Tony Zale

Anthony Florian Zaleski (May 29, 1913 – March 20, 1997), known professionally as Tony Zale, was an American boxer.<ref>"Zale Is Still A Quiet Worker". NYTimes.com (August 4, 1982). Retrieved on September 11, 2017.</ref> Zale was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, a steel town, which gave him his nickname, "Man of Steel",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> reinforced by his reputation of being able to take fearsome punishment and still rally to win. Zale, who held the world middleweight title multiple times,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was known as a crafty boxer and punishing body puncher who wore his opponents down before knocking them out.<ref>"Effect of War On Tony Zale". NYTimes.com (August 15, 1982). Retrieved on September 11, 2017.</ref> In 1990, Zale was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George. H. W. Bush.<ref>Presidential Citizens Medal</ref>Template:Circular reference

World middleweight title

File:Tony Zale 1941.jpg

Tony Zale in 1941

File:Tony Zale marriage 1942.jpg

Zale married Adeline Richwalski, in March 1942

Zale met Georgie Abrams in Madison Square Garden in a world middleweight championship match on November 28, 1941, before a crowd of nearly 10,000. Despite knocking Zale down in the first round, a poke in the eye from Zale's glove left him with pain and blurred vision. From the fourth round on, Abrams fought with his left eye nearly closed. Blood from a cut opened above his right eye in the third from an accidental head butt from Zale caused additional vision problems from blood that dripped from the wound. Despite fighting half blind, Abrams fought courageously for fifteen rounds. Abrams lost in a close match, due to the incessant body attacks of Zale in the late rounds, particularly the ninth where he received a severe two handed attack to the midsection.<ref>Silver, Mike (2016). Stars in the Ring, Jewish Champions. Rowman and Littlefield, Guilford, Connecticut. pp. 103–105. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Abrams came close to winning the fight according to the AP in "Zale, King of 160 pounders Licks Abrams", The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, p. 63, November 30, 1941</ref> The Associated Press judged Abrams the winner with eight rounds to Zale's seven.Template:Citation needed

Bouts against Rocky Graziano, 1946–48

Zale was a two-time world middleweight champion and made The RingTemplate:'s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Zale is best remembered for his three bouts over a 21-month period with Rocky Graziano for the middleweight crown. These three bouts were among the most brutal and exciting middleweight championship matches of all time. The first match took place in Yankee Stadium, New York City. Zale had served in World War II, was thirty-three years old, and had been inactive for about four years. Graziano was on a winning knockout streak and seemed to be in his prime. In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from Graziano, and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, he rallied and knocked out Graziano 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. Graziano was battered around the ring, suffered a closed eye and appeared ready to lose by a knockout, then rallied and knocked Zale out in the sixth round, becoming middleweight champion of the world.

Their last fight was held in New Jersey the following year (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 Graziano's jaw. Graziano was knocked unconscious. This fight was Zale's last hurrah. His age and the many ring wars he fought seemed to catch up with him in his next fight against European Champion Marcel Cerdan later that year, who stopped him in the eleventh round to win the middleweight championship of the world (September 21, 1948). Graziano commented that years later he would wake up in a cold sweat having had the recurring nightmare of being back in the ring with Zale, who he said really was a man of steel.

Edith Piaf, who at the time was having an affair with Cerdan, was in the audience, praying to Saint Therese for his victory. Two of the three Graziano fights and the Cerdan fight were named The Ring magazine Fight of the Year.

Zale was a 1991 inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF). In November 2015, his championship belts were stolen<ref name="Stolen Belt">Template:Cite news</ref> from the IBHOF. The belts were on loan from Zale's family, and have yet to be returned.

