Lambs to the Slaughter? (diary entry)

25.05.2022

Wednesday morning's "Learn from the Fight" saw 1955's reigning champions of the two heaviest weight classes destroy the challengers to their position. It would prove to be Rocky Marciano's penultimate professional fight and Archie Moore

Rocky Marciano versus Don Cockell Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship 16.05.1955

Donald John Cockell  was born on 22 September 1928 in Balham, London. He never knew his father. His mother was a dom estic servant from Battersea. His first trade was as a blacksmith from where he credited developing his strength. His pre-professional career began in fairground booths and on the amateur circuit.

Cockell turned professional in 1946 with a fifth round knockout of Trevor Lowder. By the 17th October 1950 he had compiled a record of 48-9-1 before beating Mark Hart and winning the British light-heavyweight title recently vacated by Freddie Mills. Hart was knocked out by Cockell in the 14th round. The following year, after winning two more fights, he added the European light-heavyweight when he won a technical knockout over France's Albert Yvel at the Harringay Arena in the sixth round. After two more wins, he successfully defended both titles against Albert Finch who he knocked out in the seventh round. Finch was had previously held the British middleweight title.

Cockell then attempted to assail the weight divisions and failed in a match against the US heavyweight Jimmy Slade at the Harringay Arena. Slade knocked down twice in the first round, once in the second and twice in the fourth before the referee intervened and awarded the bout to Slade. He then won on points against the Italian Renato Tontini despite being knocked down twice in round two. However, he failed to win the vacant Commonwealth Light-Heavyweight Championship when he fought Randy Turpin in 1952. Cockell had struggled to make weight after his foray into the heavyweight division. After three knockdowns, he lost to a TKO in round 11.

Deciding to make the heavyweight division his home, Cockell defeated three top contenders for the British and Commonwealth crowns. The last of these had been an aged Tommy Farr, one of Joe Louis's toughest opponents when in his prime. Cockell won a 15 round decision over reigning champion Johnny Williams. He won two non-title bouts before successfully defending the Commonwealth title against Johnny Arthur in Johannesburg in round 15.

The US dominated the heavyweight rankings and Cockell needed to secure victories over there to get a crack at the world title. He did this by outpointing old Marciano rival Roland La Starza at Earls Court and twice beating Harry (Kid) Matthews at the White City Stadium and then at Sicks' Stadium, Seattle respectively. For the first time since Tommy Farr had challenged Joe Louis in 1937, a British boxer was getting a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship.

The American press were particularly cruel and unkind to Cockell in the build up to the fight. They took delight in targeting his physique, often calling him "Fats" as well as the "tubby target", "a light-hitting plodder", a "dogged tub of fat" and the "resolute fat man".

The fight was televised on close circuit television - the pay-per-view of the day - on 83 theatres in 59 US cities. 18,000 spectators watched the fight at the Kezar Stadium, San Francisco. Marciano received 40% of the gate and Cockell received 20%.

Cockell stood at 5'11" and had a reach of 71". Despite the exaggerated claims that he was severely overweight, he weighed in at 205 lbs to Marciano's 189 lbs. Far from resembling a Greek god in his physique, Cockell still looked slimmer than the likes of Two Ton Tony Galento. Cockell's record was 66-11-1. Marciano's was 47-0

Just prior to the fight an unnamed individual, probably an underworld figure, visited Marciano in his changing room and told the champion that Cockell would be easy, too easy. Marciano says he wishes the man had never spoken to him and that he had never heard of Cockell. Later Marciano recalled that his opponent might have looked like a tub but had a mean aura about him along with a decent record of beating good fighters. Marciano said that he just got a strong urge to get the job done.

Round 1 - This was a fairly even round with Cockell standing up to Marciano's barrages. However, this wasn't always a good sign against Marciano as he was used to losing early on before beating his opponents down from the middle rounds onwards. Cockell stood his ground well in the centre of the ring as Marciano rolled and ducked in his customary fashion. According to some writers, the champion was hitting low from the opening bell onwards. Marciano might have been landing most of the inside punches but the dirty tactics weren't obvious on the edits we watched.

