Subject: Rocky Marciano

Rocky is too.

"I've been thinkin' about it and thinkin' about it and thinkin' about it and finally I did it," he said, his voice full of excitement, when I talked to him 24 hours after he had announced his retirement.

A man who ordinarily loves mobs of people around him, Rocky had gone into a self-enforced seclusion at Grossinger's, the Catskill Mountain resort where he trained for all of his title fights. Now, sitting alone in a bungalow named "Rocky Marciano," the newly retired champion almost seemed to regret that he had cut himself off so quickly.

Would the people like him as much? That seemed to be his concern.

"What are they saying?" he asked.

"They all think you did the right thing," I told him.

"Good. Good," he said happily. "I think so too."

"Some people wonder, though, whether your decision to retire now had anything to do with the IBC court case. Jim Norris might have wanted you to retire now just to show the IBC is willing to release its fighters."

"You know," Rocky said confidentially, "I was surprised they didn't ask me that question at the press conference.... Actually, it was just a question of timing. As you know, I had been thinking about it for a long time, but this was the first time I had been in New York since my South American trip, so I waited. A lot of people have wondered: what's the tie-in?" he added. "But I made my own decision. I wanted to get out before it was too late," he said. "One of the things that influenced me was Joe Louis. He always was my idol. I hated to see all those things happen to him.

"I've made enough money out of fighting, and I've saved what I possibly could. Charlie Goldman and Al Weill have seen to that."