Joey Giardello passed away today

[Lausse]

It saddens me to announce to all of you that former middleweight champion Joey Giardello passed away today a little after noon at the age of 78 in Cherry Hill, NJ. "He was the greatest middleweight ever to come out of Philly and one of the few white fighters of his era who fought every tough black guy out there," said Hall of Fame Philadelphia promoter J Russell Peltz. Joey G is one of my favourite fighters of all time, a master ring technician an d a true old school fighter who came up in the school of hard knocks the old fashioned way.

R.I.P. Brave Warrior, you will be missed.

[metchampion]

Nothing I love more than to talk about old time boxers, so I was made up when I went to work at a new firm in 1991 and the governor there told me he'd beeen attending pro shows for well over forty years.........................I asked him, "Who's the best you ever saw?", he answered, quick as a flash, "Joey Giardello boxing Terry Downes. He said the man was different class........looking at his record, I can well believe it. God bless champ.

[BigJuicyHog]

Greatest MW to ever come out of Philly? Really?

[Ambling Alp]

Sad to hear.
Truly a great fighter. Growing up, I rarely heard his name when people talked about the great middleweights. (For example, I heard a lot more about Rocky Graziano) It took me awhile to realize how great he was. Have seen him some on film, wish I could see more.

Fought in a great era for middleweights and fought the best, some multiple times, and usually won.

[elmersalsa]

RIP Champ. You was a true world champion and a true great fighter that fought the very best of your time.

One of the most UNDERRATED fighters of all-time. It is amazing that he had 124 pro fights before fighting for the World Middleweight Title for the first time. And that happened against the great Dick Tiger. After 16 years as a pro, he finally got his chance to fight for a world title? Amazing.

Definately, a top 20 all-time middleweight.

[Minotauro]

R.I.P Joey Giardello

[Bobbin & Weavin]

R.I.P Joey Giardello

I also posted this on the West Coast thread.

I just got off the phone with Nate Collins, San Francisco middleweight from the 60s & 70s, he fought Giardello in Giardello's 3rd to last fight; when I told Nate that Joey had died you could tell he was very sad even though they didn't have a great experience, Nate said, Giardello hit me with a left hook to the body in the 2nd round & I could swear someone had shot me, after that I got on my bike & started jabbin", Joey was pretty beat up with both eyes closed but was real pissed when the ref stopped the fight!" Nate also said, "After the fight we were over picking up our checks and Joey started swinging at me, & everyone else...man it was wild, the guy just liked to fight!"

Bobbin & Weavin

[Boxingjerry]

I was fortunate to see Joey Giardello fight live three times here in Cleveland, once in 1959 against Dick Tiger and twice against Rocky Rivero in 1964. I have video of the first fight have not witnessed any video of the second. Joey was a tough fighter, knew every trick in the book and had a rock jaw. He was 7-0 in Cleveland during his career and had quite a following here in the local Little Italy community. I got to meet him once but also corresponded with him a few times and wrote a few stories on him over the years for different boxing publications. You don't win 100 fights by not being a special fighter. RIP Champ!

[My2Sense]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the old-timers are dropping like flies? Rocky Castellani, who fought in the same division at the same time as Joey, only just died a couple of days ago. What a shame.

RIP Joey.

[zurdo]

I've heard quite a bit about Joey's good work on behalf of special needs children.

It tells me that in addition to being a great boxer the man was also a Champ as a human being.

RIP Champ

[JAHamilton77]

Just saw that on the front page. RIP

[kikibalt]

Joey Giardello, 78; middleweight boxer who sued over depiction in 'The Hurricane'
By Claire Noland, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2008

Joey Giardello, a former middleweight boxing champion who won a decision over Rubin Carter in 1964 and then sued over how the fight was depicted in the 1999 film "The Hurricane," has died. He was 78.

Giardello died Thursday of congestive heart failure at a nursing home in Cherry Hill, N.J., the International Boxing Hall of Fame announced.

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993, Giardello had a 101-25-7 record with 33 knockouts while fighting from 1948 to 1967. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound boxer captured the middleweight title at the relatively late age of 33, defeating favored Dick Tiger of Nigeria in a 15-round bout Dec. 7, 1963, in Atlantic City, N.J.

He successfully defended the belt against Carter in a unanimous decision in Philadelphia the next year before relinquishing it to Tiger in 1965. Two years later he retired from the ring.

Giardello followed a tortuous path to boxing's pinnacle, and his life outside the ring was marked by colorful episodes.

Born Carmine Orlando Tilelli in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 16, 1930, he borrowed the identity of one Joseph Giardello to join the Army in 1946. After honing his boxing skills in the service, Giardello settled on the south side of Philadelphia and worked his way up the middleweight ranks.

A speedy, relentless fighter, Giardello might have reached the top of his game sooner had he followed a more rigorous training regimen than one that included a little running, a little punching, and a lot of macaroni and cheese and beer.

"I was a natural," he told Sports Illustrated in 1998. "I wouldn't train. I just fought."

In 1955, one of those fights landed him in jail for four months. His opponent was a South Philly gas station attendant.

The high point of Giardello's career came in 1963, when he beat Sugar Ray Robinson, and then Tiger in the championship match. But the lasting memories fixate on the Carter fight. Although most contemporary observers and boxing historians agree it was a hard-fought contest won by Giardello, Carter has come out ahead in some accounts.

"The Hurricane," directed by Norman Jewison and starring Denzel Washington, tells the story of Carter, a black man who was unjustly imprisoned for the murder of three white people before his conviction was overturned and he was released. In the film, the decision favoring Giardello, who is white, appears to be racially motivated and unfair.

Giardello filed a federal lawsuit claiming defamation and eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Later versions of the film on DVD included commentary by the director noting that liberties were taken in the fight scenes.

After retiring from boxing, Giardello worked as an insurance salesman, then as an inspector for the New Jersey Department of Weights and Measures.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Rosalie; and four sons, Joseph, Carmine, Paul and Steven, who use the name Tilelli.

"It don't bother me none," Giardello told the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., in 1993. "Everything is in order. My kids? Tilelli. The deed on the house? Tilelli. Tax returns? Tilelli. Me? Giardello. I don't care."

[kikibalt]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the old-timers are dropping like flies? Rocky Castellani, who fought in the same division at the same time as Joey, only just died a couple of days ago. What a shame.

RIP Joey.

Looks like the Grim Reaper is working overtime this years, and the year is not over yet, more to come.

[telboy66]

Sad to hear of his passing I was lucky enough to be at wembley in 1960 to see his fight with one of my hero'sTerry Downes, terry had to box well that night to win against one of the old school Boxer/fighters from the same mould as Basillio& la motta

Rest in peace champ