Anthony Florian Zaleski (May 29, 1913 – March 20, 1997), known professionally as Tony Zale, was an American boxer."Zale Is Still A Quiet Worker". NYTimes.com (August 4, 1982). Retrieved on September 11, 2017. Zale was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, a steel town, which gave him his nickname, "Man of Steel", 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, was known as a crafty boxer and punishing body puncher who wore his opponents down before knocking them out."Effect of War On Tony Zale". NYTimes.com (August 15, 1982). Retrieved on September 11, 2017. In 1990, Zale was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George. H. W. Bush.
The 1941 bout between Zale and Billy Pryor at Juneau Park, Milwaukee, attracted 135,132 spectators, a figure that remains the highest attendance in boxing history.
World middleweight title
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.Silver, Mike (2016). Stars in the Ring, Jewish Champions. Rowman and Littlefield, Guilford, Connecticut. pp. 103–105. .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 The Associated Press judged Abrams the winner with eight rounds to Zale's seven.
Bouts against Rocky Graziano, 1946–48 Zale was a two-time world middleweight champion and made The Rings 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 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.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes87Loss Marcel CerdanRTD11 (15)Sep 21, 1948 86Win67–17–2 Rocky GrazianoKO3 (15)Jun 10, 1948 85Win66–17–2 Lou WoodsKO3 (10)Mar 19, 1948 84Win65–17–2 Bobby ClausTKO4 (10)Mar 8, 1948 83Win64–17–2 Al TurnerKO5 (10)Jan 23, 1948 82Loss63–17–2 Rocky GrazianoTKO6 (15)Jul 16, 1947 81Win63–16–2 Cliff BeckettTKO6 (10)May 8, 1947 80Win62–16–2 Al TimmonsTKO5 (10)Apr 1, 1947 79Win61–16–2 Tommy CharlesKO4 (10)Mar 20, 1947 78Win60–16–2 Len WadsworthKO3 (10)Feb 12, 1947 77Win59–16–2 Deacon LoganTKO6 (10)Feb 3, 1947 76Win58–16–2 Rocky GrazianoKO6 (15)Sep 27, 1946 75Win57–16–2 Eddie RossiKO4 (10)May 2, 1946 74Win56–16–2 Ira HughesKO2 (10)Apr 12, 1946 73Win55–16–2 Bobby ClausKO4 (10)Feb 26, 1946 72Win54–16–2 Oscar BoydKO3 (10)Feb 7, 1946 71Win53–16–2 Tony GilloKO5 (10)Jan 17, 1946 70Win52–16–2 Bobby GilesKO4 (10)Jan 7, 1946 69Loss51–16–2 Billy ConnUD12Feb 13, 1942 68Win51–15–2 Georgie AbramsUD15Nov 28, 1941 67Win50–15–2 Billy PryorKO9 (10)Aug 16, 1941 66Win49–15–2 Ossie HarrisKO1 (10)Jul 23, 1941 65Win48–15–2 Al HostakKO2 (15)May 28, 1941 64Win47–15–2 Steve MamakosKO14 (15)Feb 21, 1941 63Win46–15–2 Steve MamakosPTS10Jan 10, 1941 62Win45–15–2 Tony MartinTKO7 (10)Jan 1, 1941 61Win44–15–2 Fred ApostoliPTS10Nov 19, 1940 60Loss43–15–2 