Rocky Marciano vs Roland LaStarza

World heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano retained his crown when referee Ruby Goldstein stopped Roland LaStarza in the eleventh round at the Polo Grounds in New York on September 24, 1953. LaStarza, badly cut around both eyes and bleeding from the nose after taking increasingly severe punishment, had been knocked through the ropes shortly before the stoppage. The official record places the finish at 1:49 of the round. A crowd of 44,562 produced a gate of $435,817. Marciano was making the second defence of the championship he had taken from Jersey Joe Walcott a year earlier and entered as a four-to-one favourite.

There was more reason for interest than the betting suggested. Marciano and LaStarza had met three and a half years earlier at Madison Square Garden when both were unbeaten prospects. Marciano won that ten-round contest by a disputed split decision, and LaStarza remained convinced that he had done enough to win. The challenger had subsequently worked his way back into contention and arrived at the Polo Grounds believing his movement, defence and straight punching could again make Marciano look awkward. Marciano, by contrast, had gone on to knock out Joe Louis, win the championship dramatically from Walcott and then dispose of Walcott in the first round of their return.

LaStarza made a sound beginning. He moved laterally, jabbed and tied Marciano up whenever the champion managed to get close. Marciano came forward continually but was over-anxious to land the right hand and frequently missed with wide swings. LaStarza was the more orderly boxer during much of the opening six rounds, stepping away from the champion’s rushes and scoring while Marciano was trying to set himself. Marciano’s eagerness also produced untidy work. There were complaints of butting, hitting on the break and punches straying low. Goldstein finally penalised Marciano in the sixth for a low blow, costing the champion the round. Contemporary assessments had LaStarza winning the greater share of the first six rounds.

It was after the sixth that Marciano altered his method. He later acknowledged that he had been trying too hard to land the right and decided instead to work with hooks, combinations and punches to the body. The adjustment changed the fight. Rather than continually looking for one decisive blow to the head, Marciano began hitting whatever LaStarza left available. When the challenger covered his face and jaw, Marciano drove punches into the ribs, shoulders and arms. It was not always attractive work, but it steadily reduced LaStarza’s movement and made the clinches increasingly exhausting for him.

By the seventh and eighth, the pressure was becoming more difficult for LaStarza to contain. He continued to jab and tried to turn Marciano as the champion came forward, but his legs no longer carried him away as readily. Marciano crowded him against the ropes and punched with both hands, bringing hooks underneath LaStarza’s elbows and then switching upstairs when the guard dropped. LaStarza remained competitive and answered when he could, but he was now spending too much time defending. The damage was beginning to show around his eyes, while Marciano appeared physically stronger as the fight moved into its later stages.

Marciano’s body attack had a cumulative effect. LaStarza’s arms, which had been used effectively to block and parry during the early rounds, absorbed repeated blows. The champion was content to strike the upper arms when nothing else was available, making it increasingly difficult for the challenger to keep his guard high. By the ninth, LaStarza was being forced into prolonged exchanges near the ropes. Marciano continued to miss occasionally and even pitched forward to the canvas in the tenth after throwing a wild punch, but his mistakes mattered less because LaStarza was no longer fresh enough to exploit them. The challenger was now cut, tiring and being made to fight Marciano’s sort of contest.

The tenth was particularly punishing. Marciano kept LaStarza under pressure, throwing in combinations rather than relying upon the single right which had frustrated him earlier. LaStarza’s face was badly marked, and his resistance was increasingly confined to trying to block, hold and counter sufficiently to gain breathing room. At the end of ten rounds, the official scoring showed how completely Marciano had turned the fight around. Referee Goldstein had the champion ahead seven rounds to three, judge Young Otto scored it six to four for Marciano, while judge Harold Barnes had it level at five rounds each.

Marciano went after him without delay in the eleventh. A succession of lefts and rights drove LaStarza backwards and eventually knocked him through the ropes and onto the ring apron. The challenger managed to climb back into the ring before the count was completed, but his legs were unsteady, and the contest was effectively beyond recovery. Marciano attacked again immediately. LaStarza was trapped against the ropes as the champion threw both hands, and Goldstein stepped between them rather than allow the punishment to continue. LaStarza protested little. He had never previously been stopped as a professional.

The difference between the two meetings was plain. In 1950, LaStarza had been able to use his movement and boxing well enough to take Marciano to a disputed decision. Three years later he again caused the champion considerable difficulty in the early rounds, but Marciano was a more complete and experienced fighter. His decision to abandon the search for one right-hand finish and instead wear LaStarza down with hooks, combinations and body punching proved decisive. After the fight, LaStarza said Marciano was vastly improved from the man he had first met. The Ring subsequently selected the contest as its Fight of the Year for 1953. Marciano remained unbeaten and moved on to further defences against Ezzard Charles, Don Cockell and Archie Moore before retiring as champion.

I’ve always liked this fight because it shows why Marciano was far better than the crude brawler some people make him out to be. LaStarza had already given him a nightmare in their first fight and genuinely believed he’d beaten him. In the rematch, he started well again, using his feet, tying Rocky up and making him miss. For a few rounds, Marciano looked frustrated.

What changed was Marciano’s willingness to adapt. Instead of chasing the head all night, he started smashing the body and arms, taking away LaStarza’s defence piece by piece. That’s something fighters understand straight away. If a man’s guard is good, you don’t keep headhunting. You make those arms heavy, hurt the body, and eventually the openings appear.

By the later rounds, LaStarza was being broken down physically. His face was damaged, he was spitting blood, and Marciano just kept walking him backwards until the finish came in the eleventh.

For me, this is one of Rocky’s best performances because he had to solve a problem. LaStarza was clever, awkward and had already proved he could make Marciano look ordinary. This time Rocky worked him out and dismantled him. That’s the difference between pressure and intelligent pressure.