Round 2 - The fight still looked fairly even and Cockell had been doing his best to land heavy shots. Matters heated up early in the round and both men exchanged well. Marciano was landing more with his inside uppercuts and Cockell was intent on not giving ground. The challenger threw some hard hooks and landed a decent right cross on the champion.

Round 3 - Cockell landed an uppercut at mid range before circling off. Marciano appeared to be taking more of the centre of the ring and Cockell regularly seemed to bounce out of their close-range exchanges to move around to the outside. Here and there the challenger attempted to shove his way into a dominant position but Marciano kept regaining the centre spot. Cockell continued to use a recurring pattern of moving out with side hopping foot movement before settling and re-setting. Marciano appeared to be getting his steam up just as the bell went. This is the round that referee, Frank Brown warned Cockell for throwing a low blow which is almost comical given Marciano's approach to the fight.

Round 4 - Marciano led his attack low, a right hook to Cockell's ribs or left kidney. The two wove in and out their respective attacks, Marciano' s head rolling inside and probably catching Cockell. Cockell wrestling and throwing hooks and uppercuts where he could. Some writers see Marciano taking this round, but it still seemed fairly close to me as Cockell fought his way into clinches with two-punch combinations and refused to be bullied to the outside.

Round 5 - This all changed at this point. Marciano was now pushing the fight to the ropes and landing telling shots on Cockell. The challenger fought back with a few heavy shots but this was Marciano's round. The dirty boxing tactics started to become more evident now and Cockell took some sharp headbutts on the ropes. Marciano continued to pour on the punishment getting the better of the exchanges.

Round 6 - The fight started with Cockell on the back foot and Marciano bulling forward. Then the challenger circling back and tried to get the fight back into the centre of the ring. His odd stilted footwork was still present and he drove some of his combinations into the champion. Whilst watching the fight on his regular TV show years later, Marciano commented at this point on Cockell's fast and sharp hands. Marciano stepped back in on his opponent and sent him back. He then missed with a big left hand and got caught by Cockell's right. Marciano charged back in and ate a few punches only to land some of his own. He continued to experience difficulty in pinning Cockell against the ropes. The challenger was mindful to circle back to the middle of the ring. Cockell took a right to the jaw just before the bell that clearly hurt him badly and went to the body. At this point, Marciano would later tell press he thought he had finished Cockell.

Between rounds referee Frank Brown asked Cockell's corner if their man wanted to quit. Cockell's manager wanted this to happen but Cockell told him he must not stop the fight on any condition.

Round 7 - Marciano decided to head for the body from now on. His head was also at work too inside the clinch. At 14:20 on our video, Marciano connected with a perfect dirty combination - left hook/left elbow/headbutt. Cockell turned to the referee with a half-smile but the fouls were not acknowledged. Marciano muscled the challenger to the ropes and delivered some particularly hard body shots. More than enough had hit Cockell in the groin too. A new tactic seemed to be to keep the Brockton Blockbuster away and Cockell began posting off with combinations. As the fight moved to the centre of the ring, Marciano threw punch after punch along with hard shoulder bumps but Cockell seemed to be taking it all. Eventually the champion moved the challenger back onto the ropes.

Round 8 - Cockell moved out of Marciano's best range. The champion continued to stalk. He then unleashed an onslaught of looping punches coming in from different angles as Cockel tried to use foot work to move out and eventually clinched. Cockell was sent head first through the ropes by Rocky's next barrage of punches. The challenger was saved by the bell as he was left hanging on the ropes. Marciano dug in shovel hooks and uppercuts, landing the lion's share of punches but Cockell still fired back with some of his own. With his guard now lowered, Marciano didn't need a written invitation. He began launching clubbing attacks to the exposed area. Cockell still fought back, using shoulder blocks where he could and swinging his own punches. However, he was mainly taking Marcino's powerful punches. A right clearly staggered him and was then followed by a left hook, but he kept hanging on. Marciano went to the body blatantly hit below the belt. You could see Cockell's shorts move with the shock of the impact. Suzi Q rights and left hooks repeatedly hit the challenger in the head. Just before the bell a haymaker of a right sent Cockell head first threw the ropes and he hang there as Marciano returned to his corner.

