EIGHT years ago today, on May 23, 1990, the legendary Italian-American boxer Rocky Graziano died at the age of 68.
Born in New York City on New Year's Day, 1922, Graziano went on to become world middleweight champion at a time when the division was rich with talent.
He was best remembered for his three tremendous title fights with the tough Tony ''Man of Steel'' Zale, who had won the championship by outpointing Georgie Abrams in 1941. After serving in the US Navy, Zale resumed his pro career in 1946 and in September of that year he met Graziano for the title in New York, knocking him out in the sixth round.
Graziano put himself back in the championship picture with two knock-out wins within six days in June of 1947 and a month later he again challenged Zale for the title. This time the fight was staged in Chicago and Graziano reversed the previous result by knocking out Zale in the sixth.
The bouts had thrilled the public and a third meeting was inevitable. It took place in Newark, New Jersey, on June 10, 1948. In a short, brutal clash, Zale regained the title with a third-round knock-out.
Between 1949 and 1952 Grazi-ano was unbeaten in 21 fights, winning 17 of them inside the distance. During that time Marcel Cerdan had relived Zale of the title, Jake LaMotta had beaten Cerdan and then lost the crown to Sugar Ray Robinson.
On April 16, 1952, the 30-year-old was given another shot at the title when he challenged Robinson in Chicago. Robinson was an overwhelming favourite and won by a knock-out in the third round.
Graziano had just one fight after that, losing on points to Chuck Davey before retiring at the end of 1952 to become a television actor. Graziano was also the subject of the Paul Newman film Somebody Up There Likes Me.
1918: Cricket great Denis Compton was born. He made his debut for Middlesex in 1936 and in a career spanning 28 years scored almost 39,000 runs. He played for England on 78 occasions, scoring 5807 runs. He was also an accomplished footballer and played alongside his brother Leslie with Arsenal, winning an FA Cup winners' medal in 1950 when the Highbury club beat Liverpool 2-0 in the final.
Both Compton brothers also played football for England, although Denis only appeared in a wartime international.
JIM REYNOLDS
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