Tony Zale, The Man of Steel (67-18-2)

Early Life

Born May 29th, 1913, Anthony Florian Zaleski grew up in Gary, Indiana, with the steel mills within the sight of his home, which would later earn him the nickname, Man of Steel. He’d justify this choice of name long before though, getting into street  fights in the area. He then took his toughness and bravado into the ring, and carved out an impressive amateur record of 87-8 (50 ko’s).

Tony Zale was an exciting fighter

Pro Career & Middleweight Title Capture

Zale turned pro in 1934, but after nine straight wins, his career lost direction. He was in and out of boxing, working in the steel mills, and in the ring he lost 9 of his next 18 fights. After a change of management and some time out, the Man of Steel eventually won the NBA middleweight championship  after knocking out Czech Al Hostak on July 19, 1940. A year later in 1941, Zale fought Georgie Adams for the vacant world middleweight championship and won a 15 round decision. In 1942, Zale fought, and lost, against Billy Conn (the fighter who almost dethroned Joe Louis), and then joined the navy to serve the US in WW2.

Resuming Career After Service & Rocky Graziano 1

Following the war, Zale came back into the sport of boxing and won his first six (non-title) bouts by knockouts in 1946.Now at the age of 33, Zale now was the second most famous middleweight, having been surpassed by the exciting rising star Rocky Graziano. The two would go onto initiate one of boxing’s most tenacious of rivalries. The first fight saw Graziano floored in the first round, but Rocky came back to knock Zale down in the second round. Graziano continued to batter Zale over the next few rounds, but they didn’t call Zale the Man of Steele for nothing. Zale courageously came back to knock Graziano out in the sixth round and retain his title in front of 40,000 fans, in what the Ring Magazine recognised as the Fight of the Year in 1946.

Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano 2

The rematch took place in Chicago Stadium, on July 16, 1947, and was just as brutal as the first. In the third round, Graziano was knocked down and took a beating over the next few rounds. His eyes were severely cut and swollen to the point that he was partially blinded. His cutman, took a coin and broke the skin above the eye to reduce the pressure and recover some of Rocky’s vision (most likely, this was taken from Sylvester Stallone in his movies ‘Rocky’). Remarkably, Graziano came back midway through the fight and stopped Zale in the sixth round. The fight had followed the exact same pattern as the first match, but this time in Graziano’s favour.  Again, The Ring Magazine named it the Fight of the Year 1947.

Tony and Graziano is one of boxing’s most famous rivalries

Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano 3

The rubber fight took place a year later in June, 1948. Zale was on a mission to regain the middleweight title, and the fight was one to behold. Zale put Graziano on his back in the first round with one of his vicious left hooks. The following round, Graziano hurt Zale with a right to shift the tide. Then again, and for the last time, the momentum shifted again, and Zale dropped Graziano with another trademark left hook. Graziano gamely got up, but Zale pounced with yet another hook to knock him out and won the fight.

Tony Zale

End of Career

As a result of the Graziano 3 outcome, Zale became on the third boxer to regain the world middleweight title. He went onto lose the title to the great Frenchman Marcel Cerdan, who stopped him in the twelth round. Zale retired soon after, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.