Was Rocky Marciano actually a big heavyweight ?

[Dempsey19]

I’ve heard some people say that Rocky Marciano was naturally a big 230 pound superheavyweight who used to come in for fights at an unnaturally low weight of 190 pounds because of his extreme conditioning program. And one of the things that they always bring up is that Rocky used to walk around at about 260 pounds.

Is this true ? Was Rocky actually a big super heavyweight who just had an abnormally extreme conditioning program ?

[PRINCEKOOL]

As I have stated almost 1 Million times on this forum, people need to take into account the culture of the times. In today's culture fighters or heavyweights, seem to have bought into the notion of being as heavy as possible 'But recently fighters such as David Haye and by the looks of it? Deontay Wilder, seem not to put too much emphasis on turning the heavyweight division into? A bodybuilding contest/or pie eating contest.

I believe that fighters from the 70's and early generations where a lot bigger than their statistics suggest 'In terms of bone structure and frame etc' Their was a video of Muhammad Ali & Ken Norton both on a TV show just before their second fight 'Where Ali looked ill, because he was obsessed with being as light as possible'.

Rocky Marciano could of easily been at-least 220 pounds if he wanted to be, even Joe Frazier in between fights was over 16 stone solid.

[Longhaul]

The Rock might have got fat between fights but at 190 he looked strong and sturdy and did not appear anything like a skinny guy.At that time most heavyweights were around 190-200 it was rare to have guys north of 210-215

[Longhaul]

The Rock was only 5:10” maybe an inch taller.There was no way he was coming into the ring at 230 that would have made heavier than Tyson or Frazier.

[GelfSara]

I’ve heard some people say that Rocky Marciano was naturally a big 230 pound superheavyweight who used to come in for fights at an unnaturally low weight of 190 pounds because of his extreme conditioning program. And one of the things that they always bring up is that Rocky used to walk around at about 260 pounds.

Is this true ? Was Rocky actually a big super heavyweight who just had an abnormally extreme conditioning program ?

No. Rocky was listed as 5'10.5"; he was actually 5'9" (1.75 meters), according to Marciano biographer John Cameron; his reach was 68 inches (1.73 meters)--incredibly short for heavyweight; by way of comparison, Gennady Golovkin has a reach of 70 inches and Sugar Ray Leonard had a reach of 74 inches. Mikey Garcia also has a reach of 68 inches.

There is no question that Marciano was superbly conditioned by the standards of the day; however, at his fighting weight of around 185-190lbs (roughly 84-86kg) he was not incredibly lean and he wasn't dehydrated; he was, in other words, a super middleweight or small light heavyweight by today's standards.

Were Marciano born in 1993 instead of 1923 he would most likely fight in the above weight divisions, however if this hypothetical Modern Marciano wished to fight as a cruiserweight he certainly could add significant muscle mass; weight training was frowned on in boxing circles until quite recently, and while the real Rocky did things like pick up and throw heavy rocks during training, he had no organized, systematic weight training program. Anabolic steroids were unheard of among boxers during the 1950s.

"Walking around weight" isn't a useful metric for determining a boxer's ideal weight division or in-the-ring weight unless one knows--at the very least--the boxer's bodyfat percentage at his "walking around weight". Some boxers stay lean between fights, others get quite fat.

[Dempsey19]

So 1 person supports this view but 2 people don't, interesting

[OctoberRed]

At the time he was normal, but now he's a cruiserweight

[Dempsey19]

One thing that does strike me as interesting is that Duran’s stamina went to suit when he cut from 190 to 147 but Rocky had arguably the best stamina of any boxer ever despite cutting from 255 to 184, perhaps that was evidence that he was a naturally bigger man ?

[OctoberRed]

One thing that does strike me as interesting is that Duran’s stamina went to suit when he cut from 190 to 147 but Rocky had arguably the best stamina of any boxer ever despite cutting from 255 to 184, perhaps that was evidence that he was a naturally bigger man ?

Gatti used to cut crazy amounts of weight as well. Guy walked around at like 180 and would get down to 140, and put on over 20 pounds overnight

[GelfSara]

One thing that does strike me as interesting is that Duran’s stamina went to suit when he cut from 190 to 147 but Rocky had arguably the best stamina of any boxer ever despite cutting from 255 to 184, perhaps that was evidence that he was a naturally bigger man ?

Duran had exceptional stamina at 147 when in shape; his first fight with Leonard was a great display of that.

While some weight-cutting is desirable for non-heavyweight boxers, ideally boxers should stay lean and fit year-round.