Today our nation celebrates the life of famed navigator and explorer Christopher Columbus and his voyage in 1492 that resulted in the discovery of the Americas.
Although Columbus sailed for the rulers of Spain, he is widely regarded as an Italian because he was born in the Italian city of Genoa in 1451.
With Columbus and his vast achievements in mind, I wondered who the greatest sports figure of Italian origin was in history.
It quickly became apparent that no individual of Italian descent accomplished more in the world of athletics than Rocky Marciano did.
Marciano was born named Rocco Francis Marchegiano in Brockton, Massachusetts to Italian immigrants Pierino Marchegiano and Pasqualina Picciuto.
Marciano, known as “The Brockton Blockbuster,” remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career with an unblemished record of 49-0.
“The Brockton Blockbuster,” who was selected fighter of the year by Ring Magazine on three separate occasions, is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
40 years ago last month, Marciano died instantly on the eve of his 46th birthday when a private plane that he was a passenger in struck a tree near a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa.
Marciano was once quoted as saying, “I don’t want to be remembered as a beaten champion.”
Marciano would ultimately never be “remembered as a beaten champion.”
However, Rocky Marciano will always be remembered as one of the most accomplished and truly dominant pugilists in the annals of the sport of boxing.
In tribute to Marciano, I decided to rank the five most accomplished heavyweight fighters of the past quarter century.
I want to emphasize that I am ranking the most “accomplished” boxers, and not the most skilled.
Without further adieu, below are my nominations.
1) Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs)- Lewis, 43, became the WBC heavyweight champion by default in 1993 after Riddick Bowe cowered and refused to scrap the mammoth Brit.
Bowe’s pink decision made Lewis the first and only world titleholder to hail from Britain in the 20th century.
In September 1994 in London, Lewis lost to a journeyman crack-head named Oliver McCall via TKO in the 2nd round.
In April 2001 in South Africa, Lewis was defeated by Baltimore bruiser Hasim Rahman via knockout in the 5th round.
The only two knockouts that Lewis suffered in his professional career stemmed from two flailing bombs that miraculously landed directly on the Brits kisser.
Lewis avenged both of his losses and retired as champion in 2003.
The United Kingdom’s resident badass is one of four boxers in history to have won the heavyweight championship three times.
2) Evander Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 KOs)- Holyfield, 46, began his professional career as a cruiserweight.
However, after having had great success in that division, the Atlanta native purposefully gained weight and set his sights on the heavyweight division.
In October 1990, “The Real Deal” countered a looping uppercut and cracked James “Buster” Douglas squarely on the jaw.
The portly pugilist was unable to get off the canvas and Holyfield became the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Holyfield’s crowning moment in the ring came when he bullied Mike Tyson and TKO’d the notorious villain in the 11th round to capture the WBA Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Seven months later, Holyfield was scheduled to fight Tyson in a rematch for the WBA championship.
During the rematch, Holyfield incited the menacing Tyson when he connected an inadvertent head butt that opened a deep laceration over the former champion’s eye.
Tyson subsequently went insane and ferociously chomped pieces of Holyfield’s ears off with two illegal bites.
Holyfield has somewhat tarnished his legacy because he has insisted on continuing to fight despite the fact that he is more washed-up than a 65-year-old prostitute.
Nevertheless, Holyfield is the only boxer to ever win the heavyweight title four times and he deserves to be recognized as one of the absolute greatest pugilists of the past quarter century.
3) Mike Tyson (50-6, 44KOs)- Tyson, 43, had one of the most ferocious and intimidating presences in the annals of professional sports.Before he receded into a cannibalistic, convicted rapist, Tyson was also one of the most skilled prizefighters the sport of boxing had ever seen.
“Kid Dynamite” became the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he demolished Trevor Berbick for the WBC heavyweight championship in November 1986.
Tyson steamrolled the competition for years before his personal demons derailed his seemingly inevitable path to immortality.
Tyson can be considered something of a Shakespearean tragedy.
However, the Brooklyn brawler also needs to be recognized as one of the most talented fighters in the illustrious history of boxing.
4) Riddick Bowe (43-1, 33KOs)- Bowe, 42, was a genuine superstar in the ring for a relatively brief period of time.
In November 1992, Bowe upset undefeated Evander Holyfield to become the world heavyweight champion.
Bowe and Holyfield engaged in a memorable and savage slugfest that will forever be seared into the minds of boxing fans.
Bowe eventually fought a psychotic Polack called Andrew Golota.
Golota, a barbaric and tough animal, landed so many low blows on Bowe that it is somewhat shocking that the Brooklyn product doesn’t currently speak like Little Richard.
Bowe was named the victor in both of the wars he waged with Golota via disqualification.
But the two fights exhibited that Bowe could no longer compete on a high level in the sport.
Bowe ultimately lost his marbles and became little more than tabloid fodder.
In 1996, Bowe announced that he would leave his wife and children to join the United States Marine Corps.
Due to his anemic work-ethic, “Big Daddy” dropped out of boot camp in the midst of basic training.
In 1999, the punch drunk fighter kidnapped his wife and children at her parent’s community in North Carolina.
Thankfully, all victims were released unharmed.
Bowe did become a laughingstock.
Still, for five years, he was a legitimate tactician in the ring and a fighter that does not deserve to be overlooked despite his litany of issues.
5) Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs)- Klitschko, 33, outmanned WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO titles.
With his demolition of Ibragimov, “Dr. Steel Hammer” became the first unified champion since Lennox Lewis was in 1999.
Klitschko has shown that he is a worthy fighter and his recent matches have indicated that he is only going to continue to improve his craft.
The heavyweight division is sadly devoid of talent and it seems realistic to predict that Klitschko will be a force in its ranks for the foreseeable future.
Needless to say, this publication is an opinion piece.
The thoughts of my readers are more than welcome.
Keywords: Boxing
