Expert: Jack Rose - 9/24/2007

Question
Did roky marciano train with weights and if so was this where his incredible power of punching derived from?

Answer
Hi Cliff,  my understanding is that Rocky Marciano never used weights. He used his own bodyweight to do excercises. When he would travel in those days there were not many boxing gyms to even do his boxing routine. So he would figure out excercises to do in his room. He spent hours working on his strength. I have read that he was a fanatic about training and gaining strength.
I think some of his power came from the training but in my opinion I think most of it was natural. He was built with a thick waist and thick legs and stayed low to the ground when he punched. I think most of it came from his lower body and his ability to rotate his trunk violantly while delivering a blow. Technically, he was not a perfect puncher. But neither was George Forman and they both won world titles. Sometimes power is power, meaning, if you have natural strength your punches are going to do damage whether you throw them technically wrong or not. Some guys only have power because they are throwing the punches technically correct. Rocky would just come forward blasting away and over power guys. Almost Tyson-like, except he was wilder with his punches than Tyson. Tyson was more refined with short explosive punches.
I liked Marciano because he trained like a champion should.

thanks for the question.