Joey Iannotti

Name: Joey Iannotti
Birth Name: Joseph Iannotti
Hometown: The Bronx, New York, USA
Birthplace: San Prisco, Campania, Italy
Died: 2008-01-13 (Age:87)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 168cm
Reach: 173cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record

Joey Iannotti came to the United States when he was only one-year-old, and the family settled in New Haven, CT. As a boy he used to shine shoes at sites that included the local boxing arenas. He decided when he was 14 that he wanted to box, and as an amateur he claimed a record of 41-4, winning the state bantam and featherweight titles. He turned pro Feb. 21, 1939.

A box factory fire in 1939 that severely injured his elder brother Dom determined his future. Unsure if he wanted to continue with boxing, Dom, before he died, made Joey promise to care for his wife and infant son. Boxing was thereafter Joey's full-time profession.

Drafted in 1943, Iannotti was with General Eisenhower's Third Army, and saw active service in France, Italy and Germany. Not the fighter after the War that he was before it, he retired in late 1946, having lost to fighters he thought he would easily have beaten in his pre-War years. He opened a delicatessen and produce store that was successful until the advent of the supermarkets. He then joined the supermarket chain A&P and worked with them for 31 years.

His family remainedfirm friends with the family of fellow fighters of his day--especially the Belloise family and the family of Curley St. Angelo.