A Quote by Thomas Hauser

Marciano was an idol in a simpler era, when professional athletes were heroes and sportswriters were complicit in building legends rather than exposing them. To the public, all that really mattered was that Rocky had 49 wins in 49 fights and retired in 1956 as the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world.
Look, America was a narrowly divided country in 2000;49-49 was what Michael Barone called it. It's a 49-49 nation.
The heavyweight championship of the world was the most coveted title in sports. Everyone knew who the heavyweight champion was. And not only when it was Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano: they knew when it was Ingemar Johansson.
Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beaten him.
A perfect record does not mean that someone is the greatest. Rocky Marciano never lost a fight, but I never hear anyone say he's the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.
Boxing is a dying sport, really. Years ago, the world heavyweight champion could be said to have reached the highest pinnacle of sport. Even in this country, boxers were heroes. Think of Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno.
I'm close to achieving something that very few boxers ever have - and that is to retire undefeated, like Rocky Marciano.
Jack Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion, so I took part of his name. I admired Rocky Marciano, so I took part of his name.
O.J. Simpson was primarily interested in O.J. His rise to fame in the late '60s coincided with the period where black athletes were more outspoken and political than in any era. You're talking about the generation of black athletes that came about after Jackie Robinson. Athletes after that were just happy to find a place in sports. But when you got to the mid-'60s, you had athletes like Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali, who were very outspoken on the issues of race and civil rights.
I was driving to school at Reseda High School - I was a junior, and it was early 1956. I had a '49 Ford. I was listening to the country station, and 'Folsom Prison Blues' comes on... It didn't sound like the stuff I was hearing on the pop stations.
A guy like Ric Flair at 49 could go out and do his character. A guy 49 going out and doing Goldberg again - I don't know what the odds are.
The financing of all TV shows is dictated by finding an audience between 18 and 49. I have now passed beyond 49, so probably, I am no longer a desirable commodity for TV. And I am at peace with that; that's fine.
Richard Nixon's career certainly ended in failure but someone who won an election with 60 percent of the vote, won 49 out of 50 states, that makes his -up to that point - incredibly successful. The idea of winning 49 states, incredible.
I was champion in Dream at middleweight, I'm champion in Strikeforce at light heavyweight, and my final goal is to be heavyweight champion of the world.
Once I'm world Champion we can think about what fights are fun rather than fights that need to take place.
I'm a professional world champion. Of course if you're a world champion, you're working harder than everybody else. You're making the commitment, and you're making the sacrifices. If it were easy, everybody would be able to do it. Everybody would be able to be world champion, but everybody can't be. Everybody doesn't have it in them.
The Internal Revenue Service is the real undefeated heavyweight champion.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!