Rocky Graziano: Somebody Up There Truly Liked Him…

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By Ian “The Boxing Historian” Murphy

“I never stole nothin’ unless it began with an “A”- a truck, a car, a payroll…”–Rocky Graziano

Rocky Graziano never failed to entertain, and it didn’t matter if he was in a movie, TV commercial, a bar, or in the ring. He was a natural at just about anything he put his mind to. Not a technical genius in any field per se, but successful any way you stretch it. As famous after his boxing career as he was during it, former Middleweight champion Rocky led quite a life. His story starts out like many would be boxers, as he was raised in poverty and his home life was, to put it politely, “turbulent”. His father worked intermittently at best, and Rocky was forced to learn how to survive on his own from a very young age. “The Rock” refined his famed right hand in many street fights, often laying out his opponents with one punch. This was also a common theme later on when he was a professional. The Rock could seriously crack!

Graziano was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where (according to noted boxing historian Bert Sugar) “both sides of the tracks were wrong.” Due to these surroundings, Rocky (real name Thomas Rocco Barbella) was a rough kid, spending the bulk of his youth in and out of juvenile detention centers, where he met fellow delinquent and future Middleweight champion, Jake LaMotta. As he reached his late teens, Rocky experimented with boxing, and was instantly successful, winning the Metropolitan A.A.U. Welterweight Championship. Despite this accomplishment, Rocky didn’t like training and didn’t have the discipline needed to be a good fighter. So, he returned to his life of crime.

Perhaps a year after his A.A.U victory, Graziano met Lou Gehrig towards the end of the great ballplayer’s life in 1940 when Gehrig was NYC parole commissioner. This chance encounter may have altered the course of young Rocky’s life forever. Gehrig was known for his decency and adherence to rules and regulations. Rocky? Let’s say he had an adversarial relationship with authority at that point in his life. The result of their meeting was predictable, and their conversation reportedly ended with Rocky calling Gehrig a “bastard” and telling the Iron Horse to “go to hell”. Parole denied…Still, many years later, Rocky said that “I probably should shake Gehrig’s hand for straightening me out. But it was too late. I found out he was dead.”

After Rocky had his run in with Larrupin’ Lou and he was released from Riker’s Island, he joined the military. Not surprisingly, the military life didn’t suit the hood from the Lower East Side. Rocky’s solution? He punched out an officer and went A.W.O.L. from Fort Dix in New Jersey and decided to resume his boxing career. He won a few bouts, but was quickly discovered by the military. Graziano turned himself in, and luckily was not thrown into prison again. He still was allergic to proper training, but new manager Irv Cohen had the sense to give Rocky a lot of slack. Despite his training habits, he continued to win, and win impressively. His knockout of top contender Billy Arnold in 1945 set the stage for the big time clash with Middleweight Champion Tony Zale in September of 1946.

Zale and Graziano could not be more opposite outside the ring, as Tony was quiet, respectful, and conducted himself like a gentleman. Rocky just did Rocky. However, in the ring, they were a unique pair and had the common ground that neither would give any quarter and always fought their hearts out. Zale was the older man at 33, but had not lost his spark or paralyzing body attack. Rocky really had only one weapon outside his fighting spirit, his titanic right hand. It was the gift that kept on giving for the slugging Graziano, as it regularly took out his opponents any time it landed cleanly. In the first of three matches, Graziano was floored early, but rallied to beat the breaks off of Zale for five rounds. Tony himself came back from the brink of defeat to KO the surging Rocky in the 6th round to retain his title. Their battle was named Ring Magazine “Fight of the Year” for 1946 and set the stage for the greatly anticipated rematch that was to be held in July 1947.

The rematch between “The Rock” and “The Man of Steel” proved no less dramatic than the first fight. The roles in fact, were reversed, with Zale laying a savage beating on Graziano through five rounds. Rocky, cut badly with his eye swollen shut, pulled a Hail Mary and knocked out Zale in the 6th. Graziano, the bottom of the barrel street kid with no hope of any success in life, beat the odds and became the Middleweight Champion of the World. Unfortunately, Rocky’s reign was a short one, as he was brutally knocked out by Zale in the rubber match in 1948. He was done in by Zale’s famous “right to the body, left to the head” combo. Sadly, this is the only one of the three fights between Zale and Graziano where the film survives.

After his trilogy with Zale, Graziano continued to be a major draw in the ring and fought some of the best fighters of his day. Rocky had been in good form, beating quality opposition like Charley Fusari, Gene Burton, and defeating contender Tony Janiro on three occasions. He was supposed to fight fellow New Yorker Jake LaMotta for the Middleweight title in 1950, but a broken hand shelved the fight. Rocky fought on, and kept winning. LaMotta lost his belt to Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951 and in 1952, Rocky got his crack at the Sugar Man. However, the great Robinson totally outclassed Rocky, knocking him out in the third round. In true Graziano fashion, he floored Robinson and made the fight interesting, but Sugar Ray took it as an insult and got Rocky out of there shortly afterward. Rocky Graziano only fought once more, a UD loss to undefeated Chuck Davey. He then retired from the ring and went into show business. His final ring record was 67-10 with 52 wins by knockout.

After his ring career was over, Rocky was only in his early 30s and had his looks and brains still intact, even after 83 fights. He became a veteran of many TV programs, variety shows, turned spokesman, and acted in several movies, including Tony Rome, with Frank Sinatra. Incidentally around that time (mid 1960s), Rocky was friends with RSR’s own Packy “Boom Boom” Goldstein. As it was, Rocky’s character in Tony Rome needed a name. As homage to his buddy Goldstein, “Packy” was suggested as a gag by Alvin Berkwitt. This cracked Sinatra up and it was used in the film. Rocky’s life story was also immortalized on the silver screen in the 1956 Oscar winning drama “Somebody Up There Likes Me”, starring Paul Newman as the Rock. He was a true Renaissance Man who whose innate talent translated into numerous successful artistic endeavors. Later in life, Rocky decided to try his hand at painting and became a renowned artist whose work was displayed in many art galleries in his native New York. He was also quite a talented comedian who refreshingly never took himself that seriously and seemed to really appreciate all he had in life. Rocky died in 1990 at age 71 one month after having a stroke. Despite his fame in later life as celebrity “Rocky Graziano”, boxing fans will remember Thomas Rocco Barbella (Rocky Balboa, anyone?) as an “all heart” kind of fighter, who never backed up and went out on his shield.

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