Rocky Marciano retired as an undefeated  world heavyweight champion at 49-0,  Marciano, along with DiMaggio and Vince Lombardi are the only three to have sculptures at the Hall of Fame at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago.
 
These and all the other Italian Hall of Famers were a source of great pride, and helped to salve the wounds of the bigoted, demeaning, derisive negative stereotypes Italians were bombarded with. 
  
The National Italian Sports Hall of Fame: http://www.niashf.org/
Click on Inductee tab, for list of over 200 Famers.  You will be shocked !!!!!!    How many do you know.? 

 Marciano was the pride of his hometown, known as the "Brockton Blockbuster", and he was the pride of Italians, who were thrilled with the accomplishments of one of their own.

 Even though Marciano died in a plane crash in the summer of 1969, there are still signs that the pride has not gone away in Brockton or among Italians.

 Walk into George's Caf? on Belmont Street, and there are nearly 500 pictures of Marciano lining the walls.

 Visit the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago, and Marciano's feats are prominently displayed.

 "It was huge" said Peter Marciano, Rocky's younger brother, of the following the champion had from Italians when he ruled the boxing world. Italians were very, very proud of Rocky.

 "I still hear it now from people who tell me that their fathers, their grandfathers, their uncles used to talk about Rocky and what he did all the time. It has been passed down."

 Peter Marciano recalls a time when he joined his parents, Pierino and Pasqualina, and Rocky Marciano at an Italian feast being held in New York City one year.

 A large crowd had gathered, and when word spread that the unbeaten heavyweight champion was in attendance, the Marciano family had plenty of company following them around.

 "You'd get into certain pockets of the Italian-American community and it was just unreal," said Peter Marciano. "It was incredible the way people reacted to Rocky back then".

 "We were in New York and Rocky met us there and we went to the Feast of St. Rocco's. Imagine the feast they have in the North End of Boston every year and multiple it by 40 or 50 times.

 "When they saw Rocky as he was walking around with us, people just started following him and saying,"Hey, that's Rocky Maricano" We had to get a police guard there were so many people.

 Eddie Germano, an award-winning cartoonist who spent a majority of his career at The Enterprise, said that Italians could identify with Marciano because of his working-class roots.

 "The biggest thing I remember about that is I was living in a three-decker house and the guy upstairs was Italian and he spoke poor English," said Germano. "Boxing was easier for the immigrants like him to understand rather than baseball."

 "My father didn't know baseball from a hockey puck, but people who weren?t from this country, they could identify more with a fighter than a ballplayer.

 "Italians weren't into baseball until Joe DiMaggio came along and had the 56-game hit streak in 1941, and then Rocky came along. For Rocky to come along and become the champion of the world, it made Italians very proud. One of theirs was the champion.!!

 Marciano was elected into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 and earned special recognition in the Gallery of Champions.

 The first heavyweight belt won by Marciano is on display at the facility, and there is a bronze sculpture of the champion in the lobby of Exhibit Hall. Marciano, DiMaggio and Vince Lombardi are the only three to have sculptures at the Hall of Fame.

 "Our family went out there about 10 years ago to see the statue unveiled and it was something," said Peter Marciano. "It is quite an honor to be there with Joe DiMaggio and Vince Lombardi in such a beautiful building"

 In Marciano's hometown, the World Boxing Council is planning to build a large statue that will reside outside of the football stadium at Brockton High School. That won?t be far from George's Caf?, where pictures highlighting Marciano's life and career are on full display.

 "I've had people from Europe come in and look at them", said owner Charlie Tartaglia. "A lot of people come in, take pictures home and scan them so they can have them. It's part of history."
 

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