I12, it's no secret I am not a sport's fan. However, the one sport my father watched (and later my husband occasionally) was boxing. My father's favorite was Rocky Marciano, so that name brings a smile to my face and a flashback of memories.
I don't even know if Marciano and Ali were in the same weight category, not to mention the fact that I always assumed that Ali was way better than Marciano. I am curious though on the outcome of this fantasy game. Obviously I'd go with Marciano, if for no other reasons but sentimental and of course he's Italian.
TIS
I don't follow boxing as much as others here but certain fighters do intrigue me and I have to be honest, I don't know much about Rocky Marciano. However, this film was split into two parts: the fight and a documentary which gave a backstory to both Marciano and Ali which I benefited greatly from. As for the fight:
Warning, Spoiler:
Ali outsized Marciano in height, weight, reach, etc. As a result, Ali took the lead in the early rounds and at one point was ahead by 5 points. Also, Ali was able to score a knockdown of Marciano. However, as he did many times in his career, Marciano finished strong, evening the score in the 12th round. Finally in the 13th, Marciano knocked out Ali (this was the third time in the fight Ali went down).
However, there was an alternative ending to the film which was never aired showing Ali beating Marciano in the 13th because the referee stopped the fight. From the early rounds, I was surprised that Marciano came back and won the fight. I picked it up at my local Blockbuster in New York in the special interest section. If you can't find it in a store, you can look for it online. For whatever reason, once the film was shown in theaters all of the prints but one were destroyed, but a DVD is available.
