Is there anyone still alive who once fought Rocky Marciano?

[Caractacus]

I remember there was a thread either here or at the cyberboxing zone were someone asked that question.
Either any of his professional fights,amateur fights or had even sparred with him when he was still a professional boxer before he retired in 1955?

[HomicideHenry]

I believe, that Carmine Vingo, for sure, is still alive

[Caractacus]

I believe someone at the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame had mentioned(several years ago anyway),that
Joe Dominic was still alive(and working)somewhere in New Jersey.
If so he's got to be at least as old as Carmine Vingo(age 85).

Even if there are some other fighters still alive who had fought Marciano,
they may have not been in any shape to be interviewed at this stage anyway ,for any book about him thats been published .

[beaujack]

I believe, that Carmine Vingo, for sure, is still alive

I saw ringside in 1949 when Marciano gave a terrible beating to Carmine Vingo in t
MSG, sending Vingo to the hospital unconscious for month. Vingo recovered somewhat and with the help of a cane lived a long life in Florida I believe...I do not know if brave Carmine Vingo is still alive
at this time...

[doug.ie]

I believe, that Carmine Vingo, for sure, is still alive

I saw ringside in 1949 when Marciano gave a terrible beating to Carmine Vingo in t
MSG, sending Vingo to the hospital unconscious for month. Vingo recovered somewhat and with the help of a cane lived a long life in Florida I believe...I do not know if brave Carmine Vingo is still alive
at this time...

a friend of mine was there too.

i like to post this video of him speaking about it whenever i get a chance..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wSvphrwRE

[doug.ie]

i know its off topic this, but here is one who died in 2007, not that long ago....

...................

The story of Harry Haft who was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp in WW2, surviving by winning bare-knuckle fights in which the loser died during the fight or was executed. Eventually he escaped the camp and his life brought him to professional boxing and to a fight with Rocky Marciano.
..................
"Harry Haft was born in Poland in 1925. “It was anything but good fortune to be born a Jew in Poland in 1925,” wrote his son. “Harry would think back on his birth as his first act of survival in an increasingly miserable time.”
One of eight children, Haft was sturdy and strong from the day he was born. His mother, who was so heavy she did not even know she was pregnant with him, was working over a basin when he dropped from her body, landing headfirst on the floor.
His father died when he was three years old, and from the time he was a youngster, the wide-shouldered and extremely muscular fatherless Haft had a fiery temper, which was displayed mostly against anti-Semitic youths. Early on it was obvious that if provoked, he had no qualms about finishing arguments with his massive fists.
In 1939, when he was 14 years old, Haft witnessed the German occupation of Poland. Under Nazi occupation, Haft together with his older brother ran a smuggling business.
In 1941, at aged 16, Haft was deported to Auschwitz because he was Jewish. He spent nearly six years in slave labor. During those six years Harry had been shot, bayoneted, beaten half to death and starved.
Because of his strong physical stature an SS overseer trained him to be a boxer, and had him compete at fights to the death in front of the military personnel. The fights took place at the concentration camp Jaworzno, which was situated at a coal mine north of Auschwitz. Haft fought 76 fights at this concentration camp. When the camp in Jaworzno was dissolved because of the advancing Soviet Red Army, the inmates were sent on death marches. (Those still alive when the marchers reached the coast were forced into the Baltic Sea and shot)
Having witnessed countless acts of horrific sadism, Haft made his escape while on his death march. He stole the uniform and weapon of a German soldier whom he had killed with his bare hands. He then tried to pass himself off as a lost soldier to an elderly German couple who he encountered at their farmhouse. When they suspected—or he thought they suspected—that he might not be who he said he was, he feared that they would turn him into authorities. Knowing he would be tortured or killed if that occurred, Haft shot them to death without giving it a second thought.
After eventually journeying to America, via the assisstance of American liberators, Haft arrived in New York and began boxing out of desperation.
While boxing in America, Haft encountered even more problems, especially when gangsters Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo tried to take control of his career. He won his first twelve fights, but lost against a more experienced boxer in Westchester County Center on 5 January 1949. After this loss, his career never recovered. His final fight was against Rocky Marciano, on 18 July 1949 in Rhode Island Auditorium, in what was Marciano's 18th professional fight. Haft claimed that he was threatened by the Mafia and forced to throw the fight against Marciano.
As Haft warmed up in the dressing room, he said three men entered and threatened to kill him if he did not go down in round one. After they departed, Haft asked his manager what he should do. The manager just shrugged his shoulders and said he did not know.
Having already survived Nazi death camps, the undeterred Haft refused to go along. An article in the Providence Journal described him as “a rusher with very little style,” and said that he “landed the first good punch of the fight, a hard right to Marciano’s midsection.”
Marciano hurt Haft in the second with a right hand that sent him reeling into the ropes. Two follow-up lefts had Haft groggy at the bell.
“Two hard punches to Haft’s head—a left and a right—were Marciano’s openers in the third,” reported John Hanlon in the Journal. “At the halfway mark, Haft rallied briefly. But it was too late.”
Marciano hit Haft with a left to the gut that he followed up with his fabled right hand. Haft was finished. According to the Journal, he “received a fine reception as he left the ring.”
After his loss to Marciano, Haft retired. He married in 1949 and opened a fruit and vegetable store in Brooklyn.
In April 2007, Haft was included in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He died in November of the same year, aged 82.

(Wikipedia / Robert Mladinich)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUpPcz6WR28

[Caractacus]

A biography of Harry Haft wriiten by Alan Scott Haft ,his son was published in 2006
also more recently in 2014 a graphic novel was published about his life.
The Boxer:The True Story of Holocaust survivor Hary Haft
by Reinart Kliest.

