16mm Sound, 11 Minutes
The Fight
In July 1952, two months before Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott for the heavyweight boxing championship, Marciano fought a leading contender, Harry Mathews. Mathews was experienced, youthful, fast and boxed Marciano well for nearly two rounds. Suddenly, late in the second, Rocky caught Mathews with two crushing left hooks and Mathews fell to the canvas, hitting his head on a ring strand. The fight was over.
The Movie
Compared to other modern heavyweight champions, only a limited number of Marciano’s fights were filmed – including all his title fights, though just a handful of title contender bouts. All were broadcast at one time or another, and tapes have been circulated among collectors, and uploaded on YouTube. However, the Marciano-Mathews film is among the lesser shown fights, and most copies I’ve seen are poor quality.
The Video
I’m pleased to show this very clean 16mm sound print of the fight from my collection. Not only is the fight complete, but the film includes promotional pre-fight footage of a young Marciano in his training camp.
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