Unbeaten : Rocky Marciano's fight for perfection in a crooked world / Mike Stanton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stanton, Mike, 1957- author.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States.

Marciano, Rocky, 1923-1969.

Marciano, Rocky.

Boxers (Sports)--United States--Biography.

Boxers (Sports).

Local Subjects:

Marciano, Rocky, 1923-1969.

Boxers (Sports)--United States--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 385 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Henry Holt and Company, [2018]

Summary:

From the bestselling author of The Prince of Providence, a revelatory biography of Rocky Marciano, the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. The son of poor Italian immigrants, with short arms and stubby legs, Rocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary heavyweight champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: He never lost a professional fight. His record was a perfect 49-0. Unbeaten is the story of this remarkable champion who overcame injury, doubt, and the schemes of corrupt promoters to win the title in a bloody and epic battle with Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952. Rocky packed a devastating punch with an innocent nickname, "Suzie Q," against which there was no defense. As the champ, he came to know presidents and movie stars - and the organized crime figures who dominated the sport, much to his growing disgust. He may have "stood out in boxing like a rose in a garbage dump," as one sportswriter said, but he also fought his own private demons. In the hands of the award-winning journalist and biographer Mike Stanton, Unbeaten is more than just a boxing story. It's a classic American tale of immigrant dreams, exceptional talent wedded to exceptional ambitions, compromises in the service of a greater good, astounding success, disillusionment, and a quest to discover what it all meant. Like Suzie Q, it will knock you off your feet.

Contents:

Prologue: Two funerals

The terrific three

Brawler in the brig

Rocky Mack

Suzie Q's Broadway debut

Timmmberrr!

A good dream and a hard fall

The octopus

Requiem for a heavyweight

Twelve inches to glory

The lion and the lamb

The mongoose and the mob

America's guest

The fiftieth fight

Epilogue: Ghosts

Appendix: Rocky Marciano's professional ring record.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-366) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781627799195

1627799192

OCLC:

1002422842