when did rocky start

[kdynamite]

when did rocky marciano actually start doin organized boxing.How old was he

[hhascup]

Rocky was born on September 1, 1923.



While home on furlough from the Army in April, 1946, at the age of 22, Rocky learned of a local fight club offering money for amateur bouts. A friend of his talked him into giving it a shot and for $30 he signed up. He was assured he'd be put in with someone of his level of experience, but the night of the amateur boxing show he was informed the only heavyweight available for him to fight was Henry Lester. While this was Rocky's first fight, Lester was very experienced, having been a Golden Gloves Champion three years in a row and runner-up in the New England Amateur Championships in 1945. Shrugging off the one-sided nature of the bout, Rocky elected to fight anyway.
Not only was Marciano not a trained boxer, he was also smoking heavily and much overweight. The mismatch showed a slow, bloated, Rocky wheezing his way around the ring, trying to land his wild punches against a polished fighter. Driven against the ropes, completely done in, Rocky lifted a knee in protection as Lester pummeled him. He caught Lester in the stomach, resulting in a disqualification. A knee to the belly doesn't sound bad enough to some folk, so it was reported that he'd kneed Lester in the groin. (Untrue, as Lester's son himself told me the knee was to the stomach).
Though a humiliating loss for the young Italian-American, Rocky learned a valuable lesson. As he told his younger brother, "I learned something from this fight. if I ever get into the ring again, you can bet I won't be out of condition."

[mofo2]

Rocky was born on September 1, 1923.



While home on furlough from the Army in April, 1946, at the age of 22, Rocky learned of a local fight club offering money for amateur bouts. A friend of his talked him into giving it a shot and for $30 he signed up. He was assured he'd be put in with someone of his level of experience, but the night of the amateur boxing show he was informed the only heavyweight available for him to fight was Henry Lester. While this was Rocky's first fight, Lester was very experienced, having been a Golden Gloves Champion three years in a row and runner-up in the New England Amateur Championships in 1945. Shrugging off the one-sided nature of the bout, Rocky elected to fight anyway.
Not only was Marciano not a trained boxer, he was also smoking heavily and much overweight. The mismatch showed a slow, bloated, Rocky wheezing his way around the ring, trying to land his wild punches against a polished fighter. Driven against the ropes, completely done in, Rocky lifted a knee in protection as Lester pummeled him. He caught Lester in the stomach, resulting in a disqualification. A knee to the belly doesn't sound bad enough to some folk, so it was reported that he'd kneed Lester in the groin. (Untrue, as Lester's son himself told me the knee was to the stomach).
Though a humiliating loss for the young Italian-American, Rocky learned a valuable lesson. As he told his younger brother, "I learned something from this fight. if I ever get into the ring again, you can bet I won't be out of condition."

Superb hhascup.....