Carmine Vingo

The style of the victory was what really made it discussion-worthy, not the opponent. Nobody really gave a damn about Vingo, I read once that he wanted to retire soon after the Marciano fight to live peacefully with his girlfriend

Beating a man so badly that he goes into a coma and wakes up with paralysis isn't a common occurrence

 

I believe the bigger problem was Abdusalomov got brain damage to the wrong person. The people Charles and Robinson killed also make for stories of their prowess

 

Burt saw Vingo on tv when he was a little kid, which is probably why he talked pretty highly of him.

On a side note, I have a old Ring Magazine right before the Rocky Walcott fight. It has a brief article going over Rockys career and it doesnt mention Vingo at all. I was surprised when I first read it. Since, the bio Ive read of Rocky really hypes up Vingo.

 

I think it's the timing of the fight, more than anything else, that makes the fight in retrospect seem more important than it was viewed at the time.
Two young guys who were facing each other at a crucial point in each of their careers. Marciano happened to win and then go on to great things which no one foresaw at the time. The fight was an important landmark to Marciano at the time, but not to anyone else

 

Burt also mentions in this thread seeing a young Vingo on TV.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/how-big-was-carmine-vingo.254339/

 

Are you bashing a guy BURT not here to defend himself anymore? I hope not. Surely no creature goes that low.

 

Btw I am pretty sure everyone gets you hate Marciano. He seems to live rent free in your brain.

 

Good info, some diligent research done here! Vingo was nothing more than a promising novice going into that fateful fight.

 

Yes indeed an exciting ,"rock em sock em," bout while it lasted,but not significant as far as quality of opposition is concerned.

 

Any fight at Madison Square Garden in the late 1940s was quite a big deal.
Vingo must have at least had some sort of following to get a spot a MSG, apparent debuting there in January 1948. He was considered worthy to represent the Bronx at MSG In that era. so he must have been rated as promising by someone.
Rocky Graziano rated him, according to the OP.

Vingo was 18, 19 years old.
He turned 20 a couple of days before facing Marciano, and gave him a real war and ended up in coma, so he's worthy of some respect.

 

Any fighter who puts up such a brave effort is worthy of that respect,and I am always more than happy to give it.

1949-12-30 : Rocky Marciano 180¼ lbs beat Carmine Vingo 189 lbs by KO at 1:46 in round 6 of 10

• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
• Referee: Harry Ebbets

• "Before a Madison Square Garden crowd of 9,277, Marciano (24-0) and Vingo (16-1) went toe-to-toe in a vicious back and forth war. Marciano later described it as "the toughest fight of my career."

Vingo was down for a count of nine in the first round from two left hooks. Marciano put him down for another nine count in round two, but Vingo fought back furiously and hurt Marciano with solid rights. "He seemed pretty strong at the end of the fifth," the referee said of Vingo after the fight. "But I noticed he was tiring after the first minute of the sixth."

Marciano put Vingo down for the count with a left uppercut in the sixth round. Vingo, who hit his head hard on the canvas when he went down, was unconscious. He briefly regained consciousness in the ring but lapsed back. After about twenty minutes, and with no ambulance available, Vingo was placed on a stretcher and carried two blocks to a nearby hospital.

Vingo lapsed into a coma at the hospital. He was administered the last rites by a priest, and Marciano paced up and down the corridors of the hospital and prayed to God to spare his opponent's life. Fortunately, Vingo pulled through. By early February 1950, he had been discharged from the hospital and was back home in the Bronx. However, he was left slightly paralyzed on one side and never boxed again."

. A more significant victory was the one Rocky scored over Phil Muscato just 19 days earlier,he floored Muscato 9 times to stop him in 5 rds.