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Rocky Graziano
Rocky Graziano (cropped).jpg
Graziano, undated
Statistics
Real name Thomas Rocco Barbella
Nickname(s) The Rock / Rocky / Rockaby
Rated at Welterweight
Middleweight
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Reach 68+1⁄2 in (174 cm)
Born (1919-01-01)January 1, 1919
New York City, U.S.
Died May 22, 1990(1990-05-22) (aged 71)
New York City, U.S.
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 83
Wins 67
Wins by KO 52
Losses 10
Draws 6

Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on The Ring magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time. He fought many of the best middleweights of the era including Sugar Ray Robinson. He was the subject of the 1956 film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography, starring Paul Newman as Graziano.

Early life

Graziano was the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. The elder Barbella, nicknamed Fighting Nick Bob, was a boxer with a brief fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Rocky later moved to an Italian enclave centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write. He spent years in reform school, jail, and Catholic protectories. Barbella Sr., who got occasional work as a horseback rider, kept boxing gloves around the house and encouraged Rocky and his brothers to fight one another. When he was three years old, Barbella would make Rocky and his brother, Joe (three years his senior), fight almost every night. At age 18 Rocky won the Metropolitan A.A.U. welterweight championship. Despite the fame and money that professional fighting seemed to offer, Rocky did not want to become a serious prize fighter. He did not like the discipline of training any more than he liked the discipline of school or the Army.

Graziano heard from a couple of his friends about a tournament going on with a gold medal for the winner. He fought four matches and ended up winning the New York Metropolitan Amateur Athletic Union Boxing Competition (1939). He sold the gold medal for $15 and decided that boxing was a good way to make cash.

Confidential Magazine cover November 1956 - Rocky Graziano (cropped)
Graziano, undated

Graziano headed to the gym to earn money, and while there met Eddie Cocco who started his professional career. He entered the ring under the name Robert Barber.

Graziano enlisted in the military but went AWOL after punching a captain. He escaped from Fort Dix in New Jersey and started his real boxing career under the name of "Rocky Graziano." He won his first couple of bouts. After gaining popularity under the name of Graziano, he was found by the military. After his fourth bout, he was called into a manager's office to speak with a couple of military personnel. Expecting to be prosecuted and sent back to the military or jail, he fled. He returned to the military a week later. In 1941, he turned himself in, was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the Army, then sent to the Federal Penitentiary (nicknamed the "Big Top" for its dome), founded in 1875 as a military prison (now known as USP Leavenworth). Fort Leavenworth is where Rocky Graziano started his boxing career while housed at the FCP (minimum/low) building adjacent to the main facility.

Ultimately he was pardoned and given the opportunity to fight under the Army's aegis.

Professional career

Rocky Graziano 1946
Graziano, circa 1946

Around the time he absconded from military service, Barbella began boxing under the management of Irving Cohen, a relationship that would endure for the remainder of his professional career. Cohen arranged a debut bout and billed the young fighter under his grandfather's surname as Rocky Graziano. Despite his notoriously lax approach to training, Graziano leveraged his untutored, brawling style and powerful punching ability to win by knockout. Cohen scheduled fights against increasingly challenging opponents with the apparent goal of overmatching Graziano to teach him the value of conditioning. He even demanded a match against Sugar Ray Robinson.

In March 1945 at Madison Square Garden in New York City Graziano scored a major upset over Billy Arnold, whose style was similar to that of Sugar Ray Robinson: he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. The Ring magazine and various newspapers across the United States touted Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano and to then fight for the world title. Graziano absorbed a beating in the early going, before going on to batter and knock Arnold out in the third round of the scheduled eight-round bout. Following his loss to Graziano, Arnold was never the same.

Graziano fought three middleweight title bouts against Tony Zale, losing the first before capturing then surrendering the championship.

In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from him and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, Zale rallied and knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his title.

The rematch, a year later in Chicago (July 16, 1947), was a mirror image of their first fight. The referee almost stopped the second fight in the third round because of a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding. Battered around the ring, his eye closed and appearing ready to lose by a knockout, Graziano rallied to knock Zale out in the sixth, earning the title.

