Rocky Marciano was born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, on September 1, 1923, in Brockton, Massachusetts. During his career, Marciano held the heavyweight boxing title for four years in the 1950s, and he is the only boxing champion to ever retire undefeated.
His father, Pierino, worked at a shoe factory. His mother's name was Pasqualena. Rocky would spend much of his life making sure she would not live in the poverty he had known growing up. He worked many different jobs to help his family, including as a dishwasher, in a candy factory, as a gardener, and in a shoe factory.
As a youngster Rocky played baseball and football and dreamed of a professional career in one of those sports. He got into many fights when he thought he or his friends had been insulted, but he did not take up boxing until after 1943, when he was drafted into the army. He took the sport up because it helped him avoid "KP" (kitchen police) and other less desirable activities. He showed a natural ability and fought as an amateur following his discharge from the army in 1946. He won twenty-seven of his thirty fights.
On October 26, 1951, with 37 wins and 32 knockouts under his belt, Marciano faced his most formidable opponent in former heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Louis was past his prime and when Marciano knocked him out in the eighth round, he had such mixed feelings at beating his hero that he cried in Louis' dressing room after the fight.
On August 31, 1969, the day before his forty-sixth birthday, he died in a private-plane crash near Des Moines, Iowa. He was survived by his wife of nineteen years, Barbara, and his two children, Rocco Kevin and Mary Anne.
Marciano was never among the top boxers of all time in terms of skill, speed, or power, but he knew how to use the skills he had developed and his fans recognized his grit. One sportswriter commented that if all the heavyweight champions of all time were locked together in a room, Marciano would be the one to walk out.
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