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Why I Have Come to Respect Rocky Marciano So Much And Its Not About 49-0
I wasnt always a big Marciano fan. I didnt grow up idolizing him and I didnt just accept the 49-0 argument at face value. In fact for a long time I didnt rate him as highly as others did
That changed when I actually started studying him. Watching the fights closely. Looking at how he moved how he broke guys down. And I will be honest my respect for him now doesnt come from his body of work it comes from the way he fought
The Obsession Behind the Fighter
Marciano was obsessed. This wasnt just some hard working guy. He trained every hour of every day to build a body that could go to war. He worked on his neck jaw rotator cuffs back core legs and lungs constantly not just to look good but to become a machine
He didnt train for fights. He lived like he was always in camp. Every detail mattered. He understood that you dont build power or endurance just with technique you build it with obsessive full time conditioning
I call this the art of effort. He wasnt the most athletic guy or the tallest or the fastest but no heavyweight in history pushed harder longer or more consistently than Marciano. His average day was probably harder than most fighters peak days
Baseball Timing and Why His Power Was Different
Before boxing Marciano was obsessed with baseball. That is not a throwaway fact it actually explains a ton about his punching mechanics
Baseball is all about timing. You are trying to generate power and precision against a fast moving object. You swing with your entire body legs hips shoulders wrists in one explosive chain. That is exactly how Marciano punched
He didnt throw textbook shots. He punched like he was swinging a bat short loaded shots with every ounce of his kinetic chain behind them. That is where his true power came from. Not brute strength but sequencing leverage and torque. He understood the physics of violence
The Resume Not the Deepest But Definitely Underrated
People love to discredit his resume. Too small Too old Weak era. But that is lazy analysis
First of all Marciano weighed 184 to 187 lbs. He wasnt big himself so acting like he bullied smaller guys makes no sense. Most of his opponents actually outweighed him
And he did fight some big guys they just werent elite enough to be remembered by the public. But the best names on his resume They were technically brilliant fighters
Let us not ignore that Marciano ended careers. He didnt squeak by. He broke guys down and retired them. That matters
Lets Compare That to Liston and Tyson
If we are going to talk resumes let us stop pretending Marcianos is worse than Sonny Listons or Mike Tysons
Meanwhile Rocky Never folded Never got outworked Never once took a round off
And This Is Why I Rate Him Now
Look this isnt about making Marciano number one on some mythical all time list. Its about understanding why he was special
He didnt just win. He imposed his will
He had a motor no one could match. Joe Frazier Love the guy but he didnt have Marcianos reserve tank. He didnt carry that kind of relentless pace deep into fights. He got hurt. Rocky You cannot find a moment where he really looked hurt. Go watch the tapes even when he touches down the lights never went off and the legs never wavered. if anything this signalled something bad was coming in retaliation
And listen to the guys who fought him they all say the same things
When both Ali and Joe Louis say a guy was immensely strong not just strong but like something otherworldly you better believe there is something there worth noticing
Final Word
I didnt start off as a Marciano fan. But the more I watched the more I learned and the more I respected him
Not for being perfect Not for having the best opponents
But for showing what true obsessive total dedication to fighting looks like. For fighting like every second mattered. For turning himself into the most efficient relentless machine the sport has ever seen. TRUE DEDICATION produces exactly what Marciano was, extremely light for his size but immensly strong and durable. Many simply cannot understand this because he's one of the only guys who did this. Out side of a few other great fighters like Sam Langford and Harry Greb. both of them accomplished this in the same way he did with obsession.
That is why I rate him the way I do
​
I wasnt always a big Marciano fan. I didnt grow up idolizing him and I didnt just accept the 49-0 argument at face value. In fact for a long time I didnt rate him as highly as others did
That changed when I actually started studying him. Watching the fights closely. Looking at how he moved how he broke guys down. And I will be honest my respect for him now doesnt come from his body of work it comes from the way he fought
The Obsession Behind the Fighter
Marciano was obsessed. This wasnt just some hard working guy. He trained every hour of every day to build a body that could go to war. He worked on his neck jaw rotator cuffs back core legs and lungs constantly not just to look good but to become a machine
He didnt train for fights. He lived like he was always in camp. Every detail mattered. He understood that you dont build power or endurance just with technique you build it with obsessive full time conditioning
I call this the art of effort. He wasnt the most athletic guy or the tallest or the fastest but no heavyweight in history pushed harder longer or more consistently than Marciano. His average day was probably harder than most fighters peak days
Baseball Timing and Why His Power Was Different
Before boxing Marciano was obsessed with baseball. That is not a throwaway fact it actually explains a ton about his punching mechanics
Baseball is all about timing. You are trying to generate power and precision against a fast moving object. You swing with your entire body legs hips shoulders wrists in one explosive chain. That is exactly how Marciano punched
He didnt throw textbook shots. He punched like he was swinging a bat short loaded shots with every ounce of his kinetic chain behind them. That is where his true power came from. Not brute strength but sequencing leverage and torque. He understood the physics of violence
The Resume Not the Deepest But Definitely Underrated
People love to discredit his resume. Too small Too old Weak era. But that is lazy analysis
First of all Marciano weighed 184 to 187 lbs. He wasnt big himself so acting like he bullied smaller guys makes no sense. Most of his opponents actually outweighed him
And he did fight some big guys they just werent elite enough to be remembered by the public. But the best names on his resume They were technically brilliant fighters
- Ezzard Charles was more skilled and experienced than anyone on Alis resume.
- Jersey Joe Walcott was clever durable and gave Joe Louis serious problems. He didnt suddenly become useless overnight
- Joe Louis while past his prime was still beating contenders and could have avoided Rocky if he wanted to. He didnt and Rocky ended his career
Let us not ignore that Marciano ended careers. He didnt squeak by. He broke guys down and retired them. That matters
Lets Compare That to Liston and Tyson
If we are going to talk resumes let us stop pretending Marcianos is worse than Sonny Listons or Mike Tysons
- Liston lost early lost in his prime and folded late. His best win was over Patterson a blown up middleweight who got stopped multiple times in his own right
- Tyson was a beast no doubt. But when he faced top level guys who didnt fold Holyfield Lewis he broke. His resume is loaded with guys who were beaten before the first bell
Meanwhile Rocky Never folded Never got outworked Never once took a round off
And This Is Why I Rate Him Now
Look this isnt about making Marciano number one on some mythical all time list. Its about understanding why he was special
He didnt just win. He imposed his will
He had a motor no one could match. Joe Frazier Love the guy but he didnt have Marcianos reserve tank. He didnt carry that kind of relentless pace deep into fights. He got hurt. Rocky You cannot find a moment where he really looked hurt. Go watch the tapes even when he touches down the lights never went off and the legs never wavered. if anything this signalled something bad was coming in retaliation
And listen to the guys who fought him they all say the same things
- You could not hurt him
- The pressure never stopped
- He was freakishly strong
When both Ali and Joe Louis say a guy was immensely strong not just strong but like something otherworldly you better believe there is something there worth noticing
Final Word
I didnt start off as a Marciano fan. But the more I watched the more I learned and the more I respected him
Not for being perfect Not for having the best opponents
But for showing what true obsessive total dedication to fighting looks like. For fighting like every second mattered. For turning himself into the most efficient relentless machine the sport has ever seen. TRUE DEDICATION produces exactly what Marciano was, extremely light for his size but immensly strong and durable. Many simply cannot understand this because he's one of the only guys who did this. Out side of a few other great fighters like Sam Langford and Harry Greb. both of them accomplished this in the same way he did with obsession.
That is why I rate him the way I do
​
HisExcellency
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