Rocky Graziano
Rocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella on January 1, 1919, was an American professional boxer who rose from a challenging childhood marked by poverty and crime in New York City to become a world middleweight champion. Growing up in a violent environment with an alcoholic father and a hardworking mother, Graziano became involved in juvenile delinquency and petty crime. He began boxing in the early 1940s as a means to escape his turbulent life, although his initial boxing skills were limited.
After a brief stint in the Army, which ended in a dishonorable discharge, Graziano dedicated himself to improving his boxing techniques and quickly gained recognition for his strength and determination. His major breakthrough came with a victory against Tony Zale, which made him the middleweight champion in 1947. Although his reign was short-lived, Graziano continued to fight successfully until his retirement in 1952, ending with an impressive record of 67 wins.
Post-boxing, he authored a best-selling autobiography, "Somebody Up There Likes Me," which was later adapted into a film, paving the way for a successful career in entertainment. Graziano's life story serves as a testament to personal transformation, illustrating how sports can provide a pathway to overcome adversity and change one's life trajectory. He passed away on May 22, 1990, in New York City.
Rocky Graziano
Boxer
- Born: January 1, 1919
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: May 22, 1990
- Place of death: New York, New York
Sport: Boxing
Early Life
Rocky Graziano was born Thomas Rocco Barbella on January 1, 1919. He grew up during the Great Depression in New York City’s lower East Side, a slum where poverty and violence were a fact of life. His authoritarian and tyrannical father, Joseph Barbella, was an alcoholic former boxer who never held a steady job. His battered mother provided most of the family’s meager income by doing washing and ironing for more fortunate neighbors. Like many of the boys in his neighborhood, Rocky was drawn into petty crime, drugs, and alcohol. In an interview in 1971, Rocky said he had been a juvenile delinquent during his youth. In and out of jail in the 1930’s, he turned to professional boxing to earn money in the early 1940’s.
The Road to Excellence
Rocky entered the ring in 1942. Although he had few boxing skills, he was a ferocious street fighter, a skill necessary for survival in the environment in which he grew up. His boxing career was curtailed, however, when the United States Army drafted him several months later. Rocky did not adapt well to military life, quickly getting into trouble for striking an officer. Fearful of the punishment he might receive, Rocky went AWOL (Absent Without Leave). To support himself as a fugitive, he resumed his boxing career. In order to avoid apprehension by the military police, he changed his name to Graziano. Eventually, the authorities found him. He was court-martialed and, after confinement in a military prison, was dishonorably discharged. In later years, Rocky called his problems with the Army his greatest regret in life.
In 1943, Rocky won sixteen of eighteen fights largely because of strength and tenacity—he lacked true boxing skills. Criminal figures permeated boxing in New York City at the time, so Rocky was little removed from the life of crime and delinquency he was trying to escape. In 1971, Rocky said that it was during this period that he decided to change the direction of his life. He resolved to use his boxing career to escape the poverty and criminality of his youth, and to give up narcotics and alcohol.
The Emerging Champion
Rocky began to train diligently and to learn boxing skills to augment his natural ability and the rage inside him. By 1946, he had scored impressive nontitle knockouts over several highly regarded boxers, including two against welterweight champion Freddie Cochrane and one against future welterweight champion Marty Servo. Those victories were enough to earn Rocky a bout for the middleweight championship of the world against titleholder Tony Zale, at Madison Square Garden on September 27, 1946. The fight was remembered by boxing experts as one of the most savage middleweight championship fights of all time. Rocky seemed to be winning before Zale suddenly rallied in the sixth round and knocked out the challenger.
Pleased by the sellout crowd the first Zale-Graziano fight had attracted, fight promoters rematched the two men. Zale and Rocky met in Chicago on July 16, 1947. The second fight was almost an instant replay of the first, but with the roles reversed. Zale seemed to be beating Rocky easily until the sixth round, when Rocky suddenly rallied and knocked out his opponent. The poor Italian child from a New York slum, the juvenile delinquent who had received a dishonorable discharge, was the middleweight boxing champion of the world.
Continuing the Story
Rocky’s reign as world champion lasted less than one year. Rematched with Zale in Newark, New Jersey, on June 10, 1948, he lost by knockout in the third round. Rocky continued boxing for the next three years after his second loss to Zale, defeating all twenty-one opponents he faced, seventeen by knockout. This string of victories finally earned him another chance at the middleweight championship, then held by Sugar Ray Robinson.
On April 16, 1952, Rocky met Robinson in Chicago. Rocky started strong, even knocking down the champion in the second round. In the third round, however, Robinson knocked out his challenger. Rocky had one more fight after his unsuccessful bid for the championship, losing a decision to Chuck Davey on September 17, 1952. After the Davey fight, he retired from boxing. During his career, Rocky compiled a record of 67 wins (52 by knockout), 10 losses, and 6 draws.
After retiring, Rocky wrote a best-selling autobiography entitled Somebody Up There Likes Me (1955). Made into a successful motion picture starring Paul Newman, the book launched Rocky into a successful show business career. For the next twenty-five years, he appeared frequently in motion pictures and on television, especially on variety and game shows. He became a popular speaker on the celebrity circuit and made substantial sums of money as a spokesperson for many products in television commercials. He also operated a successful restaurant in New York City, which was frequented by the boxing crowd. In 1985, Rocky retired from most of his activities. He died in his home in New York City on May 22, 1990.
Summary
Rocky Graziano story is a classic example of how athletics can save someone from a life of poverty and probable crime. His most important legacy was to demonstrate that every individual can choose the sort of life they will pursue: to become part of society’s problems or part of the solution to those problems.
Bibliography
Graziano, Rocky, and Rowland Barber. Somebody Up There Likes Me: The Story of My Life Until Today. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1955.
Graziano, Rocky, and Ralph Corsel. Somebody down Here Likes Me, Too. New York: Stein & Day, 1981.
Mullan, Harry, and Bob Mee. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing. London: Carlton, 2007.
Sugar, Bert Randolph. Boxing’s Greatest Fighters. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2006.