The Miami Register
August 3. 1957
Marciano-Folley Slated for Convention Center in October
By Ray Harrison
Hans Reuter, president of the Universal Boxing Organizaton (UBO), announced today that former heavyweight king Rocky Marciano will face top-ranked contender Zora Folley on October 20th for a ten round match at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
The announcment ends a month of spectulation concerning UBO rankings within the heavyweight division. In his statement, Reuter stated that the winner will most likely get the next shot at the world title.
Current champion Floyd Patterson will be defending his belt against Britain's Henry Cooper next month at London's Wembley Stadium. The selection of Cooper, who is ranked fifth in the world, for a title match had created considerable controversy within the boxing world with charges that Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, was using UBO rules to bypass the division's top contenders.
Presently, Folley holds the top spot and Marciano is ranked third in the UBO standings. Sweden's Ingemar Johansson is in second place, and insiders say that Johansson was intially offered the match with Folley but declined. At twenty-four, Johansson's handlers have him on a time table that leads to a title shot next year and were reluctant to fast-track the still-developing Swede.
According to boxing sources, Reuter was concerned that the heavyweight division was stagnating and decided to shake things up. For most of the year, the top contenders have taken less competitive matches in an effort to keep their high rankings.
Reuter reportedly put several boxers on notice that if they didn't start pairing off, they would face being dropped in the rankings. Under UBO rules, only boxer ranked in the top five have an opportunity to challenge for a world title.
In the event that Cooper takes the crown from Patterson, Reuter's statement that the winner of the Marciano-Folley contest would fight next for the title appears to have cast a cloud over a potential rematch between Cooper and Patterson.
When asked to clarify the matter, Reuter declined to comment specifically.
"At this point, anything I could say would just be speculation. We must wait to see the results of these matches."