Episode Details

Rocky Marciano first laced up gloves in the army to get out of kitchen duty, and his real dream was to be a baseball catcher. This deep dive explores how a late-blooming son of Italian immigrants from Brockton, Massachusetts, engineered himself into the only heavyweight champion with a perfect 49-0 record.

We look at the manual labor that built his strength, the failed Cubs tryout, and trainer Charlie Goldman's deep crouch that turned a short 68-inch reach into a weapon. Then we follow the Carmine Vingo fight, knocking out his idol Joe Louis, the comeback knockout of Jersey Joe Walcott, the bloody Ezzard Charles rematch, his retirement at 32, and the 1969 plane crash that killed him.

• Hauling ice and coal and using a stuffed mailbag as a heavy bag
• The crouching style and inside fighting that neutralized taller heavyweights
• Running hills backward and throwing punches underwater to build stamina
• The 13th-round Suzie Q that won the title from Jersey Joe Walcott
• The debate over whether his era diminishes a 49-0 record with 43 knockouts