Rocky Graziano

Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions. He held the lineal World Middleweight title from 1947 to 1948.

Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on The Ring magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time. He fought many of the best middleweights of the era including Sugar Ray Robinson.

He was the subject of the 1956 film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography, starring Paul Newman as Graziano.

Early life and amateur career Graziano was born on New Year's Day, 1919, the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. The elder Barbella, nicknamed Fighting Nick Bob, was a boxer with a brief fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Rocky later moved to an Italian enclave centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write. He spent years in reform school, jail, and Catholic protectories. Barbella Sr., who got occasional work as a horseback rider, kept boxing gloves around the house and encouraged Rocky and his brothers to fight one another. When he was three years old, Barbella would make Rocky and his brother, Joe (three years his senior), fight almost every night. At age 18 Rocky won the Metropolitan A.A.U. welterweight championship. Despite the fame and money that professional fighting seemed to offer, Rocky did not want to become a serious prize fighter. He did not like the discipline of training any more than he liked the discipline of school or the Army.

When Graziano got out of jail, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and went AWOL after punching a captain. He escaped from Fort Dix in New Jersey and started his real boxing career under the name of "Rocky Graziano." He won his first couple of bouts. After gaining popularity under the name of Graziano, he was found by the Army. After his fourth bout, he was called into a manager's office to speak with a couple of military personnel. Expecting to be prosecuted and sent back to the Army or jail, he fled, but he returned to the Army a week later. In 1941, he surrendered himself, was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the Army, then sent to the Federal Penitentiary (nicknamed the "Big Top" for its dome), founded in 1875 as a military prison (now known as USP Leavenworth). Fort Leavenworth is where Rocky Graziano started his boxing career while housed at the FCP (minimum/low) building adjacent to the main facility.

Ultimately he was pardoned and given the opportunity to fight under the Army's authority.

In March 1945 at Madison Square Garden in New York City Graziano scored a major upset over Billy Arnold, whose style was similar to that of Sugar Ray Robinson: he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. The Ring magazine and various newspapers across the United States touted Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano and to then fight for the world title. Graziano absorbed a beating in the early going, before going on to batter and knock out Arnold in the third round of the scheduled eight-round bout. Following his loss to Graziano, Arnold was never the same.

Graziano fought three middleweight title bouts against Tony Zale, losing the first before capturing then surrendering the championship.

In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from him and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, Zale rallied and knocked him out 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. The referee almost stopped the second fight in the third round because of a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding. Battered around the ring, his eye closed and appearing ready to lose by a knockout, Graziano rallied to knock Zale out in the sixth, earning the title.

Their last fight was held in New Jersey 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 his jaw, knocking him unconscious.

Graziano's last shot at the middleweight title came against Sugar Ray Robinson in April 1952. He dropped Robinson to his knee with a right in the third round. Less than a minute later, Robinson KO'd him with a right to the jaw.

Graziano retired after losing his very next fight, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey. He appeared as a regular on the United Artists TV series Miami Undercover for its entire run, and appeared in several series and shows, including The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, Car 54, Where Are You?, I've Got a Secret, and Naked City. He portrayed Packy, an ex-boxer, in the 1967 film Tony Rome.

In the 1960s, Graziano opened a pizza restaurant, Rocky Graziano's Pizza Ring, on Second Avenue in Kips Bay, Manhattan, creating a modest franchise for the restaurant in the New York City area. He briefly operated a bowling alley in North Babylon, New York.

Personal life Graziano married Norma Unger, of German-Jewish descent, on August 10, 1943. By all accounts, the two had a very happy marriage, and they remained together until his death from cardiopulmonary failure on May 22, 1990, in New York City at age 71. According to his biographer, Graziano remained faithful to his wife during the entirety of their marriage, something which was not particularly common among celebrities. They had two children, both of whom married and had children. Graziano's funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He is interred at the Locust Valley Cemetery along with his wife, who died in 2009.

Legacy Graziano is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Graziano was named to Ring magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers of all time. In 2007, Graziano was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Media portrayals Graziano is played by actor Paul Newman in the 1956 film Somebody Up There Likes Me, adapted from his 1955 autobiography.

Professional boxing record