1967 Woroner, Hank Kaplan and other boxing historians and computer experts had been working on this particular project, weighing the various strengths and weaknesses of both men. This was three years in the making. When the computer had finally ‘picked’ the winner it felt would have won, the results were kept secret, even from Ali and Marciano.

-Rocky Marciano dies en route to a private banquet in a plane crash on 8-31-1969. It was just a few days before his 47th birthday.

-January 20th, 1970 the ‘SUPER FIGHT OF THE CENTURY’ was released in over 1,500 theatres around the world. Many reacted as if the film they were seeing was for real, as Ali was piling up the points and managed to cut Marciano around his nose and eyes. Marciano rallied back in the 10th to drop Ali to the canvas, and in the 12th as well. The fight seemed to be over as the referee checked over Marciano’s cuts, but waved both fighters to continue on. In the 13th, it happened. Just as he did against Jersey Joe Walcott, Marciano knocked out Muhammad Ali. Marciano remained the ‘All-Time Heavyweight’ champion.

-Ali appears on the Dick Cavet Show and calls the fight a fake, that the computer and operators were racist so it wouldn’t do him any justice, that all the rumors surrounding the filming of the fight was false, and to put the cherry on the cake, that Murray Woroner, the producer was also a racist.

-Murray Woroner sues Muhammad Ali for defamation. Thus concluding the ‘Super Fight’ and all things involved.

-Ranked #3 by RING MAGAZINE as one of the greatest punchers of all time, right behind Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis.

-Ranked #3 by BoxRec on the All-Time Heavyweight rankings, behind Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis

-Ranked #10 by Nat Fliescher on his ‘Greatest Heavyweight Champions’ list

-Joe Frazier ranks Rocky Marciano right behind Joe Louis as the greatest Heavyweight champion of all time.

-George Foreman also ranks Rocky Marciano behind Joe Louis as the greatest Heavyweight champion of all time, and he also ranks Marciano #2 on the ‘greatest punchers’ list, also behind Joe Louis.

-Boxing Illustrated 1990 shows that the ‘Brown Bomber’ Joe Louis was once quoted as saying that he never felt that he could have ever beaten Rocky Marciano, irregardless if it was in his prime or not. Ironically Joe Louis was implying this same message during the NCR-315 tournament held in 1967, as he was asked if he felt he could have beaten Marciano in his prime, to which he said ‘He beat me before…’ and the ‘experts’ laughed off at what Joe said saying ‘You was over the hill then Joe,’ to which Louis tried to plead his case. He often would say during the entire tournament whenever Marciano was brought up ‘This man has what it takes to beat anyone in the world.’

-Marciano holds the highest overall kayo percentage of any Heavyweight champion at 88%. It was also reported in 1963 in Boxing Illustrated (December issue) that the U.S. Testing company measured the power of Marciano’s punches, stating that ‘Marciano’s knock out blow packs more explosive energy than an armor piercing bullet and presents as much energy as would be required to spot lift 1,000 pounds one foot off the ground.’

-Ranked #6 by Bert Randolph Sugar on his ‘All-Time Heavyweight Champions’ list

-Muhammad Ali was once quoted as saying at a viewing of Chuvalo-Patterson, that was voted as the ‘Fight of the Year’, with Marciano present, ‘Rocky Marciano could beat both Floyd Patterson and George Chuvalo all in the same night!’ arguably the closest statement he ever said that another Heavyweight could have beaten everyone in the world, placing Marciano in the same class as himself.

-Jake LaMotta ranked Marciano right behind Joe Louis as the ‘Greatest’ champion of all time

-Marvelous Marvin Hagler said that the greatest fighter of his time was unquestionably Muhammad Ali, but that he felt both Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano were the two greatest Heavyweight champions in history.

-Carmen Basilio once said that ‘He (Marciano) would look like a midget against these guys today, but he would have knocked them all out.’