Rocky Marciano: The Story of Four Rematches
By Steve Hunt
A.J. Liebling watched an obscure boxer face a hopeless cause in the ring and thought to himself the pugilist in question was suffering from what he described as, "a case of mistaken vocation."
Punching for pay is not for everyone. Rocky Marciano's first choice of profession would have been that of a baseball player. But if ever there was a man suited for the vocation of prize-fighter, it was Marciano. He was cut out of rock and cut out for fighting.
Despite dying at the age of just 45 in a plane crash, in boxing terms he achieved immortality. He retired as undefeated heavyweight champion of the world with a record of 49-0. It may surprise some younger readers to know that there was a time when strength and conditioning coaches did not exist. Yet somehow, for many decades fighters made their way to the ring both strong and in condition. In the early 1950s, no one was stronger or better conditioned than the Rock. What he lacked in orthodox technique, he made up for in relentless pressure that his opponents could rarely endure to the final bell.
All this is not to say that he did not come close to losing on several occasions, but he always found a way to win, even if the legitimacy of those wins was sometimes questioned. There are four men who pushed Rocky close enough to the limit, that a rematch was deemed appropriate. On each occasion, Rocky improved upon the result of the first fight, if not in definitive outcome, then in performance level. If you were going to beat Rocky, you better make sure you did it the first time, because he'd leave no room for doubt when he faced you on a second occasion. This is the story of the four brave souls who fought Rocky twice and the fights that created his legend.
Ted Lowry.
Tiger Ted Lowry boxed as a professional from 1939 to 1959 and ended his career with a record of seventy-one wins, sixty-eight losses and ten draws. He was not always as aggressive in the ring as his moniker might suggest, but he was a survivor. The fact that he was only stopped three times in his career and lived to the age of 90 is a testament to that. He was a remarkable man. His boxing career was interrupted by military service during World War Two when he served in the first all-black airborne unit in the US army. Joe Louis, heavyweight champion at the time, happened to visit his camp and the two men sparred three rounds; an experience that gave Lowry great encouragement for his fistic career beyond the end of the war.
Lowry first fought Marciano on October 10th, 1949, on what was essentially home turf for Rocky, at the Rhode Island Auditorium, Providence. Rocky would fight at this venue on twenty-eight occasions. Rocky was a raw 20-0 at the time. Trainer Charley Goldman would never make Rocky a refined boxer, but at this early stage, Marciano was very much still a work in progress. He very nearly came unstuck against the vastly more experienced Lowry. Rocky was hurt several times early, but Lowry went into a defensive shell in the later rounds, despite exhortations from the referee to open up. Rocky's aggression, even if not always effective, brought him back into the fight and took the outcome to the scorecards. The decision in Marciano's favour was booed by the crowd and created a stink. Why had Lowry changed his style and seemingly let Rocky back into the fight? Talk of foul play inevitably followed. Ringside reporter, Michael Thomas for the Providence Journal gave the fight to Lowry by six rounds to four and felt that Ted had been carrying Rocky in the later stages.
The two met again the following year, on November 13th, 1950, at the same venue. Rocky had been busy in the intervening months, having fought eight times, including his first win over Roland LaStarza. Although the rematch again went the ten-round distance, there was no disputing the winner with Rocky taking a clear decision and hurting Lowry near the end of the fight.
Lowry always maintained he felt he won the first contest, but concedes he lost the rematch. He told boxing historian Mike Silver that he underestimated Marciano in their first fight, but Rocky had moved on by the time they met a year later and credited Goldman's training.
"Marciano's trainer finally figured out my style because before that Rocky was mesmerised. I could tell by the expression on his face. In the first fight, he just kept coming at me throwing wild punches from all over and he wasn't able to hit me. But he fought differently the second time. He started moving around and was even trying to jab."
Whatever the possible injustice of their first fight, history will always remember Ted Lowry for being the only man to go the distance with Rocky twice.
Roland LaStarza.
Throughout boxing history, fighters with an academic background have often been ridiculed. The thinking being that knowledge learned from books is of no use compared to ring knowledge and a boxing IQ. Clearly, these two things are not mutually exclusive, making this theory nonsensical. Joe Joyce graduating with a fine art degree being one of the latest examples to disprove the rule.
As Roland LaStarza was making his way through the heavyweight ranks, he was tarred with this brush having studied at New York's City College. Yes, he could box, but that college education wouldn't help him when he must solve his own ring puzzles, it was said.
When LaStarza and Marciano met for the first time, both were unbeaten. Rocky was now 25-0 and Roland was 37-0. He was four years Marciano's junior at twenty-two. It would be a Friday night fight at the Garden, in New York on March 24th, 1950. LaStarza would be fighting in his hometown.
