Unbeaten : the triumphs and tragedies of Rocky Marciano

' Unbeaten is one of the best sports books I've read in years.' – Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life. Rocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: he never lost a professional fight. When he retired in 1956, his record was a perfect 49-0. Unbeaten is the revelatory biography of one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Marciano rose from abject poverty and a life of petty crime to become heavyweight champion and one of the most famous faces of his era. He dominated boxing in the decade following the Second World War with a devastating punch, which he nicknamed the 'Suzie Q'. But perfection came at a price. Pulitzer Prize-winner Mike Stanton tells the story of Marciano's pursuit of greatness through the era of guys and dolls, hustlers and gamblers, glamorous celebrities and notorious mobsters. But boxing had its dark side, particularly at a time when Mafia mob bosses like Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo wielded immense power behind the scenes. Marciano retired while still in his prime, weighed down by the mob's influence in the sport he loved. For the last decade of his life, he wandered America, disillusioned, untrusting, hiding his money, cheating on his wife, consorting with the mobsters he had loathed for corrupting his sport, until his death in a plane crash in 1969, the night before his 46th birthday. Unbeaten by Mike Stanton is the story of a remarkable champion, a sport that was rotten to its core, and a country that may have expected too much from its heroes. Sylvester Stallone's famous Hollywood franchise borrows its name from a less famous but very real man, Rocky Marciano. T'he Brockton Blockbuster' was the only undefeated heavyweight champion in boxing history. While Marciano's 49-0 record and knockout power make him a familiar figure in the annals of sport, his story, which weaves through the mafia's golden era in America, is more complex and largely forgotten - compelling, heroic and ultimately tragic. This is the story of an incorruptible immigrant son who chased the American dream in the middle of the 20th Century, then lost it in a changing world in the 1960s. Marciano's story unfolds in the back alleys of New England and the musty gyms and Broadway lights of New York in the years after World War II, when boxing reflected the tremendous societal changes sweeping America. Marciano moved through a romantic era of guys and dolls, hustlers and gamblers, crusty trainers and sleazy managers, glamorous celebrities and notorious mobsters. Marciano's quest for perfection came at a price. The All-American boy achieved his dream only to retire from the ring while still in his prime. For the last decade of his life, he wandered America, disillusioned, untrusting, hiding his money, cheating on his wife, consorting with the mobsters he had loathed for corrupting his sport, until his death in a plane crash in 1969, the night before his forty-sixth birthday