Zale was originally cast to play himself in the movie Somebody Up There Likes Me. According to director Robert Wise, Paul Newman (playing Graziano) was hesitant to fully engage Zale during rehearsal, fearing that Zale might reflexively knock him out if Newman inadvertently hit him too hard. As Newman had to appear aggressive against Zale in the film, Wise felt it was necessary to replace Zale with actor Courtland Shepard for the final fight scene.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
87	Template:No2Loss	67–18–2	Marcel Cerdan	RTD	11 (15)	Sep 21, 1948	Template:Small	Template:Small
86	Template:Yes2Win	67–17–2	Rocky Graziano	KO	3 (15)	Jun 10, 1948	Template:Small	Template:Small
85	Template:Yes2Win	66–17–2	Lou Woods	KO	3 (10)	Mar 19, 1948	Template:Small
84	Template:Yes2Win	65–17–2	Bobby Claus	TKO	4 (10)	Mar 8, 1948	Template:Small
83	Template:Yes2Win	64–17–2	Al Turner	KO	5 (10)	Jan 23, 1948	Template:Small
82	Template:No2Loss	63–17–2	Rocky Graziano	TKO	6 (15)	Jul 16, 1947	Template:Small	Template:Small
81	Template:Yes2Win	63–16–2	Cliff Beckett	TKO	6 (10)	May 8, 1947	Template:Small
80	Template:Yes2Win	62–16–2	Al Timmons	TKO	5 (10)	Apr 1, 1947	Template:Small
79	Template:Yes2Win	61–16–2	Tommy Charles	KO	4 (10)	Mar 20, 1947	Template:Small
78	Template:Yes2Win	60–16–2	Len Wadsworth	KO	3 (10)	Feb 12, 1947	Template:Small
77	Template:Yes2Win	59–16–2	Deacon Logan	TKO	6 (10)	Feb 3, 1947	Template:Small
76	Template:Yes2Win	58–16–2	Rocky Graziano	KO	6 (15)	Sep 27, 1946	Template:Small	Template:Small
75	Template:Yes2Win	57–16–2	Eddie Rossi	KO	4 (10)	May 2, 1946	Template:Small
74	Template:Yes2Win	56–16–2	Ira Hughes	KO	2 (10)	Apr 12, 1946	Template:Small
73	Template:Yes2Win	55–16–2	Bobby Claus	KO	4 (10)	Feb 26, 1946	Template:Small
72	Template:Yes2Win	54–16–2	Oscar Boyd	KO	3 (10)	Feb 7, 1946	Template:Small
71	Template:Yes2Win	53–16–2	Tony Gillo	KO	5 (10)	Jan 17, 1946	Template:Small
70	Template:Yes2Win	52–16–2	Bobby Giles	KO	4 (10)	Jan 7, 1946	Template:Small
69	Template:No2Loss	51–16–2	Billy Conn	UD	12	Feb 13, 1942	Template:Small
68	Template:Yes2Win	51–15–2	Georgie Abrams	UD	15	Nov 28, 1941	Template:Small	Template:Small
67	Template:Yes2Win	50–15–2	Billy Pryor	KO	9 (10)	Aug 16, 1941	Template:Small
66	Template:Yes2Win	49–15–2	Ossie Harris	KO	1 (10)	Jul 23, 1941	Template:Small
65	Template:Yes2Win	48–15–2	Al Hostak	KO	2 (15)	May 28, 1941	Template:Small	Template:Small
64	Template:Yes2Win	47–15–2	Steve Mamakos	KO	14 (15)	Feb 21, 1941	Template:Small	Template:Small
63	Template:Yes2Win	46–15–2	Steve Mamakos	PTS	10	Jan 10, 1941	Template:Small
62	Template:Yes2Win	45–15–2	Tony Martin	TKO	7 (10)	Jan 1, 1941	Template:Small
61	Template:Yes2Win	44–15–2	Fred Apostoli	PTS	10	Nov 19, 1940	Template:Small
60	Template:No2Loss	43–15–2	Billy Soose	UD	10	Aug 21, 1940	Template:Small
59	Template:Yes2Win	43–14–2	Al Hostak	TKO	13 (15)	Jul 19, 1940	Template:Small	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	42–14–2	Baby Kid Chocolate	KO	4 (10)	Jun 12, 1940	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	41–14–2	Ben Brown	KO	3 (10)	Mar 29, 1940	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	40–14–2	Enzo Iannozzi	KO	4 (10)	Feb 29, 1940	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	39–14–2	Al Hostak	UD	10	Jan 29, 1940	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	38–14–2	Babe Orgovan	KO	3 (8)	Dec 8, 1939	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	37–14–2	Eddie Meleski	TKO	1 (10)	Nov 13, 1939	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	36–14–2	Al Wardlow	KO	3 (10)	Oct 31, 1939	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	35–14–2	Sherman Edwards	TKO	3 (6)	Oct 6, 1939	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	34–14–2	Milton Shivers	KO	3 (10)	Aug 14, 1939	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	33–14–2	Babe Orgovan	PTS	6	May 23, 1939	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	32–14–2	Johnny Shaw	KO	5 (8)	May 1, 1939	Template:Small
47	Template:No2Loss	31–14–2	Nate Bolden	PTS	10	Jan 2, 1939	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	31–13–2	Enzo Innazzi	PTS	6	Nov 18, 1938	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	30–13–2	Jimmy Clark	KO	2 (8)	Oct 31, 1938	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	29–13–2	Tony Cisco	UD	10	Oct 10, 1938	Template:Small
