No political correctness
back then, You ate what
you wanted to eat and
you smoked where you
wanted to smoke. I went
to grade school, high
school and college in
the 50's, fought amateur
in the 50's and loved
the 50's.
But most of all, I loved
boxing in the 50's
because there were so
many tough guys out
there. I don't mean
Graziano, Zale,
Robinson, Marciano, and
LaMotta or Charles,
Louis, Walcott and
Cerdan.
The Late and Great Kid
Gavilan with Ted
They were the the headliners. Oh no,
I refer to the bruisers who fought
just one level down, under the radar
screen if you will, but who were
well known to every boxing
enthusiast. Names like Harry 'Kid'
Matthews, Reuben Jones, Anton Raadik,
Wes Bascomb, Garth Panter, Steve
Belloise, Dan Bucceroni, Clarence
Henry, Jimmy Slade, Cesar Brion,
Heinz Neuhaus, Charley Powell, Roger
Rischer, Johnny Summerlin, Tommy
Bell, Tommy Bazzano and many, many
more.
I grew
up on these guys, whether it was
watching them on 9 inch TV sets
while they duked it out at St.
Nicholas Arena or Sunnyside Garden
in New York or live at Marigold
Gardens or Rainbow Arena in Chicago.
One such guy was Danny Nardico,
50-13-4 with 35 ko's. He was an
ex-Marine who was awarded multiple
Purple Hearts in WWII. He holds the
distinction of being the only man in
boxing history to put Jake LaMotta
on the deck.
He put together a string of wins and
knockouts to propel himself into
middleweight contention during the
50's. He fit into a familiar mold of
a hard hitting, aggressive puncher
without much defense. He never did
get a title shot but he entertained
as a rugged combatant.
Another tough guy was Charlie Norkus
out of Queens, New York, a
top-ranked heavyweight fighter and a
character actor of some note Queens
has produced a number of Champions
like Paul (The Astoria Assassin)
Berlanbach, Michael Bentt and Kevin
(The Flushing Flash) Kelley. Queens
also produced tough main event
fighters like George Kochan, Pat
Scanlon, Jimmy Herring, Norkus, John
Busso, Ralph (Tiger)Jones, Bobby
Bartels, Jimmy Carollo, Tony DiBiase,
Henny Walitsch, Jack Donovan, Bobby
O'Brien, Lenny and Joe Mangiapane,
Eddie Gregg, David Sears and Fred
Liberatore.
But back to Norkus who, in a
professional career that began in
1948, amassed a record of 33 -19
with 22 by knockout. Norkus twice
took second place in Golden Gloves
boxing contests and remained
undefeated as a boxer in the U.S.
Marines in 1946-1947. He was chosen
as an alternate to the 1948 Olympic
Games in London, after which he
turned professional, fighting out of
Bayonne, N.J., where he became known
as "The Bayonne Bomber." He came
within one fight of a championship
bout against the great Marciano but
lost in a close 1955 decision to
Ezzard Charles and never got his
shot at the golden ring.
Charlie possessed a lethal left hook
that also produced a string of ko
victories. One of his friends and
stable-mates was fellow NJ Hall of
Famer Ernie "The Rock" Durando, a
friend of mine as well. By 1955,
Charlie was a highly ranked
heavyweight, beating such tough
fighters as Roland LaStarza, Cesar
Brion and a undefeated Charlie
Powell. Norkus floored Powell with a
devastating left hook that blew him
away. But his most talked about and
career defining fight was against
the aforementioned and highly touted
Nardico. A case of two tough
ex-Marines meeting in a square ring.
It did not disappoint and was
nothing short of a blood bath....a
ruthless, wild, pier 6 brawl
yielding 8 knock downs. Nardico went
down six times and Norkus twice
before The Bayonne Bomber was
finally able to ice Danny in the
ninth. The fight is somewhat of a
cult-classic and still talked about
today by those who grew up back in
the day. Unfortunately, only the
rematch (which Norkus also won)was
televised..
Norkus and Nardico were two of the
many fighters in the 50's who I
enjoyed watching and even at times
emulating, though Bob Satterfield
was my role model at least insofar
as offensive fighting was concerned.
Today, what took place back in the
day is sometimes referred to as "old
school." For me, it was neither
better nor worse than watching a
competitive bout today. It was what
it was.......and it was joyous just
as it can be today. It's just that
back in the day, these guys fought
more often and were seldom seen
puffing after 4 rounds or out of
shape. And I do know this, when
someone says "he fights like an old
school fighter," that's a compliment
of the first order.