Their last fight was held in New Jersey June 10, 1948. Zale regained his crown, winning the match by a knockout in the third round. The knockout blows consisted of a perfect combination of a right to Graziano's body, then a left hook to his jaw, knocking him unconscious.

Graziano's last shot at the middleweight title came against Sugar Ray Robinson in April 1952. He dropped Robinson to his knee with a right in the third round. Less than a minute later, Robinson KO'd him with a right to the jaw.

Graziano retired after losing his very next fight, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey.

Suspensions

In 1946, Graziano was suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) for failure to report a bribe attempt. In 1948 Graziano was suspended for "running out" on a scheduled December 1 bout with Ruben Shank. Abe Green, then-National Boxing Association's President, announced that they were indefinitely suspending him in all parts of the world under NBA supervision, following similar action by the California State Athletic Commission. The suspension covered all of the American States, Great Britain, the European Boxing Federation, Cuba, Mexico, and Canada. Boxing promoter Ralph Tribuani got him a license to box in Delaware, which led to his reinstatement by both the NBA and NYSAC and Rocky's return to the ring.

Post-boxing career

After his retirement from boxing, Graziano cohosted a short-lived series, The Henny and Rocky Show (1955) with famous comedian Henny Youngman. He was a semi-regular on The Martha Raye Show, as Raye's boyfriend. He appeared as a regular on the United Artists TV series Miami Undercover for its entire run, and appeared in several series and shows, including The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, Car 54, Where Are You?, I've Got a Secret, and Naked City. He portrayed Packy, an ex-boxer, in the 1967 film Tony Rome.

In the 1960s, Graziano opened a pizza restaurant, Rocky Graziano's Pizza Ring, on Second Avenue in Kips Bay, Manhattan, creating a modest franchise for the restaurant in the New York City area. He briefly operated a bowling alley in North Babylon, New York.

Personal life

Graziano married Norma Unger, of German-Jewish descent, on August 10, 1943. By all accounts, the two had a very happy marriage, and they remained together until his death from cardiopulmonary failure on May 22, 1990, in New York City at age 71. According to his biographer, Graziano remained faithful to his wife during the entirety of their marriage, something which was not particularly common among celebrities. They had two children, both of whom married and had children. Graziano's funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He is interred at the Locust Valley Cemetery along with his wife, who died in 2009.

