TWO TON TONY

On Tluesday, I wrote about some of the great pre-‘60s fighters. I did not mention one of the toughest and most colorful heavyweights in boxing history. While never one of the greatest, Two Ton Tony Galento was arguably the toughest fighter ever and an extremely colorful one at that. Two Ton Tony had a record of 82 wins, 26 losses and 6 draws, with 59 knockouts. He scored 13 first round knockout victories in his colorful career. On his worst day, Galento would have given Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and today’s other leading heavyweights a real run for their money.

Here are some excerpts from a mini-biography by Jon C. Hopwood:

"Two Ton" Tony Galento, a stogie-smoking pugilist and bar-owner who claimed he trained on beer, hamburgers, and spaghetti, was one of the most colorful characters to ever contend for the heavyweight title.

Born Dominic Anthony Galento on March 12, 1910 in Orange, New Jersey, he earned his nickname after driving his ice truck to an arena, arriving just before the start of one of his fights. Spotting him in the parking lot, his manager asked him where he'd been.

"I had two tons of ice to deliver on my way here," Galento said. The greatest clown in boxing history had arrived.

Galento, a dirty fighter who would deliberately head-butt, gouge, low-blow, and elbow his opponents, was one of the toughest men ever to box professionally. Defeating Lou Nova, Al Ettore, and Nathan Mann on his way to a shot at the heavyweight title, he was the most famous member of "The Brown Bomber" Joe Louis' "Bum of the Month Club." The underdog Galento earned fistic immortality when he sent Louis to the canvas in the second round of their title bout. Louis admitted that he might have been the toughest man he ever met in the ring.

Blessed with a lethal left hook, a roundhouse punch that could stagger the world's best boxers, Galento began his climb up the heavyweight division in 1928, a time when pro fighters fought almost every month. He was notorious for his street-fighting style that flaunted the rules and often led to fouls. But it was as a clown that Galento would achieve immortality, and it was a style he perfected early on.

On one night in Detroit in 1931, Tony took on three opponents and K.O.ed them all, drinking beer between rounds. Ten minutes before a 1932 fight with Arthur DeKuh, he took on a $10 bet that he could consume 50 hot dogs. He won the bet, and then the fight in four rounds.

The 5-foot-9 brawler, who sported a fighting weight of 235 to 240 lbs., resembled an ambulatory beer barrel, according to one sports reporter. A bar-owner, Tony made much of his lack of training, which might consist of him posing for photographers quaffing down a brew at his bar, or wrestling with a rubber car tire suspended from a tree that had been a child`s swing before Tony picked it as a sparring partner. Tony was a fat clown, and proud of it.

Tony was interviewed by a reporter before his title fight with Louis. Reporter: Tony, what do you think your chances are against Joe Louis? Galento: Joe who? Reporter: Joe Louis. Galento: I never hoid of da bum.

Galento got his shot at Louis' title before 30,000 fans in Yankee Stadium on June 28, 1939. Before the fight, the six-to-one underdog baited the Brown Bomber, telephoning the Louis household and insulting Joe and his family, using racial epithets. Galento even made a sexual innuendo about Louis' wife during the pre-fight introductions.

Galento, who out-weighed Louis by 33 pounds, started the fight by bullying the World`s Heavyweight Champion in the first round, almost sending him to the canvas with a left hook. At the end of the round, Louis was wobbly when he returned to his corner. In the second, Joe was staggered again, but he rallied late in the round and knocked Galento down, the first time Two-Ton had hit the canvass in his pro career.

After Galento got up, The Champ started connecting with jabs, but seemingly out of nowhere, Tony launched his lethal left hook and it was Louis' turn to hit the canvass. Though Joe got up at the count of two, his legs were wobbly. But Galento could not finish Louis off. Two-Ton Tony's time of fistic immortality was over.

By the fourth, the six foot, two-inch Louis began using Galento's head as a speed bag. The fight was stopped by the referee at 2:29 of the round with Two-Ton Tony on the ropes.

Joe Louis learned to like the crude clown. He had charisma, Louis said. His problem was that he had been born out of his time. Tony should have been a bare-knuckle fighter, as "The man was absolutely fearless."