Rocky Marciano

by James W. Skehan

Rocky Marciano (1923-1969) was the only heavyweight champion ever to complete a professional career without a loss. Rocky's record was 49-0, with 43 KOs. He was the greatest slugger in boxing history and knocked out 88 percent of his opponents. Born Rocco Marchegiano, he grew up during America's Great Depression and by 1947 he was the darling of the New York fight crowd. Later that year he turned professional and he became the heavyweight champion of the world when he defeated Jersey Joe Walcott on September 23, 1952. He defended his title six times and retired undefeated in 1956.

Genres: Biography, Sports

Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Ensiform · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of the undefeated champ, from his somewhat hard childhood and attempts to break into baseball, to his boxing career after the army, to his retirement and the life of Reilly that followed. It’s written in an almost fictionalized style — quotes from scenes in Rocky’s life come from interviews, doubtless, but as exact quotes they must be taken with a large grain of salt. Skehan doesn’t judge, nor is he critical; he merely reports, without skepticism.

The picture that emerges is an ambiguous one. The Rock was obviously a tightfisted, cheap son of a bitch, sometimes to the point of criminality (cheating pay phones, defrauding an insurance company for ten grand). He had strange ideas about money; not trusting banks, he’d squirrel away large chunks of cash. He had all sorts of business deals, shady and otherwise, that he enacted without so much as a signature or IOU. Many of Rocky’s friends insist he was staunchly loyal, but his long-time trainer Al Columbo’s estrangement, his lifelong argument with another friend over a probably imagined forty bucks, and his failure to help out the boxer he hospitalized all belie this picture. The consensus is that Rocky was pretty much the all-time greatest; since he faced the champions of his time when they were nearing 40, this is disputable, and the book should state that. Certainly, Skehan blatantly glosses over serious flaws in Rocky’s character, such as soliciting prostitutes, leaving his wife and daughter for long stretches, cutting short vacations with them, etc. In all this is a thorough, interesting, easy to read bio, but it could stand to show a few more warts than it does. He was a great champion; we don’t need to think he was a saint, too.

[John Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was for many years the only in print biography of the remarkable Marciano and therefore has been regarded as thee title that all who wished to know more about the man would turn.

Up to the publication of this book in 1977 there had only been four previous biographies, three in his life time (the last in 1956) and one in 1972. Recently however there has been two new biographies,The 13th Candle' and 'The Rock of his Times', an impressive work which has superseded Skehan's work in importance.

The problem with this book is that there is an awful lot of supposition, particularly in relation to alleged conversations between Marciano and his pal Allie Colombo, during my research into my own biographical work I discovered from Marciano's youngest brother that the author had never met either individual so could not have been privy to any conversations, nor the reminiscences from the latter which has brought into doubt much of that material.

Also there is a distinct lack of information pertaining to Marciano's Army career and amateur bouts, as these are pivotal in shaping the future of the fighter I have always been left feeling that so much of the story has been left unsaid, yet, oddly, no previous biography on Marciano covers these years between 1943 and 1948 in any great detail.

On the plus side however, this work contains a fascinating study of Rocky's youth and retirement and for this reason should be amongst any fans bookshelf, overall, entertaining, with some interesting detail, but flawed by missing material and at best misinformation.
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[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

i found this really inspiring again. rocky was the only heavyweight that never lost a single fight. his training regime was unbelievable. he just couldn't admit defeat. he only lot a handful of times as an amateur. he wanted to get into baseball at first but quickly realized that his fists would lead him to greater glory. the first 4/5th is all about his boxing life and then the last fifth about how he frantically tried to keep all the money he made. he didn't want to squander it because he had been so poor as a kid and knew the value of money - he was very tight with money once he started winning and even to this day his close family and friends are not aware of where he stashed some of his cash. in terms of sheer guts and determination we wont get a fighter like him. he may not have beaten ali at his prime or even Tyson but what he put into his training seemed to me personally to have surpassed them both in terms of training and discipline. he was a legend among the Italians in Italy and obviously in the states. i really enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it.

[Lonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic info about the Rock. I found it a bit corny but entertaining.