Joey Giardello vs. Joey Giambra (3rd meeting)
Joey Giardello 161 lbs lost to Joey Giambra 157 lbs by SD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1958-06-30
- Location: Cow Palace, Daly City, California, USA
- Referee: Jack Downey 94-96
- Judge: Jack Silver 95-97
- Judge: Eddie James 99-94
"Joey Giardello, moving smoothly and punching sharply in the early rounds, tired in the late stages and Joey Giambra took advantage of the fact to pile up points with an aggressive attack. The winner rocked Giardello several times with combinations to the head in the 9th round and in the 10th chased Giardello into the ropes throughout - landing solidly to the body. Giardello, 161, who suffered small cuts over both eyes in rounds 2 and 7, hurt Giambra, 156 1/2, several times early in the fight with right hands to both the head and body. When he wasn't scoring with the big right, Giardello was snapping the slow-moving Giambra's head back with quick jabs. Giambra bled from the nose through most of the bout. A crowd of 4,631 - which paid a gross of $26,517.50 - roundly booed last night's decision." -Oakland Tribune
Unofficial scorecards:
- Oakland Tribune - 97-95 Giardello
- San Francisco Examiner - 96-94 Giardello
- UPI and the AP - Draw (no points posted)
- A poll of 12 boxing writers totalled 8 scoring the bout for Giardello, 1 scoring for Giambra and 3 calling it a draw.
Post fight comments:
- "The referee is on my back all night long. He objects to my using too much vaseline on my face, but never once does he talk to Giambra for thumbing or heeling. He is the hometown boy so they take real good care of him." Joey Giardello
- "We'll never fight in this town again. I know we won the decision. Everybody except the judges agreed with us, so we can't be wrong." -Tony Ferrante, Giardello's manager
Jack Gallagher of the Oakland Tribune wrote: "Giambra and his manager, Mike Scanlan, made a hasty exit after Joey had dressed." Years later Giambra claimed that this was due to the fact that he agreed to throw the fight but reneged when he was in the ring. He claimed that the only reason he lived to tell the tale was that he was approached by what must have been a low level gambler who did not actually have mob blessing.