43	Template:No2Loss	28–13–2	Billy Celebron	PTS	10	Aug 22, 1938	Template:Small
42	Template:DrawDraw	28–12–2	Billy Celebron	PTS	10	Jul 18, 1938	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	28–12–1	Jimmy Clark	TKO	8 (8)	Jun 13, 1938	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	27–12–1	Bobby LaMonte	TKO	5 (8)	May 16, 1938	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	26–12–1	King Wyatt	PTS	8	Mar 28, 1938	Template:Small
38	Template:No2Loss	25–12–1	Jimmy Clark	KO	1 (8)	Feb 21, 1938	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	25–11–1	Henry Schaft	PTS	8	Jan 24, 1938	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	24–11–1	Nate Bolden	SD	8	Jan 3, 1938	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	23–11–1	Nate Bolden	PTS	5	Nov 22, 1937	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	22–11–1	Leon Jackson	PTS	6	Nov 10, 1937	Template:Small
33	Template:No2Loss	21–11–1	Nate Bolden	PTS	5	Nov 1, 1937	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	21–10–1	Bobby Gerry	KO	2 (4)	Oct 18, 1937	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	20–10–1	Billy Brown	KO	1 (4)	Oct 11, 1937	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	19–10–1	Elby Johnson	TKO	3 (4)	Sep 17, 1937	Template:Small
29	Template:No2Loss	18–10–1	Manuel Davila	PTS	4	Aug 16, 1937	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	18–9–1	Elby Johnson	PTS	4	Jul 26, 1937	Template:Small
27	Template:DrawDraw	17–9–1	Jack Moran	PTS	5	Apr 13, 1936	Template:Small
26	Template:No2Loss	17–9	Dave Clark	PTS	5	Jul 2, 1935	Template:Small
25	Template:No2Loss	17–8	Johnny Phagan	KO	6 (8)	May 6, 1935	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	17–7	Roughhouse Glover	TKO	9 (10)	Mar 27, 1935	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	17–6	Max Elling	PTS	8	Mar 11, 1935	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	16–6	Young Jack Blackburn	PTS	6	Feb 25, 1935	Template:Small
21	Template:No2Loss	15–6	Joey Bazzone	PTS	6	Dec 28, 1934	Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	15–5	Jack Gibbons	PTS	10	Dec 17, 1934	Template:Small
19	Template:No2Loss	15–4	Kid Leonard	PTS	10	Nov 26, 1934	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	15–3	Jack Charvez	PTS	8	Nov 5, 1934	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	14–3	Jack Schwartz	TKO	4 (8)	Oct 29, 1934	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	13–3	Frankie Misko	KO	6 (8)	Oct 22, 1934	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	12–3	Young Jack Blackburn	PTS	8	Oct 8, 1934	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	11–3	Mickey Misko	KO	4 (8)	Sep 17, 1934	Template:Small
13	Template:No2Loss	10–3	Mickey Misko	PTS	8	Sep 3, 1934	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	10–2	Wilbur Stokes	PTS	8	Aug 27, 1934	Template:Small
11	Template:No2Loss	9–2	George Black	PTS	6	Aug 15, 1934	Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	9–1	Billy Hood	PTS	6	Aug 13, 1934	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Bruce Wade	KO	3 (4)	Aug 7, 1934	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Bobby Millsap	PTS	4	Jul 30, 1934	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Einar Hedquist	TKO	4 (4)	Jul 16, 1934	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Lou Bartell	PTS	4	Jul 9, 1934	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Ossie Jefferson	KO	3 (4)	Jul 2, 1934	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Johnny Liston	KO	3 (4)	Jun 25, 1934	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Bobby Millsap	KO	1 (4)	Jun 21, 1934	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Johnny Simpson	PTS	4	Jun 15, 1934	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Eddie Allen	PTS	4	Jun 11, 1934	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• NYSAC middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)
• NBA (WBA) middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)

The Ring magazine titles

• The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles

• Undisputed middleweight champion (2×)

See also

• List of middleweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductees

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