Joe Rogan often marvels at people who push their physical limits beyond belief. One such individual is David Goggins, famous for his brutal Hell Week training. But Goggins isn’t the only one who’s gone through tormenting routines. Long before him, there was another man who pushed his body to the absolute limit. A legendary heavyweight boxer whose training regimen might surprise you just as much as it did the podcast king.
Rocky Marciano, the undefeated heavyweight champion from 1952 to 1956, held a perfect 49-0 record with 43 knockouts, earning a reputation as one of boxing’s most brutal knockout artists. ‘The Brockton Blockbuster’ was also one of the inspirations behind Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky Balboa’. He was at the height of his career, but tragically, Marciano lost his life on August 31, 1969, just one day before his 46th birthday. He died in a plane crash while traveling from Chicago to Des Moines.
Marciano was definitely famous for his unbeaten record, but he was also known for training incredibly hard before every fight. The late heavyweight champion never slacked off in his preparation. His sessions often lasted for countless hours, filled with heavy bag work, intense pushups, sit-ups, and long runs. As Russell Sullivan writes in his book Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times, Marciano was so committed to training that he spent very little time with his family during camp.
Sullivan wrote, “He was almost completely cut off from wife and daughter while at camp, with no visits and only nightly telephone calls and occasional letters were allowed. Marciano went training for a fight with vigor and passion.”
Rogan is also one of many who have deep admiration for Rocky Marciano’s almost impossible-to-follow training routines. In a recent podcast episode with Cameron Hanes, Rogan spoke about the boxing legend with genuine awe. He was blown away by Marciano’s intense regimen, which reportedly included running 10 miles a day, sparring 30 to 40 rounds, and doing it all seven days a week, without taking a single day off.
Joe Rogan at The Joe Rogan Experience #2316 – Cameron Hanes, said: “I got into these old videos on YouTube of fighters training, and I got into this one video that I sent you about Rocky Marciano and how insane his training was! It was 07 days a week, he would spar sometimes 30-40 rounds in a day. He would run 10 miles in the morning, and five more miles at night and he would swim two miles in the lake. He would swim across the lake and back. And, he would get up in the morning and do it all over again. And, he never took days off!”
MMA: UFC 274-Cortez vs Gatto, May 7, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; UFC host Joe Rogan during UFC 274 at Footprint Center.
The UFC color commentator puts it perfectly. That kind of training would leave a normal person nauseated after just two days, let alone doing it nonstop for seven! But Rogan’s admiration for Rocky Marciano doesn’t end there. He also pointed out a fact that makes the heavyweight legend stand out even more compared to other boxers of his time, something that adds another layer to Marciano’s already incredible legacy.
Joe Rogan’s thoughts on Rocky Marciano being a small-sized heavyweight
As if going 49-0 wasn’t impressive enough, Rocky Marciano was also known for his relatively small stature compared to other heavyweights, a detail that caught a lot of attention. Standing at just 5’10” and weighing around 185-190 lbs, Marciano would’ve fit right into the UFC’s middleweight or maybe even light heavyweight division. Joe Rogan was especially impressed by how ‘The Brockton Blockbuster’ carried such devastating power and skill despite his size.
Rogan while continuing his conversation with Cameron Hanes said: “By the way, small heavyweight. We’re talking about that too! I think in his prime, he was 190 lbs or 189 pounds, something crazy like that. What did Rocky Marciano weigh while he was fighting? I think he was 5’10”, he weighed like 189 pounds, which is insane! 188, that’s so crazy dude! So, he weighed 12 pounds less than me. Think about that.”
That’s definitely something that made the late heavyweight great. Although Marciano wasn’t the only smaller-sized boxer of his era, he did face Archie Moore on September 21, 1955 another fighter who weighed in around the same range. What made Marciano truly stand out was his ability to generate incredible power despite not being the most technically refined boxer. That knockout ability is a big part of why he’s still so widely admired today.
With that being said, if you’re one of those classic fight fans, let your thoughts flow and share some of the best moments of Rocky Marciano.
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