49 - 0

A biopic on Rocky Marciano, a sports legend, and the only undefeated heavy-weight boxer in history, is in the works and will star Jeremy Renner. Although you may say that Renner is too small to play the part of a heavy-weight, Marciano was only 5'11" and scaled-in at a mere 190 pounds. To be titled, 'Undefeated:The Rocky Marciano Story'  Marciano's story should make for a great sports film.

The 'great' Rocky Marciano

The film will be the first authorized biopic on Marciano's life and will follow him from childhood to his untimely death in a plane crash in 1969, at 46.  He retired from boxing in 1955 at the age of 31 and remains the only heavy-weight champion to retire undefeated with a record of 49 - 0 with 43 of his bouts ending in knockouts. Only Floyd Mayweather, a welter-weight boxer, has managed to match Marciano's 49 - 0 record with a 53% knockout record, Marciano's KO rate was 87% - the highest in boxing history.

Marciano was what is termed in boxing as a brawler. Given his small size for a heavy-weight his strategy was to get inside his opponents reach and than deliver his devastating punching power. He also had the ability to take a punch and was said to have an 'iron jaw'. In his career he was only knocked to the canvas twice, one time each in two separate fights.  Marciano's professional boxing career ran from 1947 to 1955 at which time he retired as world champ.

Jeremy Renner to play Marciano in biopic

As time passes there is a tendency to lose history. Ali, dubbed  'the Greatest', had a much longer career (from 1960 - 1981) than Marciano and amassed a record of 56 - 5 with 37 KOs.  Problem with Ali, he didn't know when to quit and decisively lost 3 of his last 5 fights.

It will be very hard to beat Marciano's boxing record and that's why it still stands. Better still is the fact that he knew when to exit the ring and retire as champ - you've got to admire that. I, for one, look forward to Jeremy Renner's portrayal of 'the great' Rocky Marciano.