"Two Ton" Tony Galento
Posted: 17 Mar 2006, 18:05
One of my favorite fighters of all time was the loud mouth, beer chugging, fat man known as "The New Jersey Night Stick", Tony Galento.
At 5'9" and weighing anywhere from 220 pounds to 240+ he held his own against finer tuned athletes and hit hard as hell and used every dirty trick in the book to win---he didn't box, he street fight!
Looking at him today you would say he was a bum, was off blanace, telegraphed his punches, threw haymakers, had no defense---but there were and still are critics who even say Ketchell was a crappy fighter---the difference was Galento, like Ketchell, was tough as nails and had an iron will and strong constitution.
He was always the showman, and did the most low things to get a psychological advantage, and if that didn't work, he would use his thumb to poke out a man's eye, use elbows, head butt, low blows...you name it he did it.
One of the funnier stories of "Two Ton" Tony Galento was when he was offered to face Joe Louis, to Galento's reply "Joe Louis? I never heard of the bum."
Ironically in round three of their Heavyweight bout, it appeared Galento was right in saying Louis was a pushover, as he dropped The Brown Bomber---but Louis returned in vengence and battered Galento and won by KO in the following round.
His overall record was 79-26-5 (56). He beat Lou Nova by KO. As did Abe Feldman, Natie Brown, Harry Thomas and hoards of others, albeit most were underclassed.
But even Joe Louis said, that Tony Galento was the man he hated most, and the most dangerous and toughest opponent he ever faced---and said once in an interview that Galento would have been a great Bare-Knuckle boxer if he had lived in the era.
Myself, Galento would fall short against some of the better fighters of today, or really of any era---but never once doubt that he wouldnt ALWAYS make a show of it every time out, and did whatever he could to win.
At 5'9" and weighing anywhere from 220 pounds to 240+ he held his own against finer tuned athletes and hit hard as hell and used every dirty trick in the book to win---he didn't box, he street fight!
Looking at him today you would say he was a bum, was off blanace, telegraphed his punches, threw haymakers, had no defense---but there were and still are critics who even say Ketchell was a crappy fighter---the difference was Galento, like Ketchell, was tough as nails and had an iron will and strong constitution.
He was always the showman, and did the most low things to get a psychological advantage, and if that didn't work, he would use his thumb to poke out a man's eye, use elbows, head butt, low blows...you name it he did it.
One of the funnier stories of "Two Ton" Tony Galento was when he was offered to face Joe Louis, to Galento's reply "Joe Louis? I never heard of the bum."
Ironically in round three of their Heavyweight bout, it appeared Galento was right in saying Louis was a pushover, as he dropped The Brown Bomber---but Louis returned in vengence and battered Galento and won by KO in the following round.
His overall record was 79-26-5 (56). He beat Lou Nova by KO. As did Abe Feldman, Natie Brown, Harry Thomas and hoards of others, albeit most were underclassed.
But even Joe Louis said, that Tony Galento was the man he hated most, and the most dangerous and toughest opponent he ever faced---and said once in an interview that Galento would have been a great Bare-Knuckle boxer if he had lived in the era.
Myself, Galento would fall short against some of the better fighters of today, or really of any era---but never once doubt that he wouldnt ALWAYS make a show of it every time out, and did whatever he could to win.
