This is the second and final installment detailing Rocky Marciano’s appearance in the 1948 Golden Gloves Tournament in Lowell. It is excerpted from a forthcoming biography entitled: “Redemption: The Life & Death of Rocky Marciano” by John Cameron.
The night of February 9th was buzzing, a palpable sense of excitement surrounding the Lowell Memorial Auditorium as a capacity crowd was on hand to witness an enthralling bout between their home-town boy and the upstart who was trying to deny him a place in the forthcoming N.E. Tournament of Champions against champions from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
From there, a berth would be available for the All-East Golden Gloves Tournament in New York in March.
For the first two rounds the southpaw style of Charlie Mortimer ruled the day as he peppered the slightly heavier Rocco Marchegiano with shots from every angle (Rocco weighed in at his heaviest official weight for this bout, 192 lbs.) but to the surprise of the crowd this Brockton boy would not go down.
Either Mortimer had lost his fabled power or his opponent was far tougher than they had initially given him credit for. At least, most agreed, they were getting their money’s worth this evening.
In the opening stages of the closing third round the Brocktonian seemed to wilt and was forced back against the ropes, then, to the astonishment of all present, as recorded in the Lowell Sun, “He came to life with startling suddenness in 1:20 of the third, stepping inside Mortimer’s guard whilst coming off the ropes to deliver a roof-raising right uppercut that put Mortimer face down until his seconds hustled in to roll him over.”
Rocco was the champion. The swiftness of Rocco’s destructive power could no longer be denied. Those observers that evening would one day rate his right uppercut as the hardest punch ever thrown in a Lowell ring.
Thus it was this Brockton heavyweight who carried the hopes of Massachusetts into the New England finals. Mortimer’s local fans, however, viewed Marchegiano as a detestable character who had broken every rule in the ring and, in the words of columnist Frank Sargent, “…used everything but his teeth on his foes, for he has appeared in two fights and both times his opponent has wound up on the horizontal end of a haymaker. The crowd boos his apparent use of elbows, thumbs and head.”
This disparaging of the victor included tourney director Jim McMullen, who was left with a bitter taste in his mouth over the defeat of his boy, leading him to comment later: “I didn’t think too much of (Marchegiano). He seemed a little too cute. You’d hit him and he’d fake getting hurt. Then you’d relax and he’d slam you.”
The vitriol continued, as recorded by Sargent again: “Although Rocco (whose name sounds more like an opera star than a pugilist) will carry the colors of the state into battle against Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, next week there will be a lot of Lowell fans rooting for his opponent — any opponent.”
It would only be a matter of time however before the feelings of both the boxing public and those who reported it would be changed in his favor.
Within weeks the fighter with an opera star’s name found himself back in Lowell, this time in an attempt to lay claim to the New England title and with it a place in New York.
It is a matter of conjecture as to what permeated through his mind as he stood once again in the magnificent Memorial Auditorium and gazed at the two-tier seating that seemed to stretch forever upwards, dissected by a vast banner which read ‘Lowell Sun Charities New England Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions’ and stretched halfway around the venue. Nobody could read his mindset as he stepped foot again in that roped arena which he would later describe as “the best ring I ever fought in,” especially as he knew that the majority of those present had come to see him lose.
It was Lowell sports columnist John F. Kenney who would voice his opinion in Rocco’s favor, recognizing that he was more puncher than boxer. Kenney would become one of Marchegiano’s most vociferous supporters in the early years.
On that first night of competition, February 17th, the crowd would not get their wish. Prior to the scheduled bout it was announced that his opponent in the semifinals, Ralph Piscope, winner of the Maine heavyweight championship, had forfeited the bout, leading Marchegiano to be declared the winner by default. The reason would never be satisfactorily explained. Thus a bemused Rocco, wishing to believe that it was fear which directed his opponent to abandon the fight, disrobed and ventured into the crowd to watch the remaining bouts in order to see who he would be pitted against in the final scheduled for the following day.
The other semifinal was between Dave Hinkley, the champion of Vermont and the pre-tournament favorite who moved with the speed of a light-heavyweight, and New Hampshire champion George McGinnis. The bout was over in a little over a minute with Hinkley being counted out after seemingly stepping into a right hook. It set up a mouth-watering prospect once again with two punchers squaring off in a final in the Lowell ring.
Once again the next night the Auditorium rang to the voices of a capacity crowd, ranging from the working man eager to witness a good bout, to civic dignitaries eager only to be seen. The applause meted out to both McGinnis and Marchegiano was equally respectable, everyone believed this one would not go the distance, yet nobody knew who would win. The man with the easiest job that evening was the referee, Joe Zapustas. “As long as he could count to 10 he would do okay,” said McMullen.
At the outset they tore into each other with savage abandon, McGinnis because he was fueled by his earlier stoppage victory, Rocco because he knew no other way. For a full two minutes the carnage reigned, then suddenly a big left hook from Marchegiano landed on the right side of George’s face, in an instant his eyebrow seemed to explode, sending a shower of blood geysering out onto spectators seated at ringside.
Referee Zapustas had no option but to stop the action and inspect the injury, it was horrific, and he did not hesitate to call a halt to the fight then and there. Nobody in the crowd complained — particularly those in the front row.
Now the boy from Brockton had added the New England heavyweight championship to his resumé. He was presented with a resplendent sash belt and miniature golden glove to honor his achievements, the latter of which he promptly gave to Barbara upon his return home as an engagement gift after finally proposing to her after his victory over Mortimer.
Rocco Francis Marchegiano had announced to the world beyond his beloved Brockton that finally he was on his way. And for the next decade there would be no stopping Rocky Marciano.
Editor’s note: Marchegiano lost in the finals of the All-East Tournament in New York to Coley Wallace. The Brockton native changed his name to Rocky Marciano for promotional purposes later that year and fought 24 times as a pro in 1948 and ’49, He would retire as heavyweight champion of the world in 1956, at the age of 32, with a spotless record of 49-0 and 43 knockouts. He died in a plane crash in Iowa in 1969.
John Cameron’s email is marcianoredemption @gmail.com
