Rocky Marciano vs. Ted Lowry

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 02 May 2006, 19:03

From The Providence Journal, October 11, 1949 MARCIANO GETS DECISION OVER TED LOWRY ROCKY'S SHOWING IS WEAK AGAINST VETERAN BOXER Brockton Boy Just Weathers Early Storm, Then Foe's Attack Slackens By Michael J. Thomas There were strange developments and questions left unanswered as Rocky Marciano, undefeated young Brockton heavyweight was awarded a unanimous decision over Tiger Ted Lowry of New Haven in their 10- rounder at the Auditorium last night. Marciano, in the first place, did not win the fight, as this observer saw it. This reporter gave it to Lowry, 6 rounds to 4, but this wasn't the dilemma-hardly. There were some questions as to whether Lowry, who came close to knocking out Marciano in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds, deliberately had bogged down in his attack after the 4th stanza. Many in the crowd felt he had. Asit was, the referee, Ben Maculan, warned Lowry 3 times to open up. In the 5th, he bellowed, ''Open up, or I'll toss you out'' and twice similarly threatened him in the 7th. If Lowry had not punched with the vigor he did in the first 4 stanzas, this observer unhesitatingly would say that Lowry intentionally slowed up. But Lowry punched as though bent on making a kill in the early stages. The wonder of it was that Marciano withstood the punishment he took. Lowry stung him with 2 terrific rights in the 1st. He rocked him with 2 vicious uppercuts in the 2nd, either of which would have finished a less durable boxer. And in the 4th, Lowry had Marciano in such a bad way that it appeared it would be only a matter of time before he would complete his kill. Lowry suddenly stopped using his uppercut after the 4th, however. He went into a shell and only occasionally landed power shots. He seemed to be carrying Marciano. The crowd booed and Maculan, not liking what he saw, stormed at Lowry, who responded with an impassive look. It may have been that Lowry, 9 year ring veteran, tired. It may have been that he weakened from Marciano's unending body attack, but whatever the reason, there was an appreciable decline in his offensive operations in the 2nd half of the fight and it didn't look good to the crowd, nor to this observer. [to be continued]

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 02 May 2006, 23:18

ahh who gives a fornicate. marciano was so green when they fought the first time he could have passed for a leprachuan.

I talked to peter marciano about this fight. he told me "one of the biggest myths is that the lowry fight was close. thats all lowry did was fight to survive. he barely threw any punches."

evndrbsn · Post by **evndrbsn** » 03 May 2006, 07:45

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:ahh who gives a smeg. marciano was so green when they fought the first time he could have passed for a leprachuan.

I talked to peter marciano about this fight. he told me "one of the biggest myths is that the lowry fight was close. thats all lowry did was fight to survive. he barely threw any punches."

That is also coming from a Marciano, so take his view of the fight with a grain of salt. The only time I've ever heard that the first Marciano-Lowry fight WASN'T close was from Peter Marciano.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 03 May 2006, 08:29

i agree. peter is very bias and very loyal to his brother.

the fight was close, but from the reports i get. it seemed that lowry fought the kind of fight that he didnt deserve to win. hardly throwing any punches, fighting cuatiously while rocky was taking the fight to him. it seemed rocky wanted to win the fight, but lowry was just in there to survive.

a credible source is promoter sam silverman who was live at the marciano-lowry I fight. sam silverman before the fight said "i thought lowry was gonna lick rocky". silverman brought lowry in to beat rocky cause he didnt like al weill and wanted rocky(whom he thought was still lucky) to lose.

yet sam silverman after the fight thought rocky won and said "the kid gave lowry a bad body beating".

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 03 May 2006, 17:50

The bout ended on an exciting note, with Marciano tossing a punch after the bell and Lowry, seemingly aroused, wanting to continue. The referee stepped in and stopped the overtime hostilities. Lowry came close to flattening Rocky just before the finish with a right hook. Marciano rocked, but regained his balance. Lowry all but shattered the aura of invincibility that has been built around Marciano by the manner in which he pelted him in the early stanzas. The bout, though it probably will do Marciano much good, showed that he isn't ready for major opposition. Marciano, who had won 19 of his previous 20 fights on knockouts, did not have his punch last night. Lowry took the steam out of him with his early blitz. There were times when Rocky merely pawed at his opponent and he carried a worried look after the 2nd round. He was much busier of the two however, particularly after the 4th. He landed 3 punches to Lowry's 1 from the 5th round on, concentrating wholly on the body. His aggressiveness and constant punching probably was what caught the eye of the 3 officials, but his thrusts lacked sting to be effective. Many should have been discounted altogether.

