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The Career of Tony Zale
The Career of Tony Zale
Tony Zale began as a pro young, 19 or 20 years of age, before that he had an amateur career, he represented Chicago at the Intercity Golden Gloves at light heavyweight in 1934. He lost to Melio Bettina, the future World Light Heavyweight Champion.. then as a pro He suffered defeats and had victories during the thirties and only slowly climbed the ladder. he lost 15 fights in that period but he won more than double that many... the first big step up for him and his first big name opponent was Al Hostak on the 29th of Jan 1940 and wins in a unanimous decision, four fights later he Hostak gets a rematch with Zale and it's Tony's big chance because this fight is for the NBA World Middleweight title and he wins by TKO stopping Hostak in the 13th. His next two fights are also against nobodies LOL NOT, he fights Billy Soose first in a non title fight but loses by decision in a 10 rounder then not to be discouraged he beats Fred Apostoli on points and scoring three knockdowns in the process, not a bad effort for a bum eh Suze ?
He then beats Tony Martin and then two fight with a Steven Manakos, the second in defense of his title where he knocks Manakos out. Meanwhile still smarting over his two losses to Zale, Al Hostak thinks he can reverse the results and gets a shot at Tony's title. He was wrong, this time Tony, obviously growing into his title belt destroys Hostak in just two rounds, KO. he then continues his Ko/Tko streak knocking out Ossie Harris in one round and Billy Prior in the 9th, since losing to Soose, Zale has stopped 5 opponents in 5 fights, the last 4 fights full KO's. He now gets a shot at the other version of the world title by getting to fight against Georgie Abrams for his NYSAC world middleweight title belt who was the holder courtesy of three wins over the very same Billy Soose who beat Zale earlier. In this fight Zale did get knocked down in the 9th but due to savage beatings on the body of Abrhams gets a unanimous decision with some experts saying Zale won decisively and I quote : "According to Jack Kincaid, all the newspaper reporters whose opinions he read thought that Zale won decisively". This win makes Tony the undisputed middleweight champion, the first to have that honour in a very long time since Tiger Flowers I think.
Tony Zale now for some reason then takes on the great Billy Conn giving away ELEVEN pounds and not surprisingly against a much bigger man and undoubtedly a much faster and slicker Light Heavyweight Tony suffers defeat but he never went down, he loses on points, obviously his title is not on the line. Now, between the Conn fight on the 13th of February 1942 and the 7th of January 1946, Tony decided to have a break from boxing so he can dodge all these great fighters you said he was afraid of to go on a little HOLIDAY that some people call THE SECOND WORLD WAR, serving in the navy, yeah much safer than fighting some guys inside a ring... torpedoes and kamikaze pilots are far safer.
He then comes back to gis profession and now he truly goes nuts going on a great streak of victories, every one of them winning bu KO, lets outline them shall we. Bobby Giles, KO 4, ... Tony Gilo, KO in 5, ,, Oscar Boyd KO 3, ****y Claus KO 4, Ira Hughes KO 2,........... Eddie Rossi KO 4, Some featherfisted weakling called Rocky Graziano, KO 6, it was his first defence of the title since the war, Deacon Logan, TKO 6, Len Wadsworth KO 3, Tommy Charles KO 4, Al Timmins TKO 5, Cliff Beckett TKO 4. LOL what a ordinary fighter this Zale was, only 12 stoppages in a row, lol, not one guy makes it past the sixth.
Now we are coming to the last couple of years, but before I go on and you can say "Oh who were all those guys he fought until Graziano ?", I will say this, HE HAD A FOUR YEAR LAYOFF, so obviously not a wise thing to go straight in and fight the new kids on the block or the established top guys he obviously needed to get his bearings back, I would call this GOOD fighter management. Now we come to the next classic against Graziano, the first fight was one of the all time greatest fights, in this fight Tony took a savage beating, so bad that any other fighter would have gone asleep with stars in their eyes but not the Man Of Steel, no, in the 6th he rallies and scores an amazing KO victory and with this one KO he becomes a legend of the ring. But Suze, to show he wasn't any coward or a dodger he signs to fight Graziano a second time and it is nothing short of a war akin to the first fight but in reverse, this time Zale dominates Rocky and how Graziano ever got up from his knockdown quick enough so the ref doesn't even get to start the count is beyond those who were there because Zale hit him with a massive blow. after that 3rd round knockdown zale pounds Rocky from pillar to post but in the process Rocky gives back some heavy blows of his own and somehow, miraculously he claws his way back into contention and in the 6th he recovers from more heavy dynamite blows from Zale to score maybe the greatest comeback KO in the history of the sport and maybe the greatest gloved fight in history, certainly there have been few like these first two fights since the incredible Wolgast/Nelson 40 rounder almost 40 years before.
