Rocky Marciano and Roland La Starza fought each other on two separate occasions, the first time in 1950 both as undefeated contenders and the second in a heavyweight championship fight in 1953.

La Starza started off the fight well, cleverly boxing while mostly on the retreat from the ever approaching champion, and effectively clinched when he got too close.

Rocky started off in awkward fashion, missing often while gunning for an early knockout, possibly suffering from ring rust having only fought one professional round during the entire year leading up to the fight.

The champion’s constant pressure began to beat the challenger down, landing heavy blows to the head, body and even La Starza's arms (which made it increasingly difficult to properly defend himself).

The challenger beat the count, but Marciano went in for the finish, landing several more hard blows before referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight.

Although he fought nine more times, he lost five of them (including a loss to future Marciano opponent Don Cockell) before finally retiring from boxing in 1961.