Billy SooseUD10Aug 21, 1940 59Win43–14–2 Al HostakTKO13 (15)Jul 19, 1940 58Win42–14–2 Baby Kid ChocolateKO4 (10)Jun 12, 1940 57Win41–14–2 Ben BrownKO3 (10)Mar 29, 1940 56Win40–14–2 Enzo IannozziKO4 (10)Feb 29, 1940 55Win39–14–2 Al HostakUD10Jan 29, 1940 54Win38–14–2 Babe OrgovanKO3 (8)Dec 8, 1939 53Win37–14–2 Eddie MeleskiTKO1 (10)Nov 13, 1939 52Win36–14–2 Al WardlowKO3 (10)Oct 31, 1939 51Win35–14–2 Sherman EdwardsTKO3 (6)Oct 6, 1939 50Win34–14–2 Milton ShiversKO3 (10)Aug 14, 1939 49Win33–14–2 Babe OrgovanPTS6May 23, 1939 48Win32–14–2 Johnny ShawKO5 (8)May 1, 1939 47Loss31–14–2 Nate BoldenPTS10Jan 2, 1939 46Win31–13–2 Enzo InnazziPTS6Nov 18, 1938 45Win30–13–2 Jimmy ClarkKO2 (8)Oct 31, 1938 44Win29–13–2 Tony CiscoUD10Oct 10, 1938 43Loss28–13–2 Billy CelebronPTS10Aug 22, 1938 42Draw28–12–2 Billy CelebronPTS10Jul 18, 1938 41Win28–12–1 Jimmy ClarkTKO8 (8)Jun 13, 1938 40Win27–12–1 Bobby LaMonteTKO5 (8)May 16, 1938 39Win26–12–1 King WyattPTS8Mar 28, 1938 38Loss25–12–1 Jimmy ClarkKO1 (8)Feb 21, 1938 37Win25–11–1 Henry SchaftPTS8Jan 24, 1938 36Win24–11–1 Nate BoldenSD8Jan 3, 1938 35Win23–11–1 Nate BoldenPTS5Nov 22, 1937 34Win22–11–1 Leon JacksonPTS6Nov 10, 1937 33Loss21–11–1 Nate BoldenPTS5Nov 1, 1937 32Win21–10–1 Bobby GerryKO2 (4)Oct 18, 1937 31Win20–10–1 Billy BrownKO1 (4)Oct 11, 1937 30Win19–10–1 Elby JohnsonTKO3 (4)Sep 17, 1937 29Loss18–10–1 Manuel DavilaPTS4Aug 16, 1937 28Win18–9–1 Elby JohnsonPTS4Jul 26, 1937 27Draw17–9–1 Jack MoranPTS5Apr 13, 1936 26Loss17–9 Dave ClarkPTS5Jul 2, 1935 25Loss17–8 Johnny PhaganKO6 (8)May 6, 1935 24Loss17–7 Roughhouse GloverTKO9 (10)Mar 27, 1935 23Win17–6 Max EllingPTS8Mar 11, 1935 22Win16–6 Young Jack BlackburnPTS6Feb 25, 1935 21Loss15–6 Joey BazzonePTS6Dec 28, 1934 20Loss15–5 Jack GibbonsPTS10Dec 17, 1934 19Loss15–4 Kid LeonardPTS10Nov 26, 1934 18Win15–3 Jack CharvezPTS8Nov 5, 1934 17Win14–3 Jack SchwartzTKO4 (8)Oct 29, 1934 16Win13–3 Frankie MiskoKO6 (8)Oct 22, 1934 15Win12–3 Young Jack BlackburnPTS8Oct 8, 1934 14Win11–3 Mickey MiskoKO4 (8)Sep 17, 1934 13Loss10–3 Mickey MiskoPTS8Sep 3, 1934 12Win10–2 Wilbur StokesPTS8Aug 27, 1934 11Loss9–2 George BlackPTS6Aug 15, 1934 10Loss9–1 Billy HoodPTS6Aug 13, 1934 9Win9–0 Bruce WadeKO3 (4)Aug 7, 1934 8Win8–0 Bobby MillsapPTS4Jul 30, 1934 7Win7–0 Einar HedquistTKO4 (4)Jul 16, 1934 6Win6–0 Lou BartellPTS4Jul 9, 1934 5Win5–0 Ossie JeffersonKO3 (4)Jul 2, 1934 4Win4–0 Johnny ListonKO3 (4)Jun 25, 1934 3Win3–0 Bobby MillsapKO1 (4)Jun 21, 1934 2Win2–0 Johnny SimpsonPTS4Jun 15, 1934 1Win1–0 Eddie AllenPTS4Jun 11, 1934
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
References
External links
World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductees