Nov 29, 2007 9:33 am US/Eastern
Marciano Statue Planned For Boston, Not Brockton
BROCKTON (AP) ―
The World Boxing Council wants to commission a statue in honor of Rocky Marciano, but the plan to build it in Boston has angered people in the boxing legend's hometown of Brockton.
"That's stupid," said Dean Seidschlaw, 65, he sat at the bar in George's Cafe in Brockton, where the walls are covered with pictures of the undefeated heavyweight.
"I think that if they were to dig up Rocky and ask him, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he would want the statue in Brockton," said Peter Marciano, Rocky's younger brother.
But the WBC, which announced plans for the statue Nov. 17 at its annual convention in Manila, Philippines, said the council wants tourists and casual boxing fans to see the statue, and it's afraid only boxing die-hards will see it in Brockton.
Of 42 WBC representatives who voted on where to put the statue, just five chose Brockton while 37 chose Boston, including the three U.S. voters, said WBC President Jose Sulaiman.
"We want people to see Rocky even if they are not looking for him, and then they will have the opportunity to appreciate him as a legend in the sport of boxing," Sulaiman said. "Boston is visited by people of the world."
Marciano was 49-0 in his career, with 43 knockouts, reigning as world champ from September 1952 to April 1956, when he retired. He died in August 1969 in a plane crash in Iowa.
Brockton talked in 2000 about building a bronze statue of Marciano, but nothing materialized.
Sulaiman said the WBC plans are not meant to hurt Brockton, but to honor it "by having the statue in a place where more people will see it."
"And the people of Brockton can travel to Boston and say look, this is our hero," he said.
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