Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano

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Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano
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Date: 
Friday, September 27, 1946
Location: 
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, USA
Rounds Scheduled: 
15
Contracted Weight: 
160
Titles at Stake: 
NBA & NYSAC Middleweight World Titles
Referee: 
Ruby Goldstein

More:

Tony Zale

Rocky Graziano



Fight Notes: 

Graziano was a slight betting favorite.
Graziano was down for a five-count in the first round, but he came back and dropped Zale at the end of the second round for a three-count. Graziano continued to pound away savagely, and after five rounds, Zale looked like a beaten fighter. But then came the unexpected in the sixth round. Showing the heart of a champion, Zale, who injured his right hand in the second round, gathered the strength to fire a terrific right to Graziano's solar plexus and followed it up with a left hook to the chin. Graziano went down and didn't rise until just after referee Ruby Goldstein completed the count of ten.
Zale had to be propped up and led around the ring carefully as he waved to the crowd after the knockout. The Associated Press wrote that Zale "looked like a man who had been in hand-to-hand combat with a buzzsaw, and somehow, much to his own astonishment, had come out ahead."
There was a crowd of 39,827 and the gross gate was $342,497.
Named The Ring "Fight of the Year".
The Ring ranked the fight fifth on their 1996 list The 100 Greatest Title Fights of All-Time .




Fan Cards: Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano


scorecard by WILL O' THE WISP
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
9
8
9
10
9
45
ROCKY GRAZIANO
10
10
10
9
10
49


scorecard by TREY813
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by CASUALFAN
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by BOXING KNOWLEDGE
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by MATCHROOM
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by NARUTO
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by BOXING PURIST
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO


scorecard by WHAT_IS_THE_DEFAULT_PASSWORD
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
TONY ZALE
ROCKY GRAZIANO




Comments

what_is_the_default_password's picture

what_is_the_def...

Wed, 2017-12-20 22:43

Another great fight with no footage...

Will o' the Wisp's picture

Will o' the Wisp

Mon, 2023-01-23 14:19

Zale floored Rocky with a wild left hook in the opening frame, but Graziano scrambled to his feet and clubbed away at Zale with his right hand, driving Zale to the canvas at the end of the first. Zale was dragged to his corner and withstood more punishment in the second, with Graziano dominating the second round, splitting open Zale’s lip and decking him at its end, the bell saving the champion.

The younger and fresher Graziano continued his attack in the third, chasing Zale all over the ring and landing heavy punches. However, to everyone’s astonishment, Zale lived up to his moniker “The Man Of Steel” by coming back in round four. Launching attacks Rocky's body and backing him up, Tony rode the momentum into the fifth before the tables turned again and it was Graziano’s turn for a sustained attack, Zale was hurt and seemed one punch away from defeat.

Dazed but still in it, Zale followed the advice of his cornerman and hung in there, enduring another assault in the sixth; Graziano took a momentary break from the attack to catch his breath, giving Toney time to land a right to the body that froze Rocky followed by a left to the chin that knocked Graziano out for the first time in his career. The fight was ruled Fight of the Year in 1946.