stick_n_move · Post by **stick_n_move** » 04 May 2006, 07:33

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:i agree. peter is very bias and very loyal to his brother.

yet you feel the need to quote him with a bunch of garbage whenever you ge the chance.

the fight was close, but from the reports i get. it seemed that lowry fought the kind of fight that he didnt deserve to win. hardly throwing any punches, fighting cuatiously while rocky was taking the fight to him. it seemed rocky wanted to win the fight, but lowry was just in there to survive.

well why dont you post these sources of yours. im sure id love to read these mystery sources you always seem to cry about but never produce. leading me to believe that they only exist in your mind.

a credible source is promoter sam silverman who was live at the marciano-lowry I fight. sam silverman before the fight said "i thought lowry was gonna lick rocky". silverman brought lowry in to beat rocky cause he didnt like al weill and wanted rocky(whom he thought was still lucky) to lose.

yet sam silverman after the fight thought rocky won and said "the kid gave lowry a bad body beating".

i doubt that he would be any more credible than a fornicating newspaper reporter who was ringside at the very same fight.

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 04 May 2006, 16:55

I believe that Peter Marciano was only about 8 years old at the time of the 1st Marciano-Lowry fight.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 04 May 2006, 17:48

this thread is a joke.

marciano in his prime would have killed lowry.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 04 May 2006, 18:23

Pickle wrote:I believe that Peter Marciano was only about 8 years old at the time of the 1st Marciano-Lowry fight.

he was 10

sam silverman is a great source since he brought ted lowry in to beat rocky. therefore he was bias agaisnt rocky entering the fight, YET HE THOUGHT ROCKY WON

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 04 May 2006, 18:48

Rocky was only 26 the first time he fought Lowry. He was in his prime.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 04 May 2006, 19:29

Pickle wrote:Rocky was only 26 the first time he fought Lowry. He was in his prime.

rocky was nowhere near his prime. he had just started training with charlie goldman and rocky had only 19 pro fights and only TWO years of proffesional experience , had virtually no amatuer experience. rocky was a far better fighter later on when goldman polished him up. this is not opinion its a fact.

rocky marcianos prime was unquestionably 1951-55

roland lastarza who fought rocky marciano in 1950 and 1953 said marciano was a far better and more improved fighter in 1953

a 1951-55 rocky marciano destroys tiger ted lowry

a 1949 rocky marciano in his prime? please.

rocky started boxing so late that by the time he reached his prime he wasd around 30 years old. too bad rocky never got to start boxing earlier and reach his prime at a younger age

Cap · Post by **Cap** » 05 May 2006, 18:35

Would've been interesting to have been able to see both guys in their respective primes go ten rounds. Maybe in heaven....

Cap

zojo · Post by **zojo** » 06 May 2006, 10:12

[quote="BrocktonBlockbuster49"]ahh who gives a smeg. marciano was so green when they fought the first time he could have passed for a leprachuan." quote]

It was his 21st fight as a pro.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 06 May 2006, 10:46

There is a small article on Ted Lowry in this weeks Boxing News who even at the advanced age of86 is still fit and working as a monitor on a school bus. Lowry says "They know I'm an ex-boxer and behave themselves or else!".

According to the school principle Kaye May "The kids on the bus love Teddy and would never do anything to upset him"

On his first fight with Marciano he says "I was convinced I won 6 of the 10 rounds"

He admitted he lost the rematch but says he took the fight on short notice.

Lowry also boxed exhibitions with the great Joe Louis.

Ted Lowry has been married to his wife Alice for 41 years!! and apparently loves talking about his Boxing career.

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 19 Sep 2006, 16:22

I have no doubt that the 1951-55 Marciano would have destroyed Lowry. But remember this fight took place in October 1949. By the way, the writer of the article [ Mike Thomas] was a friend of Rocky and had no ax to grind.

delisa · Post by **delisa** » 20 Sep 2006, 00:11

I spoke to Ted recently and have read the ms of his autobiography that I may help him fine tune for publication.

A great guy!

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 20 Sep 2006, 00:44

Ted Lowry was a genuinely good test for Marciano at that time. Alot of Marciano's early fights were against more experienced opponents than himself, and he could have lost at any time in those early years but didn't.