Barney Nagler described the difference between the two fighters.
"In boxing gloves, Rocky Marciano is dressed to kill. Garbed in the same manual way, Roland LaStarza is dressed for a night's work."
The fight was set for ten rounds. LaStarza made the better start over the first three rounds before Rocky floored him with a big right hand at the end of the fourth. The bell rang to end the round as the referee's count reached seven and LaStarza was able to make his way back to his corner without taking another assault. There were no other knockdowns in the fight, although there were swings in fortune as the fight progressed into the later rounds. Marciano lost the eighth round for a low blow. Knowing it was close, Rocky came on strong to win the final round, which would prove decisive. Two judges and the referee would score the fight. The two judges both had it 5-4-1 in rounds, one scored for Rocky, the other for Roland. The referee scored it five rounds a piece. New York rules had a supplemental scoring system where in an event such as this, the referee would also use a points system to decide the outcome and with this, he scored 9-6 to Rocky.
LaStarza felt he won the fight, and many agreed with him. An immediate rematch seemed a natural. Rocky wanted it, the IBC wanted it, but Marciano's manager, Al Weill was not keen. Roland would be made to wait. In fact, he had to wait three and a half years.
A lot changed in that time. By the time they met again, Rocky was now heavyweight champion of the world. LaStarza had eighteen fights in that time, including two wins over Ted Lowry. The Marciano-LaStarza rematch was Rocky's second defence of his title. He had now moved beyond indoor arenas to fighting in stadiums and ball parks. Coincidentally, Rocky had also had eighteen contests since their last meeting. His level of opposition had been higher and crucially, Charley Goldman had had more time to make Marciano a more effective fighter.
The rematch took place at the Polo Grounds, New York in front of 44,562 fans on September 24th, 1953, and Roland was in confident mood before the fight.
"I'm going to win. I beat him before, and I know I can outbox him, and I can outsmart him. He can be hit with a jab, a hook, a right and practically any kind of a punch. I may stop him or even knock him out."
Rocky foresaw a different outcome.
"After knocking LaStarza down in the fourth round, I should have gone after him with everything I had in the fifth, but I didn't do it because I lacked experience. If I knock him down this time, I won't make the same mistake."
LaStarza made the better start to the fight, with Rocky often looking like a novice in the early rounds. The sixth round was taken from Rocky for a low blow, with the champion behind on the cards at this point. The seventh round, however, proved to be the turning point in favour of the Brocton Blockbuster. Ringside reporter, Joe Williams wrote that from here Rocky, "began to shorten his punches, wait for openings, and hit in combinations. From then on, the champion was in control."
Rocky landed a left hook to body in this session that doubled LaStarza up and Roland took a steady beating through the next four rounds, before the fight was stopped in the eleventh. A three-punch combination from the champion dumped Roland through the ropes. Marciano resumed his attack after Roland regained his feet at the count of nine, but as he continued his onslaught, referee Ruby Goldstein stepped in to rescue the battered challenger.
Rocky had kind words for his defeated opponent after the fight.
"He's the gamest fellow I ever fought."
LaStarza, who was taken to hospital for the injuries he sustained, also had praise for the victor.
"He's a great fighter, definitely a better fighter than when I fought him before".
The fight was named fight of the year by Ring magazine. While some felt LaStarza was never the same fighter again after the beating he absorbed, Rocky would be moving on towards further epic battles.
Jersey Joe Walcott.
We now rewind twelve months to September 23rd, 1952, and the Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia. As Gene Tunney sat at ringside it must have been impossible for him not to reflect back exactly twenty-six years to when he took the title from Jack Dempsey in that same, then brand new, stadium. If he lost himself in nostalgia before the first bell, the action that was to follow would have soon jolted him back to the present. He was about to witness one of the greatest heavyweight battles of all time.
Veteran Jersey Joe Walcott, fighting out of Camden, New Jersey, was making the second defence of the world heavyweight title against Marciano. Walcott was a respected fighter, but the heavyweight division was still in a post-Louis slump. Joe was in the twenty-second year of his professional career. Rocky was significantly the younger man, but Walcott was twelve pounds heavier, weighing in at fourteen stone.
Durability, indomitable will and punching power. Those six words pretty much some up Rocky Marciano's strengths and they were never more in evidence than on the night he became champion. Going into the fight, Rocky had an unblemished record of forty-two consecutive wins and was a marginal bookmaker's favourite. More than 40,000 fans paid at the gate and the Marciano supporters in the crowd were in for a shock early when their man was dumped on the seat of his shorts in the first round. Joe looked much the sharper man from the first bell before a sweet left hook dropped the Rock for a count of four. By the end of the round, Marciano was already marked up under his left eye. As the fight wore on, a classic unfolded as each man fought hard for supremacy. A.J. Liebling described the changing of fortunes.
"In nine rounds the lead changed hands three times – Walcott to Marciano in the third, Marciano to Walcott in the seventh, Walcott to Marciano in the ninth…. Then Walcott, as if bolstered by the certainty that he could last, came out for the eleventh and had his best round of the fight, except for the opener, when he had floored Rocky. It was the fourth switch of the fight."
Claiming victory from the jaws of defeat is one mark of greatness. Rocky may not have known this was what was needed, but he had to know his first defeat was perilously close at hand. In the thirteenth round as Walcott retreated to the ropes, Rocky landed a fight-ending right hand that landed flush on Walcott's chin. If you can find beauty in violence, then that punch was a work of art. Walcott was gone as he crumpled forward, head bowed, with one arm draped over the ropes. Rocky helped himself to a glancing left as he walked past him, but the right hand had been the one.
Rocky, who had been behind on each of the officials' card, was the new heavyweight champion of the world. Walcott said later that he had no recollection of the finishing blow, and his manager announced that this would be his final fight. But this is boxing, retirements are often short-lived, and sure enough the rematch was soon on.
Across more than a hundred and twenty years of boxing history, there have been two world heavyweight title rematches that ended in the first round where the challenger has been seemingly reluctant to get up off the floor to resume fighting. How is it that Jersey Joe Walcott was involved in both of them?
The most famous, and certainly the most photographed, instance, was the Ali-Liston rematch in 1965. Walcott was the referee as chaos erupted and Joe appeared to lose control of the action in the ring. But on May 15th, 1953, he was the fighter on the canvas as referee Frank Sikora counted over him.
The Marciano-Walcott rematch was set for Chicago and originally planned for April 10th. Another similarity it has with Ali-Liston is that the fight was postponed due to a medical issue with the champion. In this case, Marciano suffered a cut in training to cause the delay. Despite the epic nature of the first fight, the crowd was a disappointing 13,266, Those that decided to stay away made the right choice.
The first round started quietly, but with less than a minute to go, Rocky landed a left hook followed by a right uppercut that sent Walcott to the floor. The man who had traded blows with Marciano for nearly thirteen rounds previously had gone down from the first meaningful punch this time around. As the referee stood over him administering the count, Joe looked to his corner, seemingly taking advantage of the count ready to rise when needed. Instead, he remained on his backside, one arm over the ropes, only rising as Sikora reached ten. Inevitable chaos and confusion followed.
Walcott's manager claimed foul by virtue of a short count, but no one was buying that, including legendary writer Red Smith.
"After twenty-three recorded years as a professional fist fighter, the former champion went out in a total disgrace which no excuses can relieve."
So why did such a previously respected fighter like Walcott take the count? It is around 750 miles from Chicago to Philadelphia, but Rocky sent Joe all the way back there with one punch in those first three minutes. As Walcott sat on the canvas, he had ten seconds to think about his long career and the punishment he took in the first fight with Rocky in a heroic, albeit losing effort. Smart pre-fight negotiations meant that Walcott was on a flat fee of $250,000 for the fight. If they are writing that cheque if you take one punch or one thousand punches, which option do you take?
Liebling did not think of the finishing punch as a concussive shot.
"This appeared to be more of a sit-down-think-it-over knockdown."
Walcott had a think and decided enough was enough. It was a sad end for a great fighter.
Ezzard Charles
In his brilliant book, The Gods of War, boxing historian Springs Toledo makes a very good case for Ezzard Charles being the fourth greatest fighter to ever lace up the gloves. Despite never getting a shot at the world title in his favoured weight class, he is likely the best light-heavyweight that division has ever seen. His peak decade was the 1940s, but he was still a world class heavyweight into the 1950s. Going into his challenge to Rocky Marciano he had recorded victories over several top men in the glamour division including, Jersey Joe Walcott, Rex Layne and most famously, Joe Louis. He may have been past his peak, but he was ranked number three in the world at the time.
Marciano, on the other hand, was in his prime and understandably favourite with the bookmakers. He was 45-0 with 40 knockouts. Out of twenty-one boxing writers polled for their views, nineteen chose Rocky to win. It would be Marciano's third defence of the title and was set for Yankee Stadium on June 17th, 1954.
Fans of Floyd Mayweather may argue that you don't have to be in great fights to be a great fighter, but it certainly strengthens your case and gives the fans what they want. Rocky was involved in several and this turned out to be one of them as Charles offered much sterner resistance than many expected. The 47,585 who bought tickets got to see a heavyweight classic.
