Angry Rocky Graziano goes after Charley Fusari

Though gentle and, as his wife said, “sweet” outside of the ring, former middleweight champion Rocky Graziano often fought with an animalistic, albeit controlled, rage.Gentle as he was, if betrayed by a so-called friend, Graziano’s volcanic temper could go off.

In 1949, Graziano was scheduled to fight fellow Italian Charley Fusari.

Fusari, 25, fighting in the welterweight division, went undefeated in 45 fights until losing a majority decision to Tony Pellone in 1947.

The kid was good, but the loss affected his confidence. Fusari was back in the mix two years later, upsetting rising Rocky Castellani at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Fusari was victorious in two more bouts before meeting Graziano at the Polo Grounds.

Reportedly, Graziano and Fusari had spared the previous year. Graziano liked the kid.

Fusari was confident he could defeat Graziano.

“If Rocky wants it real tough, he will get it that way. I know this may sound corny, but it is true. Rocky tries to bull his opponents. I hope he tries the same thing with me. All I want is for him to come in on me. I’ll knock his brains out.”

Graziano, as the aggressor, was a no-brainer. His style was straight ahead. Boxing was boring. Graziano wanted to slug. He packed dynamite in his right hand, scoring 39 knockouts in 49 fights.Fighting movers, like Fusari, were always a problem for Graziano, who had lost back-to-back decisions to Harold Green in 1944.

Several of his biggest wins were dramatic. Oddsmakers favored Billy Arnold 6-1 against Graziano.

Graziano made them look like fools by starching Arnold in three heats.

Former Welterweight champion Freddie Cochran had Graziano’s number for eight rounds. Graziano rang his bell at the end of the ninth with a vicious right hand. It took him a mere 16 seconds to finish Cochrane in the next heat.

Graziano met Green for the third time at Madison Square Garden in 1946. As expected, he lost the first few rounds as Green easily outboxed him, but Graziano carried the equalizer.

A huge right flattened Green in the third round.

Graziano fought champion Tony Zale for the middleweight title at Yankee Stadium on September 27, 1946. Graziano was floored in the opening heat but got up to knock Zale to the canvas in round two.

He appeared to be in control, until Zale, known as The Man of Steel, teetering on the edge of defeat, nailed him with a wicked body shot in round six, followed by a left hook that collapsed Graziano.

The challenger couldn’t beat the count. The script in the rematch was flipped as Zale battered Graziano for five rounds until Graziano summoned the willpower from somewhere to turn the fight in his favor – stopping Zale.

Fight three went down in New Jersey in 1948. Zale tagged Graziano early and often, knocking him out in round three.

Rocky Graziano – The Relentless Champion

Graziano was out of the ring for a year. His two wins over Bobby Claus and Joe Agosta didn’t impress.

Fusari’s manager was confident. The thinking was that Graziano was past it. His fighting fire was dimming.

“Charley will win early by kayo, ” he said a few days before the fight.

Graziano and Fusari would meet on September 14, 1949, at the Polo Grounds.

“This is one fight that will end in a knockout-and there’s nothing wrong with me that a kayo of Fusari won’t cure,” Graziano said.

On fight night, for nine rounds, Fusari boxed well. He staggered Graziano in round one and peppered him with jabs. Entering the tenth and final round, all three judges had Fusari ahead. Graziano would need a knockout to win

He languished on his stool in his corner as his manager, Irving Cohen, peered at him. Cohen was well aware of Graziano’s temper. He knew he had to do something to light a fire under his fighter. As the story goes, before the bell sounded, he concocted a story about Fusari disrespecting Graziano.

He told Graziano that Fusari was telling everyone who would listen that Graziano was old and couldn’t box a lick. Graziano snarled at the disrespect. Any friendship he felt towards Fusari dissipated. He was seething when the bell rang. He tore into Fusari with hooks from everywhere. Fusari went down, but pulled himself up.

Graziano forced him into the ropes and punched, landing vicious blows until the referee waved off the contest. Graziano quickly calmed down.

The fire went back to sleep mode.