Zora Folley

Zora "Bell" Folley (May 27, 1931 – July 7, 1972) was an American heavyweight boxer who was a top 10 contender for eleven years in a row from 1956 to 1966 and a nine-time top 5 contender throughout his career, reaching a peak as number 1 contender in 1959. He beat top contenders such as Eddie Machen, George Chuvalo, Oscar Bonavena, Henry Cooper, world light-heavyweight champion Bob Foster, Nino Valdez, Doug Jones, Johnny Summerlin, Bob Cleroux and drew (tied) against Karl Mildenberger.

Folley fought once for the world heavyweight title, losing to Muhammad Ali.

Early life Born in Dallas, Texas, on 27 May 1931, Folley moved with his family to Chandler, Arizona in 1942, where he grew up playing baseball. Upon joining the U.S. Army in 1948, he began boxing and won the 6th Army Championship within a year, going on to win the All-Army and All-Service titles. He saw active service during the Korean War, earning five battle stars, and was discharged from the U.S. Army with the rank of Sergeant in 1953.

Boxing career In the mid-1950s Folley signed a professional boxing contract, winning his first pro-fight against Jimmy Ingram, then after a draw, won seventeen straight victories until losing to Johnny Summerlin in six rounds with a suspected broken jaw after being knocked down three times. Despite being considered a top contender, Folley never faced heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. This was partly due to his points loss to Henry Cooper in England, in September 1958 (which was later avenged in December 1961 by a two-round knockout).

Major Bouts Folley beat contenders Eddie Machen, George Chuvalo, Bob Cleroux (twice), Oscar Bonavena (the first match was one sided with Bonavena being decked but Bonavena won the rematch three years later) and Doug Jones. He also had draws with Karl Mildenberger and Eddie Machen (their first fight), and defeated Mike De John, Alex Miteff, Pete Rademacher and Willi Besmanoff. Between 1960 and 1962 Folley was knocked out by Sonny Liston, Alejandro Lavorante, Doug Jones (in the rematch) and outpointed by Brian London.

Title Shot

It was not until March 22, 1967, aged 36, that he faced world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Before their fight, Ali joked that Folley was such a nice man that it posed a real problem because he could not possibly get mad at him. Folley was one of the first to call the champion by his Muslim name instead of Cassius Clay. Ali stated he respected Folley and was nervous before the match. Folley was the last man to face Ali before Ali's three-year exile from boxing in 1967. Folley was knocked out in the 7th round. Folley fought for three more years afterward before being knocked out by Mac Foster in 1970.

Personal life Folley served as a member of the Chandler City Council, and raised a family of nine children with his wife Joella (1933–2011).

Folley suffered severe head injuries in a motel swimming pool while visiting a friend in Tucson, Arizona on July 8, 1972, and died at the age of 41 in a local hospital shortly afterwards. His death was considered mysterious and subject to conspiracy theories until Marshall Terrill, a former reporter for The East Valley Tribune, tracked down official documents and an eyewitness in 2014. These sources revealed Folley had checked in at the motel under an alias with a longtime partner. Intoxicated, he dove into the pool after it had closed, and hit his head on a concrete partition.

Folley's body was buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery, Mesa, Arizona.

The city of Chandler dedicated Zora Folley Memorial Park in his honor.

A biography, Zora Folley: The Distinguished Life and Mysterious Death of a Gentleman Boxer, was published in 2017.