Round 9 - Marciano was shocked that Cockell was back on his feet and willing to go. However, the champion did not take long to Cockell went down twice before referee, Frankie Brown, stepped in to save him from more punishment. The first time had seen Marciano hit while he was down but it wasn't acknowledged by the referee. Cockell showed he still wanted to fight. The final round  had lasted 54 seconds.

During the fight Marciano blatantly hit below the belt, headbutted, shoulder-bumped, threw elbows, hit after the bell and even hit Cockell when he was down. It might be the dirtiest fight of his championship run. Cockell's bravery on the night did not go unappreciated by the spectators who gave him a standing ovation as he left the ring. Marciano told the press that Cockell had guts, was a lot better than he expected, was an underrated fighter and took everything the Brockton Blockbuster could dish out. He said besides his first match with Ezzard Charles, he did not know another fighter he hit so hard or so often. Cockell simply said he had been given a "raw deal", which caught the headlines but he did not elaborate on the comment. However, his manager would be more expressive as he criticised the negligence of Frank Brown who turned a blind eye to Marciano's blatant fouling.

Budd Schulberg of Sports Illustrated would signal the repulsion many boxing historians would view this fight, considering it a Marciano low in terms of his conduct in the ring, but would also be unable to discontinue the blatantly unfair and unnecessary fat-shaming his fellow journalists had used prior to the fight:

"Except for the technicality of wearing eight-ounce gloves, Don Cockell's stand against Rocky Marciano in the fading daylight hours of a cool San Francisco sunlit day was a glorious—or appalling—throwback to this pre-Marquess of Queensberry condition. This was a bare-knuckle brawl with gloves—and not a pleasant sight either—as an uncouth, merciless, uncontrolled and truly vicious fighter (the unbeaten Champion Marciano) wore down an ox-legged, resolute fat man who came into the ring with the honor of the British Empire weighing heavily—and consciously—on his massive, blubbery shoulders. He had promised his Union Jack supporters that he would not let them down, and the first words he mumbled through swollen lips after his fearful beating in nine rounds were an apology to his fellow countrymen for not having done better."

Jack Gallagher of the Oakland Tribune was a little kinder, although not entirely accurate, when he said, "The fight was all Rocky's from the beginning. The Englishman showed amazing capacity for soaking up punishment."

According to BoxRec, "In April 1956, the chief investigator for the California Governor's special committee investigating boxing accused promoter Jimmy Murray of shortchanging both fighters and paying $10,000 'on the side' to Al Weill, Marciano's manager. Murray and Weill denied the allegations."

Don Cockell would fight only two more times, many agreeing that this particular bout had all but destroyed him and his struggles with weight loss would get worse as he put on almost an extra stone after the Marciano fight. Both these subsequent fights would end his defeat by stoppage, a corner retirement to Nino Valdes and a straight KO to Kitione Lave. Although not title defences, he was stripped of his Commonwealth title and surrendered his British belt before hanging up his gloves. He retired with 66 wins (38 by knockout), 14 losses (nine by KO) and one draw. On paper, Cockell's career reads like an overstuffed light heavyweight slugger. He had undeniable tenacity and courage but had the worst of both worlds when looked at from a world standard. His slugging strength, so effective during the height of his light-heavyweight career, could not be successfully transferred to the heavyweight division. However, Cockell's struggle to maintain weight for the lighter division sapped his energy.

When Rocky Marciano later narrated over the fight as part of his regular retrospective boxing TV show, he praised his opponent throughout the fight for his bravery and was quite honest about the many fouls that weren't acknowledged by the referee on the night. Fouls, as boxing journalist Steve Bunce would later right, would have easily disqualified Marciano had the fight been staged on British soil. During an interview in the '60s Cockell would joke that he tried to match Marciano's fouling: "I gave it a go, but he was very good at it."

