By Liam Santiago: I do not use the word warrior lightly, when describing a fighter. But, for Rocky Marciano, there is no word that fits him better. The legacy of Rocky Marciano constantly comes under criticism from ‘arm chair critics’, that have never really been involved in boxing. Marciano, was, without a doubt, the toughest champion ever.

Marciano might not have possessed the finesse of other heavyweight champions, but he was as tough as a lion, and that is why he never lost a fight, in his long forty nine bout career. The Brockton warrior possessed the heart and desire to win that is sadly missing in so many fighter’s today. The word quit just did not exist in Marciano’s world. Not only did he display the courage of a lion in the ring, he also had tremendous power. His power was shockingly amazing, which shows in his forty three knock out victories. He had a devastating right hand that was known as ‘Suzie Q’. If you were caught flush by that straight right it was game over, simple as that.

Of course, like every fighter, Marciano had, and still has, his critics. They claim he had no finesse, he was too small. Today, they claim he fought only old men, past their prime and never fought anyone of great class. The one that comes up every single time is the argument that he fought old men and was over rated. Now, I will go about proving these critics wrong. Yes, his biggest victories did come against boxers in their descending days, but, which other champions did not beat champions on the decline? When Ali beat Sonny Liston, Ali was 22, Liston was 32, although many say Liston was older. When Tyson beat Berbick, Tyson was 20, Berbick was thirty three. When a 26 year old Ricky Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu, Tszyu was 35. The point is, Marciano seems to be the only one that takes the flak for this. Many of the ‘arm chair critics’, which I have mentioned, are very quick to shout their mouth off about how under rated Marciano is, yet, they do not look at the bigger picture.

Marciano beat every fighter that was put in front of him at the time he reigned as heavyweight champion. He never ‘ducked’ anyone. If you look at Joe Calzaghe, who recently retired with an undefeated record close to Marciano’s, he did not retire as a champion. That is because if he wanted to retire as a champion, he would have had to have fought the elite in his final two fights which he did not do. Marciano retired as a champion because he fought every fighter in his way until the very end.

Personally, I find it disgusting when I read an article about how under rated Marciano is, written by some English student, who does not really understand boxing at all. These writers also compare Marciano to fighter’s of different generations which is just stupid as things are done completely different now. They also use the silly phrase ‘the best ever’. The best ever? So what about boxers that lived 500 years ago? All these fighters that come into this category seem to be from the last century. To claim that a certain fighter is the best ever is just stupid.

The ‘Brockton Blockbuster’ has never got the credit he deserved. This guy was the toughest boxer to ever lace up a pair of gloves. To make him quit you would have had to cut both his legs off and chain him to the ground. He might not have had the finesses and all the fancy tricks, but the simple fact is, no one could beat him. In my eyes, he is the greatest.