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PHILADELPHIA - (AP) - A fighter
has to have his annuities paid up be-
fore going against Rocky Marciano.
Marciano, the hard punching heavy-
weight from Brockton, Mass., not
only beats his opponents into bloody
submission, but he sends them
scurrying for a rocking chair and
retirement.
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Like last night when to all
intent
and purposes he ended the career
of the veteran Lee Savold. It is no
exaggeration to say that Marciano
slaughtered Savold. The 35-year-old
Englewood, N.J., fighter was a blood-
soaked hulk when his manager, Bill
Daly, asked referee Pete Tomasso to
stop the uneven match at the end of
the sixth round.
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"The will was there but not the
body," said Daly. "I'm going to
advise Lee to retire from the ring
tomorrow."
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John (Ox) DaGrosa, Pennsylvania
state athletic commissioner, who
listed the fight as a seventh round
TKO, said he was going to suspend
Savold indefinitely and ask him to
retire.
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Sound familiar?
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It should. Almost the same se-
quence of events followed Marciano's
eight round knock out of Joe Louis
four months ago. After the once
proud Brown Bomber was draped
over the ropes, he too was urged
to retire by both loyal followers
and some boxing commissions.
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_ SAVOLD NEVER had a
chance
last night. The unbeaten Marciano
charged across the ring from the
first bell, smashed two tremen-
dous left hooks into Savold's face
and then mercifully cut down his
bigger opponent. Marciano weigh-
ed 186 1/2 and Savold 200 for the
scheduled nationally-televised 10
rounder at Convention Hall. The
announced attendance was 9,243 and
the gate a disappointing $61,386.
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Despite his easy victory -
Marciano
won every round - the Rock was far
from satisfied. Asked how he felt
after cutting Savold's eyes and the
veteran's lip so badly it needed
stitches, Rocky said, "I wasn't sharp
at all. I need to fight oftener, A
four month layoff is too much."
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Marciano said, "I'd like to have
another fight under my belt before
I shoot for the title. Of course,
if they want to give me a title fight
now, I'll grab it. But I think I'd
do a lot better in September, fight-
ing once or twice in between."
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Marciano, who has won 34 of his
fights by TKO or knockout route,
thought the beating he gave Savold
was the worse he ever administered
to any opponent. "I hit him with
everything I had, but he wouldn't
go down," he said.
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