Rocky Marciano

"What could be better than walking down any street in any city and knowing you're the heavyweight champion of the world?"

"That was a fucking dumb question. If I didn't think I was gonna win, why the hell would I be fighting?!"

"Why waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one?"

"I don't want to be remembered as a beaten champion."

"Roland La Starza was tough, but Ezzard Charles was the toughest man I ever fought. I learned what pain was all about when I fought him."

"Rocky Marciano stood out in boxing like a rose in a garbage dump."

"Rocky is not in there to outpoint anybody with an exhibition of boxing skill. He is a primitive fighter who stalks his prey until he can belt him with that frightening right-hand crusher. He is one of the easiest fighters in the ring to hit. You can, as with an enraged grizzly bear, slow him down and make him shake his head if you hit him hard enough to wound him, but you can't make him back up. Slowly, relentlessly, ruthlessly, he moves in on you. Sooner or later, he clubs you down."

"I got a guy who's short, stoop shouldered and balding with two left feet. They all look better than he does as far as the moves are concerned, but they don't look so good on the canvas. God, how he can punch."

"I was on my face. I heard the count from one to 10. I kept telling myself that I had to get up, but I couldn't move. I couldn't make myself move. It was the strangest feeling."

"The greatness of Marciano in the ring was defined by the way he prepared for a fight, his ability to punch and take a punch."

"Rocky didn't know enough boxing to know what a feint was. He never tried to outguess you. He just kept trying to knock your brains out. If he missed you with one punch, he just threw another. I had the braggadocio and the skill and the guts, but that wasn't enough. Marciano beat me down."

"Rocky is a poor Italian boy from a poor Italian family, and he appreciates the buck more than almost anybody. He's only got two halfway decent purses so far, and it was like a tiger tasting blood"