Professional boxing record

Loss 79–11–6

KO 1 29/09/1970

Win 79–10–6

UD 10 05/11/1969

Win 78–10–6

KO 1 16/06/1969

Win 77–10–6

TKO 4 30/01/1969

Loss 76–10–6

MD 10 06/07/1968

Draw 76–9–6

SD 10 14/05/1968

Draw 76–9–5

SD 10 11/03/1968

Loss 76–9–4

PTS 10 13/11/1967

Win 76–8–4

KO 2 04/10/1967

Win 75–8–4

TKO 8 18/09/1967

Loss 74–8–4

KO 7 22/03/1967

Win 74–7–4

KO 1 17/01/1967

Win 73–7–4

UD 10 13/12/1966

Win 72–7–4

UD 10 25/10/1966

Win 71–7–4

KO 8 28/06/1966

Win 70–7–4

UD 10 06/12/1965

Win 69–7–4

UD 10 26/02/1965

Win 68–7–4

KO 4 14/11/1964

Draw 67–7–4

PTS 10 17/04/1964

Win 67–7–3

TKO 7 17/03/1964

Win 66–7–3

UD 10 17/01/1964

Win 65–7–3

UD 10 17/10/1963

Win 64–7–3

KO 5 19/09/1963

Loss 63–7–3

UD 10 27/07/1963

Win 63–6–3

UD 10 23/05/1963

Draw 62–6–3

TD 5 02/04/1963

Loss 62–6–2

KO 7 15/12/1962

Win 62–5–2

UD 10 19/11/1962

Win 61–5–2

KO 5 29/08/1962

Win 60–5–2

UD 10 01/08/1962

Win 59–5–2

TKO 7 12/06/1962

Win 58–5–2

UD 10 18/04/1962

Win 57–5–2

KO 3 15/02/1962

Win 56–5–2

KO 2 05/12/1961

Win 55–5–2

UD 10 28/09/1961

Win 54–5–2

KO 2 30/08/1961

Loss 53–5–2

KO 7 11/05/1961

Win 53–4–2

TKO 5 10/02/1961

Win 52–4–2

UD 10 16/09/1960

Loss 51–4–2

KO 3 18/07/1960

Win 51–3–2

UD 10 05/04/1960

Win 50–3–2

UD 12 18/01/1960

Win 49–3–2

UD 10 18/11/1959

Win 48–3–2

TKO 2 02/10/1959

Win 47–3–2

MD 10 04/08/1959

Win 46–3–2

KO 4 07/07/1959

Win 45–3–2

UD 10 07/04/1959

Win 44–3–2

UD 10 10/03/1959

Win 43–3–2

UD 10 29/01/1959

Win 42–3–2

TKO 9 24/11/1958

Loss 41–3–2

PTS 10 14/10/1958

Win 41–2–2

KO 4 25/07/1958

Win 40–2–2

UD 10 19/05/1958

Draw 39–2–2

SD 12 09/04/1958

Win 39–2–1

UD 10 01/01/1958

Win 38–2–1

TKO 4 04/12/1957

Win 37–2–1

KO 4 21/11/1957

Win 36–2–1

UD 10 10/09/1957

Win 35–2–1

TKO 6 05/08/1957

Win 34–2–1

UD 10 09/07/1957

Win 33–2–1

TKO 4 18/06/1957

Win 32–2–1

KO 2 20/05/1957

Win 31–2–1

KO 4 18/04/1957

Win 30–2–1

KO 2 12/03/1957

Win 29–2–1

UD 10 11/02/1957

Win 28–2–1

SD 10 09/01/1957

Win 27–2–1

SD 10 03/12/1956

Win 26–2–1

UD 10 25/09/1956

Win 25–2–1

UD 12 15/08/1956

Win 24–2–1

KO 8 28/05/1956

Win 23–2–1

KO 7 08/05/1956

Win 22–2–1

KO 3 28/02/1956

Loss 21–2–1

RTD 5 01/12/1955

Win 21–1–1

KO 8 24/09/1955

Win 20–1–1

TKO 4 08/09/1955

Win 19–1–1

TKO 7 28/07/1955

Loss 18–1–1

RTD 6 23/06/1955

Win 18–0–1

TKO 1 16/05/1955

Win 17–0–1

TKO 7 07/04/1955

Win 16–0–1

TKO 5 24/02/1955

Win 15–0–1

TKO 8 20/01/1955

Win 14–0–1

KO 7 18/12/1954

Win 13–0–1

PTS 10 26/11/1954

Win 12–0–1

PTS 10 23/10/1954

Win 11–0–1

UD 8 01/10/1954

Win 10–0–1

KO N/A 28/08/1954

Win 9–0–1

UD 10 13/08/1954

Win 8–0–1

UD 10 12/07/1954

Win 7–0–1

KO 1 10/06/1954

Win 6–0–1

TKO 3 13/04/1954

Win 5–0–1

KO 1 26/03/1954

Win 4–0–1

TKO 7 26/01/1954

Win 3–0–1

TKO 2 07/12/1953

Win 2–0–1

KO 8 17/11/1953

Draw 1–0–1

PTS 4 29/09/1953

Win 1–0

PTS 4 22/09/1953

Family Robert Folley, son of Zora Folley, was fighting in the light heavyweight division making his pro debut at the Felt Forum, on June 19, 1986.