Tony Zale vs Rocky Graziano II

Rocky Graziano won the world middleweight championship by stopping Tony Zale in the sixth round of their return contest at Chicago Stadium on 16 July 1947. Graziano weighed 155 pounds and Zale 159. Johnny Behr was the referee, and the official time was 2 minutes 10 seconds. The crowd of 18,547 set an indoor attendance record, while receipts of $422,918 were reported to be twice the previous indoor promotion record. The building was oppressively hot, with the air beneath the ring lights described as resembling a crowded steam bath.

The rematch had originally been arranged for Madison Square Garden in March, but the New York State Athletic Commission revoked Graziano’s licence after he failed to report an offer of $100,000 to lose a contest with Reuben Shank. The National Boxing Association did not enforce New York’s ruling, allowing the match to be transferred to Chicago. Zale had won their first meeting at Yankee Stadium the previous September, surviving severe punishment before knocking Graziano out in the sixth round. Their second contest began in much the same severe fashion, with Zale immediately directing his attack towards the body and forcing Graziano backwards under short hooks and rights.

Zale’s compact punching and greater accuracy gave him the better of the opening round. He worked beneath Graziano’s elbows, then brought his punches to the head as the challenger attempted to answer with wider rights. A swelling appeared around Graziano’s left eye. In the second, Zale concentrated upon the damaged area and opened a severe cut, blood interfering with the challenger’s sight. Graziano nevertheless remained dangerous. Near the bell, he landed one of his heavy right hands, staggering Zale so badly that the champion moved towards the wrong corner when the round ended. It was the first indication that Zale, although in command, could not afford a careless exchange.

Zale recovered during the third and resumed his punishment with straight, accurate blows. A right hand sent Graziano down briefly, although he rose without a count. Zale followed him to the ropes and struck repeatedly as the challenger covered, rolled and attempted to punch his way clear. By then, Graziano’s left eye was bleeding, and his right eye had swollen almost shut. He fought largely by instinct, advancing through the punches and throwing the right whenever Zale remained within reach. The ringside physician examined him between rounds but permitted the contest to continue. Zale was ahead and appeared close to retaining the championship.

The fourth brought further punishment. Graziano spent much of the round wiping blood away while pursuing the champion, and Zale continued to score to the head and body. Zale went to the canvas during one exchange, but the fall was treated as a slip rather than a knockdown. Between the fourth and fifth rounds, Graziano’s chief second, Whitey Bimstein, worked upon the closed right eye. The accepted account is that Bimstein pressed a coin against the swelling to break the skin and release the pressure, enabling Graziano to recover part of his vision. Whatever treatment was used, the challenger came out for the fifth, able to see well enough to continue his attack.

The heat and pace were now beginning to affect Zale. He was 33, eight years older than Graziano, and his earlier body attack had required considerable effort. In the fifth round, his punches lost some of their force, and he began to remain within range after delivering them. Graziano, still badly marked around both eyes, forced the champion backwards with rough rights to the head. One such punch checked Zale’s advance and appeared to weaken him. Graziano sensed the change and pressed without concern for his own condition, swinging heavily and making the champion work at close quarters. Zale continued to land, but he no longer controlled the exchanges as he had through the first four rounds.

Zale made an early effort in the sixth, attempting to restore his authority with hooks to the body. Graziano absorbed them and continued forward. A heavy right struck Zale on the head and sent him reeling across the ring. Graziano followed with three more rights, dropping the champion for a count of three. Zale rose but had not recovered. His arms were low, his legs uncertain, and his ability to return fire had gone. Graziano drove him towards the ropes and threw punches with both hands, most of them aimed at the head. Contemporary estimates placed the final assault at between 30 and 40 blows. Zale turned sideways and sagged across the middle rope, his head and shoulders hanging outside the ring while Graziano continued striking. Behr moved between them, ending the contest.

Some spectators complained that the referee had intervened prematurely, but Zale was no longer defending himself and was being supported by the ropes. Behr later explained that he had looked into the champion’s eyes and knew he was finished. Graziano, still excited and scarcely aware that the fight had ended, nearly struck Bimstein when his trainer entered the ring. Only after being led back to his corner did he understand that he had won the championship. Zale received a reported $140,882.40 for the defence.

The result reversed the first fight almost exactly. At Yankee Stadium, Graziano had driven Zale towards defeat before being knocked out in the sixth. In Chicago, Zale inflicted the greater punishment during the early rounds and appeared on the verge of stopping a half-blinded challenger, only to weaken and be overwhelmed in the sixth himself. The contest was named The Ring’s Fight of the Year for 1947 and was later placed second on the magazine’s list of the 100 greatest championship fights. Graziano had won through endurance, punching power and an unwillingness to retreat despite severe damage. Zale had boxed more accurately for much of the fight, but when his strength failed, the championship went with it.