Rocco Marchegiano “Rocky Marciano”
On September 1, 1923, Rocco Marchegiano was born to Mr. and Mrs. Pierino Marchegiano. Rocco was twelve pounds two ounces. He was born and raised in Brockton Massachusetts. When Rocco was 18 months of age, he got pneumonia. Even though the infection nearly killed him he was able to survive without impairment. As a teenager Rocco was very physically fit he. Every day he was out playing baseball, exercising, or hitting the old mailbag that was hung out behind his house. When Rocco was 16 he was the cleanup batter for the American Legion league baseball team. In High School he made the Varsity Football team as a linebacker. The following spring Rocco became the first string catcher for the BHS Varsity Baseball team. After being cut from the baseball team for violating the “dual involvement” rule. Short thereafter he dropped out of high school and got a paying job as a “chute man” on a delivery truck. For the next few years Rocco jumped from job to job in search of a better career, until his father got him a job at the Stacy Adams Shoe Company. The job along with his overtime was double that of what his income has ever been. Rocco after a few years had to quite his job at the shoe factory because he found out that he was allergic to leather.
At age 20 Rocco was inducted into the army where he was shipped over seas to England where he was posted for a few months before being send back to the states and reassigned to Ft. Lewis in Washington to await transfer to the Pacific Theater. During his time at Ft. Lewis he volunteered to represent his unit in an amateur-fighting league. After entering the AAU Championships in Portland Oregon he won his first two fights bye first round KOs. Rocco broke two knuckles on his left hand and had to fight the championship fight with one hand but after a long fight lost. After the fight he had to receive serious surgery on his hand and undergo rehabilitation. In 1946 Rocco received...