Zale is not done with Graziano yet but obviously he should take a couple of easier fights now that he is no longer the champ. He begins his comeback 6 months later against Al Turner and drops him twice in the 4th and in the 5th Zale knocks Al out of the ring and Al cannot make it back to the ring before the ten count, KO 5, Then he fights Bobby Claus again, this time Bobby does slightly better going out by TKO in the 4th as opposed to a KO 4 from their first encounter. Then Zale KO's Lou Woods in 3, Tony now feels he is ready to fight and take his title back off Graziano but this fight is going to age Tony just like the first two fights did. It wasn't a healthy occupation to fight Graziano three times, Rocky had one of the heaviest right hands ever, he hit like a heavyweight, say what you like about his lack of pure boxing and his total disregard for defending himself, to Rocky, defence was for puzzies. I don't need to describe this fight because anyone can see it on youtube. It was another all time classic fight but apparently not quite as big as the other two. i will describe it a wee bit, This time Rocky was totally outclassed and Tony had planned what he was going to do in great detail determined not to simply go toe to toe with Rocky, that is an impossibilty, no middleweight ever can do that with Rocky for long and stay awake. So Zale planned to use his boxing skills but not to stay around for long, he goes hard shooting power punches and pinpoint jabs moving laterally to confuse Rocky. He staggers Rocky with a savage combination, how Rocky stays on his feet I'll never know, he staggers around the ring like Young Griffo did on one of his drinking binges and he ends up on the ropes and Tony moves in for the kill and gives Rocky another combo rocking him badly but somehow Rocky throws the haymaker that stuns Tony and suddenly rocky awakes from his paralytic state and goes on the attack, for the first time in the fight, late in the 2nd Zale is in serious trouble as Rocky goes off like a maniac throwing punches fro all over the place but he is too wild, Tony manages to avoid enough of these to make it to the end of the round, if he hadn't avoided the ones he did he was going out cold for sure, both fighters walk unsteadily to their corners. Now in the 3rd Zale comes out with death in his eyes and BAD INTENTIONS, he gives Rocky no quarter and the end comes with the best right to the floating ribs and left hook to the jaw combo I ever did see on film, the right rip to the body bends Rocky sideways like a banana which sends Rocky's head to the right just in time for the left hook to slam into his jaw, the timing is exquisite and perfect, what a hook, Rocky is unconscious instantly, before he hits the canvas, he doesn't begin to rise until the ten count is given, indeed if the ref kept counting he probably reaches 20 before Rocky rises not realizing the fight is long over and he wants to continue but the ref saves him and consoles poor Rocky. I have recounted the fight purely from memory and I haven't seen the fight in about three years at least so how did I go ? watch the fight and tell me.
Tony Zale began as a pro young, 19 or 20 years of age, before that he had an amateur career, he represented Chicago at the Intercity Golden Gloves at light heavyweight in 1934. He lost to Melio Bettina, the future World Light Heavyweight Champion.. then as a pro He suffered defeats and had victories during the thirties and only slowly climbed the ladder. he lost 15 fights in that period but he won more than double that many... the first big step up for him and his first big name opponent was Al Hostak on the 29th of Jan 1940 and wins in a unanimous decision, four fights later he Hostak gets a rematch with Zale and it's Tony's big chance because this fight is for the NBA World Middleweight title and he wins by TKO stopping Hostak in the 13th. His next two fights are also against nobodies LOL NOT, he fights Billy Soose first in a non title fight but loses by decision in a 10 rounder then not to be discouraged he beats Fred Apostoli on points and scoring three knockdowns in the process, not a bad effort for a bum eh Suze ?
He then beats Tony Martin and then two fight with a Steven Manakos, the second in defense of his title where he knocks Manakos out. Meanwhile still smarting over his two losses to Zale, Al Hostak thinks he can reverse the results and gets a shot at Tony's title. He was wrong, this time Tony, obviously growing into his title belt destroys Hostak in just two rounds, KO. he then continues his Ko/Tko streak knocking out Ossie Harris in one round and Billy Prior in the 9th, since losing to Soose, Zale has stopped 5 opponents in 5 fights, the last 4 fights full KO's. He now gets a shot at the other version of the world title by getting to fight against Georgie Abrams for his NYSAC world middleweight title belt who was the holder courtesy of three wins over the very same Billy Soose who beat Zale earlier. In this fight Zale did get knocked down in the 9th but due to savage beatings on the body of Abrhams gets a unanimous decision with some experts saying Zale won decisively and I quote : "According to Jack Kincaid, all the newspaper reporters whose opinions he read thought that Zale won decisively". This win makes Tony the undisputed middleweight champion, the first to have that honour in a very long time since Tiger Flowers I think.
Tony Zale now for some reason then takes on the great Billy Conn giving away ELEVEN pounds and not surprisingly against a much bigger man and undoubtedly a much faster and slicker Light Heavyweight Tony suffers defeat but he never went down, he loses on points, obviously his title is not on the line. Now, between the Conn fight on the 13th of February 1942 and the 7th of January 1946, Tony decided to have a break from boxing so he can dodge all these great fighters you said he was afraid of to go on a little HOLIDAY that some people call THE SECOND WORLD WAR, serving in the navy, yeah much safer than fighting some guys inside a ring... torpedoes and kamikaze pilots are far safer.