Legacy

  • Graziano is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
  • Graziano was named to Ring magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers of all time.
  • In 2007, Graziano was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
83 fights 67 wins 10 losses
By knockout 52 3
By decision 14 7
By disqualification 1 0
Draws 6
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
83 Loss 67–10–6 Chuck Davey UD 10 Sep 17, 1952 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, US
82 Loss 67–9–6 Sugar Ray Robinson KO 3 (15), 1:53 Apr 16, 1952 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, US For NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring middleweight titles
81 Win 67–8–6 Roy Wouters TKO 1 (10), 2:45 Mar 27, 1952 Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
80 Win 66–8–6 Eddie O'Neill TKO 4 (10), 2:21 Feb 18, 1952 Jefferson County Armory, Louisville, Kentucky, US
79 Win 65–8–6 Tony Janiro TKO 10 (10), 2:45 Sep 19, 1951 Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, US
78 Win 64–8–6 Chuck Hunter DQ 2 (10) Aug 6, 1951 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US
77 Win 63–8–6 Cecil Hudson TKO 3 (10) Jul 10, 1951 Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri, US
76 Win 62–8–6 Freddie Lott KO 5 (10), 2:17 Jun 18, 1951 Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland, US
75 Win 61–8–6 Johnny Greco KO 3 (10), 1:56 May 21, 1951 Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
74 Win 60–8–6 Reuben Jones KO 3 (10), 1:18 Mar 19, 1951 Miami Stadium, Miami, Florida, US
73 Win 59–8–6 Honeychile Johnson KO 4 (10), 0:48 Nov 27, 1950 Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
72 Win 58–8–6 Tony Janiro UD 10 Oct 27, 1950 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
71 Win 57–8–6 Pete Mead KO 3 (10) Oct 16, 1950 Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
70 Win 56–8–6 Gene Burton KO 7 (10), 2:10 Oct 4, 1950 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, US
69 Win 55–8–6 Henry Brimm KO 4 (10), 2:14 May 16, 1950 Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York, US
68 Win 54–8–6 Vinnie Cidone TKO 3 (10), 3:00 May 9, 1950 Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
67 Win 53–8–6 Danny Williams KO 3 (10), 1:03 Apr 24, 1950 Arena, New Haven, Connecticut, US
66 Draw 52–8–6 Tony Janiro SD 10 Mar 31, 1950 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
65 Win 52–8–5 Joe Curcio KO 1 (10), 2:21 Mar 6, 1950 Miami Stadium, Miami, Florida, US
64 Win 51–8–5 Sonny Horne MD 10 Dec 6, 1949 Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, US
63 Win 50–8–5 Charley Fusari TKO 10 (10), 2:04 Sep 14, 1949 Polo Grounds, New York City, New York, US
62 Win 49–8–5 Joe Agosta KO 2 (10), 2:19 Jul 18, 1949 Century Stadium, West Springfield, Massachusetts, US
61 Win 48–8–5 Bobby Claus KO 2 (10), 0:46 Jun 21, 1949 Wilmington Park, Wilmington, Delaware, US
60 Loss 47–8–5 Tony Zale KO 3 (15), 1:08 Jun 10, 1948 Ruppert Stadium, Newark, New Jersey, US Lost NBA and The Ring middleweight titles
59 Win 47–7–5 Sonny Horne UD 10 Apr 5, 1948 Uline Arena, Washington, DC, US
58 Win 46–7–5 Tony Zale TKO 6 (15), 2:10 Jul 17, 1947 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, US Won NBA and The Ring middleweight titles
57 Win 45–7–5 Jerry Fiorello TKO 5 (10), 2:14 Jun 16, 1947 Swayne Field, Toledo, Ohio, US
56 Win 44–7–5 Eddie Finazzo TKO 1 (10), 2:14 Jun 10, 1947 Fairgrounds Horse Show Arena, Memphis, Tennessee, US
55 Loss 43–7–5 Tony Zale KO 6 (15), 1:43 Sep 27, 1946 Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York, US For NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring middleweight titles
54 Win 43–6–5 Marty Servo TKO 2 (10), 1:52 Mar 29, 1946 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
53 Win 42–6–5 Sonny Horne UD 10 Jan 18, 1946 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
52 Win 41–6–5 Harold Green KO 3 (10), 1:49 Sep 28, 1945 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
51 Win 40–6–5 Freddie 'Red' Cochrane KO 10 (10), 2:37 Aug 24, 1945 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
50 Win 39–6–5 Freddie 'Red' Cochrane KO 10 (10), 0:16 Jun 29, 1945 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
49 Win 38–6–5 Al 'Bummy' Davis TKO 4 (10), 0:44 May 25, 1945 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
48 Win 37–6–5 Solomon Stewart KO 4 (10) Apr 17, 1945 Uline Arena, Washington, DC, US
47 Win 36–6–5 Billy Arnold TKO 3 (8) Mar 9, 1945 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
46 Loss 35–6–5 Harold Green MD 10 Dec 22, 1944 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
