The big fight had "gone across the river" to Jersey. In one corner last week, black-browed and confident, sat Rocky Graziano, onetime Army deserter, middleweight champion and boxing's worst foot forward (he is barred in New York and in Illinois). The boys in the ringside seats noticed the pimples on his back and recalled stories that 26-year-old Rocky had been eating high off the hog since people began calling him "champ."
Across the ring squatted elderly (34), impassive Tony Zale, an old foe. They had put on two spine-tingling battles before. Each had knocked out the other once and this was the...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