Lowry was one of the few men that Rocky couldn't knock out, but it's something to not be ashamed of, as many other top-notch fighters couldn't put away Lowry. Some of those names include Roland LaStarza, Archie Moore, Joey Maxim, Jimmy Slade and Tiger Jack Fox.

Marciano was only 20-0 when he faced Lowry for the first time, and his most impressive win at the time was KO victories over Eddie Ross, Pete Louthis, Jimmy Evans and a win over Don Mogard---the Ross fight was when he was only 4-0 and Ross was 15-0-1 and the other three men had the best win/loss ratio of his opponents then.

Lowry was his BEST opponent at that time with a record of 58-48-9. By the books it says it was a unaminous decision win for Marciano, and to a degree I believe it, because most men that Rocky fought were running away from him because he hit so damn hard---experience or not, Rocky only had one goal in mind: get inside, bang away, bull you into the ropes, and butcher you.

Lowry had enough experience to keep the Rock away and managed to survive. But when your dealing with one of the all time great body punchers and one of the hardest hitting men in HW history, green or not, you ain't going to really make an impression on him or the score cards.

And Rocky wasn't even nowhere near his prime, even though he was green, after the Lowry fight, everybody should have figured that Marciano had the goods, that he was really going places, and would someday be one of the ATG champions of all time.

Ironically, alot of Marciano's early amateur opponents were later interviewed when Rocky was champion and after he died, and they said that they knew...despite all their great amateur experience, that he was going to be champion, because nobody could hit that hard and be that determined and not be something.

Randineous · Post by **Randineous** » 20 Sep 2006, 03:13

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:a 1951-55 rocky marciano destroys tiger ted lowry

"I think Lowry would have gone the distance if we had fought a hundred times. I could never get used to his style of fighting." - Rocky Marciano (after his retirement)

Seeing as how you added a couple of quotes of Silverman's from Marciano's bio, Brock, I figured I'd add yet another quote from the book to the mix.

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 20 Sep 2006, 16:18

Hello Delisa. Please ask Ted why he stopped fighting hard after the 4th round when he appeared to be on the way to a easy victory. I appreciate any help that you can give me. Thanks.

pound per pound · Post by **pound per pound** » 21 Sep 2006, 14:01

Pickle wrote:I have no doubt that the 1951-55 Marciano would have destroyed Lowry. But remember this fight took place in October 1949. By the way, the writer of the article [ Mike Thomas] was a friend of Rocky and had no ax to grind.

That is a bold statement considering Lowry took Marciano the distance again in November 1950.

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » 21 Sep 2006, 15:36

Hello pound for pound. I don't understand what you mean by saying that's a bold statement. Please explain. Thanks.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 21 Sep 2006, 17:08

Randineous wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:a 1951-55 rocky marciano destroys tiger ted lowry
"I think Lowry would have gone the distance if we had fought a hundred times. I could never get used to his style of fighting." - Rocky Marciano (after his retirement)

Seeing as how you added a couple of quotes of Silverman's from Marciano's bio, Brock, I figured I'd add yet another quote from the book to the mix.

no problem. i disagree with marciano here. the 1949-50 marciano was nothing like the prime rocky marciano. marciano really improved from early 1950 to mid 1951. much more polished, much better use of left hook, much better defense, much more unpredictable.

a 51-52 marciano who now had a developed dangerous left hook would have a two fisted assualt that lowry wouldnt be able to stand up to. the 1949 marciano was all right hand crazy, way too predictable

i think marciano at his peak knocks out lowry

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 21 Sep 2006, 17:12

lowry was a good fighter though. a very cagey slick defensive fighter. lowry was a bit of a cutie.

pound per pound · Post by **pound per pound** » 22 Sep 2006, 09:55

Pickle wrote:Hello pound for pound. I don't understand what you mean by saying that's a bold statement. Please explain. Thanks.

Well you said,

" I have no doubt that the 1951-55 Marciano would have destroyed Lowry. "

My point was Marciano took Lowry the distance twice. Marciano's November 1950 fight with Lowry was less than two months from 1951. Hence, I doubt Marciano would have destroyed Lowry in 1951.

Marciano did not always dispose of fighters quickly. It took a while from him to put some guys away. British Don Cockell comes to mind.

Having said that, I do think you brought up some intersting points.

Post more often if you can.

Cheers,

- P4P

delisa · Post by **delisa** » 22 Sep 2006, 13:12

It is an open secret that Ted had the handcuffs on.

Rocky Marciano vs. Ted Lowry

Rocky Marciano vs. Ted Lowry

Lowry

Bold statement