Charles got off to the better start and was in control after four rounds. Rocky suffered a cut over his left eye in that round which he had to contend with for the duration of the contest and would later need ten stitches. As the rounds wore on Rocky wore his man down, but Charles' resilience meant that Marciano was forced to travel the full fifteen-round distance for the first time. The Associated Press described it as a "savage scrap", while Boxing News felt that "in defeat, Charles had his greatest bout".
The three scoring officials were unanimous in awarding the victory to Rocky. Observers were left to marvel at Marciano's seemingly inexhaustible body and spirit but also Charles' remarkable gameness as the fight was slowly taken away from him. No one was going to argue that he did not warrant a rematch.
Rocky may have needed stiches to seal the wound over his eye, but he was far from the only one who bore the scars of battle from the first encounter. Oscar Fraley for the United Press described the marks left on the loser.
"If you saw the pictures after the fight, you'll vividly recall that Ezzard looked like a fellow who dropped a best-out-of-three falls decision to a steamroller. One eye was almost closed and the other was trying to catch up. There was a frightening lump on his left jaw and his lips were puffed grotesquely."
Given the damage sustained by both men, it is remarkable that the rematch was set for only three months after the first fight, being scheduled for September 16th back at Yankee Stadium. A lot can change between a New York summer and the onset of autumn. Despite protestations from the Charles camp that he could go one step further this time around, many were sceptical. Would this be a fresh round one, or would he be answering the bell for round sixteen? The Cincinnati Cobra was already deep into the autumn of his career. Many fighters over the years have been able to sustain the illusion of being evergreen, but no one yet has been able to indefinitely resist the harshness of winter. That chilly reality check is always provided by the fists of a younger warrior. A fighter who is still enjoying their own moment in the sun.
As if to provide another reminder of the changing of the seasons, the fight was delayed by two days due to rain. The contest would be the first time an ex-champion would get a third attempt to win back the title. No heavyweight champion had ever regained the crown. Ezzard had lost the title to Walcott, lost his rematch to Jersey Joe and now this would be his second shot at Marciano.
The first round of the fight gave Charles' supporters hope as he took it on all three scorecards. But it soon became clear that the tide was turning against him. A right hand from Rocky put Ezzard down in the second round but as the action resumed the contest took on a feel of when more than if.
The moments in fights that go on to contribute to the legendary status of great champions are often those that if given the choice, they probably would have rather avoided. Rocky had flirted with defeat on occasions in his career up to this point. Despite seemingly having the upper hand during the early rounds of this battle he was about to come closer to defeat than ever before. The crisis would then demand of him a demonstration of the greatness that few fighters have within them.
In the sixth round, Rocky was bleeding profusely from a cut to his nose. But this was not just any cut. It was a vertical gash and a grisly sight. Rocky no longer had fifteen rounds to secure victory as it was only a matter of time before the fight would be stopped.
He was told by his corner at the start of the eighth that he needed to finish his opponent in this round. A further cut over his left eye contributed to the enormity of the task, but through a mask of blood, Rocky kept his focus. If inside he felt desperate, externally he continued to show grim determination. He launched a furious assault and a combination of shots put Charles down for a count of four. Bravely Ezzard continued, but it only delayed the inevitable as another combination of power shots floored him again. This time he was unable to beat the count. There were twenty-four seconds left of the round. Once again, Rocky had left no room for doubt and had been in another Ring magazine fight of the year.
Ezzard Charles, one of the greatest fighters of all time, boxed for another five years, but it was not really the Cincinnati Cobra that was in the ring in those closing chapters. He lost thirteen of his remaining twenty-three fights. He was showing signs of the illness that ended his life even as he continued his career.
Rocky only had two fights left before walking away: a pair of brutal ninth-round stoppages over Britain's Don Cockell and one final epic against another ring legend, Archie Moore. For as long as fight fans reminisce about boxing, Rocky Marciano will remain an icon. The man who walked away unbeaten, and in the eyes of his fans, unbeatable. In more than sixty years since he made the surprise announcement that he would not fight again, no heavyweight has been able to match his record.
What made him special? Al Weill knew Rocky better than almost anyone, but was also the reason, some say, that Rocky decided to quit the sport. Let's give the final word to his controversial manager.
"To begin with, he has that punch, of course. And what a punch! He has endurance like he was an automobile. He has a chin as tough as there ever was. He thinks pretty good in the ring. He knows where to throw them punches when he's not doing well and what to do about it. There's one other point in Rocky's favour. He don't ever lose a fight."
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