Don Cockell would eventually be awarded £7,500 in damages plus costs from the Daily Mail for calling him "overweight and flabby" in a libel case where fellow British champion Henry Cooper was a witness for his side. This was following the British paper's descriptions of him during his final match against Lave.

As for Rocky Marciano, this was his penultimate fight. He would choose to defend his title one more time and his opponent was about to defend his crown in the next fight of our lesson.

Archie Moore versus Carl "Bobo" Olson Undisputed World Light Heavyweight Championship 22.06.1955

Boxing has a funny way of upsetting expectations. Besides the "every dog has his day" and "the puncher's chance" cliches, combative fighting styles can confound the bookies. Prior to his retirement, Sugar Ray Robinson, having somewhat proven no could beat him in his respective middleweight division, had tried his luck at the light heavyweight crown. Despite decisively out-boxing the then current title holder Joey Maxim, he could not defeat the oppressive heat on the day and Maxim had simply outlasted him giving Robinson his first loss by stoppage. Maxim had since lost his crown to Archie Moore by unanimous decision and had failed to win it back on two separate occasions. Bobo Olson, a man twice defeated by Robinson, had won the middleweight title Robinson had vacated by defeating the second man to defeat Sugar Ray, Randy Turpin (Robinson beat him in their rematch). He had then won 10 fights in a row, including three defence of his title against the current Welterweight Champion, Kid Gavilan, the aspirational Rocky Castellani and Pierre Langlois. His last fight had been against Joey Maxim, proving Olson's contender status for the Light Heavyweight Championship.

Meanwhile Archie Moore had defended his title four times since winning it off Maxim in '53. He had also won many non-title fights. With a current professional record of 148–19–8 (1), having just outpointed Nino Valdes in a title defence, he hadn't lost a fight since 1951. This defeat against Harold Johnson had been avenged twice; the first time immediately and the second time in a title defence.

Olson weighed 170 lbs to Moore's 175 lbs. Both men were keen to climb their respective weight divisions and Moore had to rely heavily on his famed secret diet to get back down from 196.5lbs. However, Moore was not going to challenge Marciano's crown without first ensuring he was the right man to hold his current division's belt. Nevertheless, during an interview prior to this fight he complained about how much he was having to yo-yo with his weight. The fight took place at the Polo Grounds, New York City.

Round 1 - Olson came out on the outside. With their clear size differences, it was interesting to see the slugging Olson looking so fast early on to the technically proficient big man that was Archie Moore. Both men kept exchanging with their lead hands. Olson kept pumping his jab whilst Archie, moving forward with his cross-arm defence, threw jabs and left hooks. Olson picked up steam, not being able to land much against Moore's rolling, and began throwing two-punch combinations. Moore crowded him onto the ropes and tied him up when needed to start eroding that speed. He eventually caught Olson with a hard left hook and a hard uppercut.

Round 2 - Moore took charge of the fight and began driving Olson back, pumping his jab and crowding him close to the ropes. Olson was definitely firing faster punches but they were mainly hitting air as Moore leaned and rolled out of the way. The champion then fought back in with his cutting jab, never taking a step back and calmly moving Olson around the ring sometimes holding him in place and other times getting him on the run. Nevertheless, Olson did well to keep the round fairly tight. Referee, Ruby Goldstein had to wedge his way in as the bell rang. Both fighters had got into an aggressive exchange.

Round 3 - The battle of the left hands continued. Moore rolled away from Olson's jabs whilst leaning into his own. When closer his upward angled hooks hit home in multiple shots. Olson appeared to be turning matters into his favour as he moved Moore into the rope. The Old Mongoose clinched - maybe an early example of the turtle shell (?) Moore then moved out and after clearing his pathway with double-jabs began landing more hooks to Bobo's face as the latter clinched. As they separated two fast exchanges ensued. More landed a hard right hand after deflected a punch off his cross-arm defence. Olson tried to retaliate but Moore knocked him down with a left hook. The punch was all what was needed. Olson rolled and crawled on the ground but was unable to beat the count.

Archie Moore retained the Light Heavyweight crown. Now he set his sights on Rocky Marciano.