[BoxBuzz]

It's a bit eerie that every one of his opponents eventually expired.

Coincidence? I think not.

Today's forensic experts could probably connect the dots.

[Caractacus]

well this guy is still around anyway(at age 88 yrs).
He and Marciano had laced up a pair of gloves together(kind of sort of)back in 1954 when the Rock was still champion of the World.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlDYeKXnJVs

[doug.ie]

A biography of Harry Haft wriiten by Alan Scott Haft ,his son was published in 2006
also more recently in 2014 a graphic novel was published about his life.
The Boxer:The True Story of Holocaust survivor Hary Haft
by Reinart Kliest.

i've just bought that a few minutes ago. i hadn't previously known about it. it'll be a nice item to own i think. thank you.

[Caractacus]

yeah,the graphic novel based on his life was published just this April.
Its recieved very good reviews.
Here is a link were you can get a copy.

http://amazon.com/Boxer-Story-Holocaust ... 1906838771

[doug.ie]

thats what i meant, i just bought the graphic novel.

[Controversial]

Harry Haft wrote that he was visited by the mob in the dressing room before the Marciano fight and they told him to lose, so he says anyway.

[Caractacus]

Harry Haft wrote that he was visited by the mob in the dressing room before the Marciano fight and they told him to lose, so he says anyway.

Harry Haft is directly quoted as saying that himself when he was still alive?
Because I find that rather difficult to believe.

[Controversial]

Harry Haft wrote that he was visited by the mob in the dressing room before the Marciano fight and they told him to lose, so he says anyway.

Harry Haft is directly quoted as saying that himself when he was still alive?
Because I find that rather difficult to believe.

I've not read the book but it was written by his son and published when Harry Haft was still alive. Three men entered his dressing room and told him to go down in the 1st. Apparently he asked his manager what to do and he just shrugged his shoulders. By all accounts he ignored the threats anyway but kinda interesting that he would say he was threatened.

[HomicideHenry]

Harry Haft wrote that he was visited by the mob in the dressing room before the Marciano fight and they told him to lose, so he says anyway.

Harry Haft is directly quoted as saying that himself when he was still alive?
Because I find that rather difficult to believe.

I've not read the book but it was written by his son and published when Harry Haft was still alive. Three men entered his dressing room and told him to go down in the 1st. Apparently he asked his manager what to do and he just shrugged his shoulders. By all accounts he ignored the threats anyway but kinda interesting that he would say he was threatened.

It's all a very romantic idea, that the only undefeated heavyweight champion of the world was only undefeated because of the mob. However--- all we got to do is look at the tapes--- Marciano didn't just box, or fight, he had wars. A guy who got built up by the mob, never would of been able to do a modicum of what Marciano was capable of doing.

[Controversial]

It's all a very romantic idea, that the only undefeated heavyweight champion of the world was only undefeated because of the mob. However--- all we got to do is look at the tapes--- Marciano didn't just box, or fight, he had wars. A guy who got built up by the mob, never would of been able to do a modicum of what Marciano was capable of doing.

I wasn't saying Marciano was built up by the mob, and Haft ignored them anyway so he wasn't using the excuse he threw the fight. If true maybe they were just heavies who had a big bet on a 1st round win, nothing mob related. However saying all that the is quite a lot of circumstantial evidence surrounding potential mob links, whether that had anything to do with Marciano's success is another matter.

[SenorPipino]

I believe, that Carmine Vingo, for sure, is still alive

I saw ringside in 1949 when Marciano gave a terrible beating to Carmine Vingo in t
MSG, sending Vingo to the hospital unconscious for month. Vingo recovered somewhat and with the help of a cane lived a long life in Florida I believe...I do not know if brave Carmine Vingo is still alive
at this time...

There is a listing for Carmine Vingo in Dunedin, Fl.
Previous residences are located in New York so it's certainly boxing's Carmine Vingo, thankfully still alive at age 84.

[beaujack]

I believe, that Carmine Vingo, for sure, is still alive

I saw ringside in 1949 when Marciano gave a terrible beating to Carmine Vingo in t
MSG, sending Vingo to the hospital unconscious for month. Vingo recovered somewhat and with the help of a cane lived a long life in Florida I believe...I do not know if brave Carmine Vingo is still alive
at this time...

There is a listing for Carmine Vingo in Dunedin, Fl.
Previous residences are located in New York so it's certainly boxing's Carmine Vingo, thankfully still alive at age 84.

SP, I hope you are correct and that Carmine Vingo is alive and in Florida...I shall never forget his
great fight at MSG in 1949. I saw Vingo on our 12"tv prior to his fight with Marciano, and he was
considered a great prospect who could hit. My dad and I had great seats in the first row side balcony
just above the ring and what a war it was. I remember in the very first round tall Vingo hit Rocky
with a great right hand uppercut that seemed to lift the smaller Marciano off his feet, but we in the crowd noticed that Marciano was the real deal who survived the punch and gave brave Vingo a
hellacious beating til the 6th round when the battered Vingo fell unconscious to the floor on his
back with his right foot twitching violently. Scary sight that I can never forget...

[SenorPipino]

Kinda amazing that Vingo is apparently still with us at 84.
Usually fighters (or anyone else) who suffer extensive head injuries don't live out a full life span.
I believe reading in an old boxing rag that Vingo did suffer some permanent physical disabilities as an aftermath of the bout, but he's prospered mentally.
Would be interested to hear if anyone has been able to contact him.

[Caractacus]

You should probably contact John Cameron to ask that.If anyone Would know it should be him.
He just recently published the first volume of a three volume biography about Rocky Marciano
entitled REDEMPTION.