No one in his right mind really thought that Don Cockell, chubby heavyweight champion of the British Empire, belonged in the same ring with Rocky Marciano. Day after day, before the two fighters tangled for the world championship in San Francisco last week, dutiful British sportswriters beat the drums for the Battersea Butterball. But most of the time it was easier to explain why Don might lose. For one thing, the 16½ft. square ring was too small. For another, the Britons reminded their readers, U.S. boxing is rotten with rackets. In Philadelphia, a light heavyweight named Harold Johnson claimed to...
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