45 Loss 35–5–5 Harold Green UD 10 Nov 3, 1944 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
44 Win 35–4–5 Bernie Miller KO 2 (8), 0:44 Oct 24, 1944 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
43 Draw 34–4–5 Danny Kapilow PTS 10 Oct 6, 1944 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
42 Draw 34–4–4 Frankie Terry PTS 8 Sep 15, 1944 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
41 Win 34–4–3 Jerry Fiorello SD 8 Aug 14, 1944 Queensboro Arena, New York City, New York, US
40 Win 33–4–3 Tony Reno UD 8 Jul 21, 1944 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
39 Win 32–4–3 Frankie Terry TKO 6 (8) Jun 27, 1944 Dexter Park Arena, New York City, New York, US
38 Win 31–4–3 Larney Moore TKO 2 (8) Jun 7, 1944 MacArthur Stadium, New York City, New York, US
37 Win 30–4–3 Tommy Mollis TKO 7 (10) May 29, 1944 Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC, US
36 Win 29–4–3 Freddie Graham KO 3 (8) May 9, 1944 Turner's Arena, Washington, DC, US
35 Win 28–4–3 Bobby Brown KO 5 (10) Apr 10, 1944 Turner's Arena, Washington, DC, US
34 Win 27–4–3 Ray Rovelli PTS 8 Mar 14, 1944 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
33 Win 26–4–3 Harold Gary PTS 6 Mar 8, 1944 Scott Hall, Elizabeth, New Jersey, US
32 Win 25–4–3 Leon Anthony KO 1 (8) Mar 4, 1944 Ridgewood Grove, New York City, New York, US
31 Win 24–4–3 Nick Calder KO 4 (6) Feb 24, 1944 Masonic Hall, Highland Park, New Jersey, US
30 Loss 23–4–3 Steve Riggio PTS 6 Feb 9, 1944 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
29 Win 23–3–3 Phil Enzenga TKO 5 (8) Jan 18, 1944 Westchester County Center, White Plains, New York, US
28 Win 22–3–3 Jerry Pittro TKO 1 (6) Jan 7, 1944 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
27 Win 21–3–3 Harold Gary PTS 8 Jan 4, 1944 Grotto Auditorium, Jersey City, New Jersey, US
26 Win 20–3–3 Milo Theodorescu TKO 1 (8) Dec 27, 1943 Laurel Garden, Newark, New Jersey, US
25 Win 19–3–3 Charley McPherson PTS 6 Dec 6, 1943 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
24 Win 18–3–3 Freddie Graham PTS 8 Nov 30, 1943 Grotto Auditorium, Jersey City, New Jersey, US
23 Loss 17–3–3 Steve Riggio PTS 6 Nov 12, 1943 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
22 Draw 17–2–3 Charley McPherson PTS 6 Oct 27, 1943 Scott Hall, Elizabeth, New Jersey, US
21 Win 17–2–2 Jimmy Williams TKO 2 (6) Oct 13, 1943 Scott Hall, Elizabeth, New Jersey, US
20 Win 16–2–2 Freddie Graham KO 1 (8) Oct 5, 1943 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
19 Win 15–2–2 George Wilson PTS 8 Sep 21, 1943 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
18 Loss 14–2–2 Joe Agosta PTS 6 Sep 10, 1943 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
17 Win 14–1–2 Tony Grey KO 6 (6) Aug 24, 1943 Queensboro Arena, New York City, New York, US
16 Win 13–1–2 Ted Apostoli PTS 4 Aug 20, 1943 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
15 Win 12–1–2 Charley McPherson PTS 6 Aug 12, 1943 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
14 Win 11–1–2 Randy Drew KO 1 (6) Jul 27, 1943 Queensboro Arena, New York City, New York, US
13 Win 10–1–2 George Stevens KO 1 (6) Jul 22, 1943 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
12 Win 9–1–2 Johnny Atteley RTD 2 (6) Jul 8, 1943 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
11 Win 8–1–2 Frankie Falco KO 5 (6) Jun 24, 1943 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
10 Win 7–1–2 Joe Curcio TKO 4 (6) Jun 16, 1943 Twin City Bowl, Elizabeth, New Jersey, US
9 Win 6–1–2 Gilberto Ramirez Vasquez KO 1 (6) Jun 11, 1943 Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, US
8 Draw 5–1–2 Lou Miller PTS 6 May 25, 1942 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
7 Win 5–1–1 Godfrey Howell TKO 4 (4) May 12, 1942 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
6 Win 4–1–1 Eddie Lee KO 4 (4) May 4, 1942 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
5 Loss 3–1–1 Charles Ferguson PTS 4 Apr 28, 1942 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
4 Draw 3–0–1 Godfrey Howell PTS 4 Apr 20, 1942 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
3 Win 3–0 Kenny Blackmar KO 1 (4), 1:50 Apr 14, 1942 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US
2 Win 2–0 Mike Mastandrea KO 3 (4), 1:40 Apr 6, 1942 St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, US
1 Win 1–0 Curtis Hightower TKO 2 (4), 0:40 Mar 31, 1942 Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, US

See also

  • List of middleweight boxing champions
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