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FROM THE
BOOKS
Early in his boxing career, Rocco Francis Marchegiano decided the
first thing he would have to do was change his name. He shortened it
to Rocky Mack, and then Rocky March. He finally settled for
Marciano."At least that sounds Italian," Rocky said. The late
Anthony Petronella, former N.B.A. president, gave Rocky the name
Marciano. It came about as something of an accident. "Nine of Rocky's first 11 professional fights were fought in Providence,
Rhode Island, our home town," Petronella recalled once. "It was my
job to prepare a copy of the matches each fight night for Harold
Warman, the ring announcer, and give the list to him prior to the
first bout so that he could practice pronouncing the names. Well,
the first time Rocky fought there Harold tripped over the name
Marchegiano. Finally I told him to call him Marciano. 'No
one will know the difference, Harold,' I said. So as the new Rocky
Marciano, he knocked out Harry Balzerian in the first round. I'll
never forget Rocky coming into Rhode Island Auditorium that night,
1948, packing an oil-stained brown paper bag in which his mother had
packed three big Italian sandwiches. Win or lose, her son wasn't
going to starve."
John D. McCallum-The Encyclopedia Of World Boxing Champions
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