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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Combat sports & self-defence > Boxing
Say hello to the world's only undefeated heavyweight champion, a
guy called Rocky Marciano, who defied physical limitations - `He's
too small, too short, too light, too old.' With just a 67-inch
reach, two left feet and under six feet tall, tough, hard-hitting
Marciano blasted his way to 49 wins, 43 inside the distance. He was
impervious to pain: you could knock him down but you couldn't knock
him out. Marciano KO'd Jersey Joe Walcott in a 1952 thriller to
become world champion. Defending his title five times, he brought
the million-dollar gate back to boxing in 1955 when he crushed
Archie Moore in his final fight. He then criss-crossed America
making public appearances, for cash only. He built a network of
friends, businessmen and Mob guys who willingly paid his way, fed
him, dressed him and flew him around. And that's how he died,
hitching a ride in a plane that crashed in an Iowa cornfield in
1969, on the eve of his 46th birthday. His mantra was, `If you want
to live a full life, then live dangerously.' Rocky did that, all
right!
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