“Love is stronger than hate, Rocky Marciano is stronger than love”.This is what a boy from a middle school in Chieti said about him in the 1950s.For those who were not aware of it, San Bartolomean blood also flowed in his veins as his mother (Maria Pasqualina Picciuto) was born in San Bartolomeo in Galdo, province of Benevento.This is the reason why I wanted to dedicate this research to the legendary boxing champion of Italian origin.
Maria Pasqualina Picciuto and Rocco
‹‹Forti, gentili e cortesi
Sono i cittadini abruzzesi.
Il lor campione è di origine Ripese
Un vanto nazionale per il paese.
Il suo nome è Rocky Marciano
Che di Ripa ora è il volano.
Fisico roccioso e possente
Il pugno impetuoso e devastante.
Mitico, forte ed invitto
Solo il fato lo ha sconfitto.
Dopo una carriera favolosa
Or la sua anima in ciel riposa.
Oggi il paese per Lui è conosciuto
Commemorarlo ogni anno gli è dovuto››.
(Poetry by Lorenzo Di Lizio, March 2007, Homage to the ripese champion).
“The America of the 1950s is characterized as the era of the boom and of nationalism to the bitter end.Out of the fury of the war that had seen her as a protagonist in Europe, where she left several children, she is looking for exemplary figures to strengthen the sense of belonging.Rocky Marciano, the son of Italian immigrants, who grew up in the cult of the family, in a few years becomes the symbol of the good guy who, through boxing, which has always been a driving force in the US, places himself at the top of a society that needs positive examples.His explosion in the ring is the mirror of what people want.An invincible hero.If Joe Louis
Joe Louis
If Joe Louis was the good soldier for the States who made his ability as a champion available to soldiers in war, if Muhammad Alì
Muhammad Ali
(Cassius Clay, ed) in the 1970s knocked out false moralism and inequalities between whitesand blacks, Marciano acted as a watershed, in the acceptance as an all-round American of a son of emigration, a full member of the new homeland.He did it with his fists and behavior.
Undefeated hero in the ring and out.A character so popular that, more than half a century after his retirement, and 41 years after his death, he remains one of the absolute references in the sports world ››.
(From the book Rocky Marciano the invincible by Orlando Giuliano, Ed. Lìmina – Stories and Myths series – Arezzo, 2011).
The biggest heavyweight in history?
Once upon a time there was America. That of the fists and the ring, where the Italian Americans were the masters: one of these was our great Rocky, the man who entered the legend. The greatest of the greats! “The Rock”, the Rock of the Gran Sasso! That Marciano was probably the greatest is shown by his amazing record: the only world heavyweight champion to retire unbeaten after 49 fights. A record never equaled and achieved thanks to its exceptional qualities of power, resistance and spirit of sacrifice. Reading some books I found that, despite being a heavyweight, it was not tall (179 centimeters, the same size as John Lawrence Sullivan, with whom it shares the record for the lowest among the “kings” in the category), it was not fast, he was not a technician; and it was quite light (he was close to 84 kilos). He was aware that he had no speed or technique, so he compensated for these gaps with perfect physical preparation, great power and stamina that was unmatched in boxing history, allowing him to take very violent punches that would have knocked out anyone and to respond. blow for blow, until his opponent yielded.
A few other curiosities. We learn that: he walked a lot (for example, walking the seventy-five blocks that separated his home from the gym); he always ate vegetables; he drank very little, and only in the evening; he carried a jar of honey in his pocket to sweeten the coffee; he chewed large semi-raw steaks and his meat, instead of being swallowed, was spat into a cup on the table. They wrote that his left hook was from “electric shock” and that it was “a tank with no reverse gear”; as he took punches his aggression increased and he became bad at hitting. He was also famous for body shots capable of knocking out opponents on their own: they earned him the nickname of Brockton blockbuster (Brockton’s bomber, named after the town in Massachusetts where he was born in 1923). With his coach Charlie Goldman he studied a left – right combination (ie left hook and right straight and short) that they named Suzi Quick, that is “Suzi the fast” (in honor, it seems, of a young nurse known by Rocky in the distant 1943 in a Cardiff pub, ed), a blow that solved several encounters. According to the journalist Red Smith, this shot “was equivalent to ninth grade on the Richter scale”.
Last curious note: they say that he was one of the very few boxers to train the pupils following the movements of a pendulum that he had hung on the bed and that he followed with his head.
“I can beat anyone”: this was his battle cry. As a professional, a flawless career. His sporting record speaks of 49 challenges, 49 victories (43 per K.O., of which 20 by the third round), no defeat, not even a draw, only 6 managed to finish on their feet.
“Indestructible”: this was the adjective with which many sports journalists defined him. The president of the province of Chieti, Senator Tommaso Coletti, on 21 April 2007, described him as follows: “Rocky like the character of the Abruzzese people, closed and proud but respectful of values; like most of the territory, difficult to cross but welcoming and hospitable in colors, flavors and smells; like boxing, a sport in which humble origins and a spirit of revenge are the essential conditions for winning ››. By virtue of all this, our champion is always among the top fourMike Tyson
heavyweights in the various sporting statistics.
Jake La Motta
Whether he was really the strongest no one will ever be able to say, but one thing is certain: to date he is the only heavyweight boxer left undefeated! Yet he has met some great ones, see JoeLouis, JoeWalcott, Ezzard Charlesed, Archie Moore. Many experts even consider him the best boxer in history, surpassing big names like MikeTyson, Muhammad Alì and Jake La Motta.
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