He then comes back to gis profession and now he truly goes nuts going on a great streak of victories, every one of them winning bu KO, lets outline them shall we. Bobby Giles, KO 4, ... Tony Gilo, KO in 5, ,, Oscar Boyd KO 3, ****y Claus KO 4, Ira Hughes KO 2,........... Eddie Rossi KO 4, Some featherfisted weakling called Rocky Graziano, KO 6, it was his first defence of the title since the war, Deacon Logan, TKO 6, Len Wadsworth KO 3, Tommy Charles KO 4, Al Timmins TKO 5, Cliff Beckett TKO 4. LOL what a ordinary fighter this Zale was, only 12 stoppages in a row, lol, not one guy makes it past the sixth.
Now we are coming to the last couple of years, but before I go on and you can say "Oh who were all those guys he fought until Graziano ?", I will say this, HE HAD A FOUR YEAR LAYOFF, so obviously not a wise thing to go straight in and fight the new kids on the block or the established top guys he obviously needed to get his bearings back, I would call this GOOD fighter management. Now we come to the next classic against Graziano, the first fight was one of the all time greatest fights, in this fight Tony took a savage beating, so bad that any other fighter would have gone asleep with stars in their eyes but not the Man Of Steel, no, in the 6th he rallies and scores an amazing KO victory and with this one KO he becomes a legend of the ring. But Suze, to show he wasn't any coward or a dodger he signs to fight Graziano a second time and it is nothing short of a war akin to the first fight but in reverse, this time Zale dominates Rocky and how Graziano ever got up from his knockdown quick enough so the ref doesn't even get to start the count is beyond those who were there because Zale hit him with a massive blow. after that 3rd round knockdown zale pounds Rocky from pillar to post but in the process Rocky gives back some heavy blows of his own and somehow, miraculously he claws his way back into contention and in the 6th he recovers from more heavy dynamite blows from Zale to score maybe the greatest comeback KO in the history of the sport and maybe the greatest gloved fight in history, certainly there have been few like these first two fights since the incredible Wolgast/Nelson 40 rounder almost 40 years before.
Zale is not done with Graziano yet but obviously he should take a couple of easier fights now that he is no longer the champ. He begins his comeback 6 months later against Al Turner and drops him twice in the 4th and in the 5th Zale knocks Al out of the ring and Al cannot make it back to the ring before the ten count, KO 5, Then he fights Bobby Claus again, this time Bobby does slightly better going out by TKO in the 4th as opposed to a KO 4 from their first encounter. Then Zale KO's Lou Woods in 3, Tony now feels he is ready to fight and take his title back off Graziano but this fight is going to age Tony just like the first two fights did. It wasn't a healthy occupation to fight Graziano three times, Rocky had one of the heaviest right hands ever, he hit like a heavyweight, say what you like about his lack of pure boxing and his total disregard for defending himself, to Rocky, defence was for puzzies. I don't need to describe this fight because anyone can see it on youtube. It was another all time classic fight but apparently not quite as big as the other two. i will describe it a wee bit, This time Rocky was totally outclassed and Tony had planned what he was going to do in great detail determined not to simply go toe to toe with Rocky, that is an impossibilty, no middleweight ever can do that with Rocky for long and stay awake. So Zale planned to use his boxing skills but not to stay around for long, he goes hard shooting power punches and pinpoint jabs moving laterally to confuse Rocky. He staggers Rocky with a savage combination, how Rocky stays on his feet I'll never know, he staggers around the ring like Young Griffo did on one of his drinking binges and he ends up on the ropes and Tony moves in for the kill and gives Rocky another combo rocking him badly but somehow Rocky throws the haymaker that stuns Tony and suddenly rocky awakes from his paralytic state and goes on the attack, for the first time in the fight, late in the 2nd Zale is in serious trouble as Rocky goes off like a maniac throwing punches fro all over the place but he is too wild, Tony manages to avoid enough of these to make it to the end of the round, if he hadn't avoided the ones he did he was going out cold for sure, both fighters walk unsteadily to their corners. Now in the 3rd Zale comes out with death in his eyes and BAD INTENTIONS, he gives Rocky no quarter and the end comes with the best right to the floating ribs and left hook to the jaw combo I ever did see on film, the right rip to the body bends Rocky sideways like a banana which sends Rocky's head to the right just in time for the left hook to slam into his jaw, the timing is exquisite and perfect, what a hook, Rocky is unconscious instantly, before he hits the canvas, he doesn't begin to rise until the ten count is given, indeed if the ref kept counting he probably reaches 20 before Rocky rises not realizing the fight is long over and he wants to continue but the ref saves him and consoles poor Rocky. I have recounted the fight purely from memory and I haven't seen the fight in about three years at least so how did I go ? watch the fight and tell me.
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