Show happens 0 one e w way ay iy wor WHATEVER or another the ring party of the year will take place in chicago with tony zale and rocky graziano Graz lano at the head of the receiving line these two gave the big party of 1946 last summer in new york they turned in one of the greatest ring shows of all time and you can turn the clock back to abel and cam or david and goliath few appreciate the number of great fighters who have figured in past middleweight championships the list is one of the it ie R graziano most brilliant in boxing history it includes jack dempsey the nonpareil from 1883 to 1835 1895 after that we find such names as bob fitzsimmons tom my ryan kid mccoy philadelphia jack 0 brien stanley ketchel billy frank klaus haru harry greb tiger flowers and mickey walker here you find many ol 01 the three starred names of ring history these men have written chapters that never will be forgotten by those who follow the leather throw ers dempsey fitzsimmons mccoy ketchel greb walker slip us six greater names from the roped in sector of sport no one can yet class zale or graziano with the six leaders we have named we doubt that either belongs with these six masters al though dempsey is well beyond our day and time but the old timers of other years have told us he belongs around the top certainly no one can argue the worth of mons mccoy ketchel greb and walker they also could handle heavyweights especially R ruby u b y robert one of the great fighters of of all time a boxer and terrific puncher with middleweight legs and a heavyweight body still a great fighter at the age of 45 best since walker we doubt very much that zale or graziano would have any great amount of luck against those men tinned above but the two zale and graziano are a big improvement over those who have come along since the toy bulldog meaning mickey walker traded his boxing gloves tor for an artist a brush zale and graziano proved this part of the argument in a meeting that bad had even more action than the stars of the past ever turned in melodrama may not mean skill or class but it happens to be something the public likes to see when it is ably handled in 1939 the middleweight stew included a weird mixture under the names of solly kreiger al hos tak and ceferino garcia they were merely fillers in in 1940 zale arrived as the crown holder tony has been wearing the middleweight crown ever since including a long war lapse from 1941 up through 1945 while zale was in war service a young hard punching roughneck by the name of graziano came along like a midwestern tornado graziano was blessed with one great ring asset lie ile could punch lie he was never any too smart and he was never much of ee a boxer lie ile was never particular about ob observing serving any rules as he proved in his meeting with marty servo whom he fouled and almost wrecked in a way graziano was something a softened up ring needed he was rough tough a braggart but after all a fighter and a puncher he was also a crowd pleaser and a able entry at the gate rocky had built up a bigger part of his reputation at wrecking opponents who were badly outweighed he gasn wasn t so hot when it came to a matter of pound for pound tony can take it in his meeting with zale the chal longer lenger did about abort everything except remove zale s headpiece when I 1 saw rocky nail zale with a full right to the jaw saw tony go through the bottom rope alpar antly bleeding at every open pore round around the head in one of the early rounds the fight seemed to be over but zale got up and kept coming on n the defending champion con inked to take a terrific beating his eyes seemed glazed and his knees were wobbling here was about as game gain f an exhibition as any one ever had hanseen seen in the ring zale was dazed and dizzy he ile had taken the heaviest artillery graziano could throw and then sud and denly after a body attack tt it was graziano who crumpled to the floor and took the count this closed out one of f the most dramatic meetings the ring ever has seen looking back to the days of jem mace or john lawrence sullivan zale a first class boxer sur one by inability to keep his chin and features away from rocky s right hand but zale sur one even more by his un lelle vable ability to soak up all this punishment and still have enough for a body knockout |