Boxing legend Rocky Marciano was born on this day in 1923. To this day he remains the only heavyweight champion to finish his career undefeated and holds the highest knockout-to-win ratio in heavyweight title fights at 85.7%.

On August 31, 1969 Marciano was flying from Chicago Midway to Des Moines when the Cessna 172 crashed in Newton Iowa killing all on board. Flying with Marciano in the back seat was Frankie Farrell, 28, the oldest son of organized crime figure Lew Farrell.

This is Marciano’s 1st Sports Illustrated cover from September 19, 1955. Shown graded in newsstand at 9.6 this is a pop 1 with only 1 copy graded higher. #otd