Rocky Mattioli

Borrowed from here... http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/15180...ents/Events/PastEvents/HOF/Legends/index.html

... to save me some typing more than anything else


Interested in the forums opinions on Mattioli, i find him very enjoyable to watch. Very accurate, he sets up his shots beauitfully behind a straight powerful jab or with feints. Everything he throws is intended to land.. and hurt. Very controlled and methodic with genuine power in both hands.




[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyEo8-qAlDg&feature=related[/ame]


This is Mattioli's 2nd pro fight as appeared on TV Ringside. He is up against Glenn Grinstead who is in his 7th pro fight. Grinstead is another student of Ambrose Palmer and fights in the classic Palmer method also seen in Famechon and Ferreri.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYWRuLJBQf8[/ame]


This is his last bout before beating Dagge for the LMW title against Angelo Ortiz. Unfortunately the audio is quite out of sync in the video.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQimfpgcLMk[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIS1Xq99hQs[/ame]


Mattioli's 2nd defence against Jose Duran after flattening former champ Elisha Obed.
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Former champ Mattioli still has the old style

By Stathi Paxinos
August 6, 2004

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Former world champion Rocky Mattioli in Melbourne yesterday.
Picture:Wayne Taylor


At 51, Rocky Mattioli still has a body that looks like it could carry some of the power that knocked out three-quarters of his opponents during a career of more than 70 fights. But, the heavily tattooed Mattioli, who won the light-middleweight world title in 1977, now seems to carry less of a killer instinct.
Tattooed letters on the knuckles of his right hand spell "love", on the left it is "hate". It was the basis of his philosophy in life, he said.
"If you look back, what is life? It is full of agony, it's full of miseries, it's full of happiness, but it is also full of hate because you have enemies in this world," Mattioli said. "I don't want enemies, I want to live peacefully."
Mattioli, who lives in Milan, has arrived in Melbourne to join fellow former boxing champions Barry Michael, Lester Ellis, Johnny Famechon, Lionel Rose and Jeff Harding at a function tonight.
Function organiser Simon Ogden said the event was designed to raise money for the fighters. Ogden said Australians seemed to worship heroes in all sports but boxing, and many of these old champions had experienced hard times because of unscrupulous people.
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Mattioli, who was named after former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, always knew his destiny. "The funny thing about it was that I became world champion also. It was only a dream for me, so I was carrying on always with this Rocky Marciano inside me, pretending in front of the mirror, pretending I was world champion, pretending how it feels," Mattioli said.
The first time Mattioli donned boxing gloves as a youngster, in a broken-down old shed in Morwell, he ran from the other boys to avoid being hit. The first time he walked into a gym he was there only to act as an interpreter for a cousin from Italy, who wanted to learn to box because he was being picked on at school.
His first trainer was a man with a red face "from drinking"


"He was always drunk, so he used to leave the RSL (which was attached to the gym) and I can remember there were little kiddies crying in the ring because he used to put on the big gloves and he would stand up and we would hit him in the tummy and then, all of a sudden, he would hit us in the nose and say 'keep your chin up'," Mattioli said.
But former IBF super-featherweight champion Michael, who was one of the few who would spar with Mattioli despite being in a lighter weight division, rated him as one of the toughest fighters he has known.
"He was aggressive, super-controlled, had good speed and power. He was a pretty complete sort of fighter, he could box a bit as well," Michael said.
Mattioli also had praise for Michael, having known him since Michael was 18. "I would describe Barry as one of the most dangerous opponents a guy can fight because, in a nice way, he is very slimy and cagey, he is just waiting for that opening and he's got a lot of balls underneath; that means he'll go through hell to win the fight," Mattioli said.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/05/1091557995024.html?from=storylhs

 

Mighty Mattioli pops in for a bout


DAMON FRANCIS
01 Aug, 2011 12:00 AM
Latrobe Valley boxer Gene Iorangi will enter the ring for his debut fight with the added confidence of having a world champion in his corner.Legendary boxer, and former Morwell resident, Rocky Mattioli returned to the Valley recently to visit family and called in at the Moe Youth Club to offer some words of wisdom to a group of keen young boxers.
One of those boxers was his granddaughter's boyfriend, Gene, who will fight his first bout in Coburg on Friday night.
"As soon as he said to me he's boxing and he's going to have a fight (I'd said) I'd like to come down and see him and maybe give him some hints," Mattioli said.
"He's got a lot of courage, but you don't only need that, you (also) need experience. But he's only starting out so give him a bit of time and see how he goes."
In 1977 Mattioli defeated Eckhard Dagge to win the World Boxing Council Light Middleweight Title.
He defended the title twice before losing it to Maurice Hope in 1979.
Mattioli, who now lives in the Italian city of Milan, said he had a lot of family in the Valley area and enjoyed visiting when he could.
"I went over to Italy just to have two fights and I'm still there," he said.
"I miss the Latrobe Valley but I've been 34 years over there and it's very hard for me to come back to this lifestyle.
"I try to get here often but the cost is so high these days and the time, because you come down here you have to spend a month."
Mattioli said he enjoyed seeing young people take up the sport but had some advice for the aspiring athletes.
"Looking at these guys here it brings back memories of when I was young," Mattioli said.
"The young boxers here, like all Australian fighting personalites, they seem to hit hard, punch hard, be hard. Boxing is not only that boxing is a noble art. There is intelligence involved.
"I know you have to win a fight with punches but you can get through with your mind and your head.


"You don't only think of that one punch, try to sort of box and feel him out a little bit."
Gene said he was looking forward to pulling on the gloves for his first competitive fight, with Mattioli's tips still ringing in his ears.
"It means heaps, he's a really good fighter and all," Gene said.
"He's only been here a short time but he's helped out (a lot)."
Fellow Paul Jenkins-trained boxer Aaron Hawkins will enter the ring for the second time on Friday, looking to go one better than his debut bout.
"I lost on points last time but I've had heaps of inner-club fights, experience building fights, so I'm pretty confident the hard training will pay off," Hawkins said.
"I've been given heaps of tips and Paul's training from the ground up has been great."

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http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com...ghty-mattioli-pops-in-for-a-bout/2244206.aspx

 

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Rocky and Lionel Rose

 

never been Morwell mate, is it a country town??

 

Rocky looks at them in the eye and says: "This is a boxer." But now he sees few. Eyes, physical mind: we want everything. "Habit of suffering. Today vai to sell a gram of coke and you get a mess of money. Instead, before eating with boxing you have to take a hell of a punch.

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Enlarge image


" Rocky Rocco is not a stage name. Stallone will be the effect, but the images so much a story to film: the jacket that hangs, tracksuit pants, a bit 'wide, a beer on the table, sitting in the corner of a bar a few steps from his gym. The Italian did not tremble, but pronounced in English as a newly landed in Italy. It reserves the Abruzzese dialect phone calls with her mother, who is in Melbourne. The nearly 57 years, the physicist and the squared jaw yet as when he arrived in Milan 35 years ago. Caught in Australia by Umberto and Giovanni Bianchini. Rocky Mattioli was someone right away. Born to hit. Even the imagination. "I was a savage. Fresh out of the cage. " He smiles. Today, it moves almost felt a few bites of arthritis, the body is full of tattoos, it looks like a forest: they tell the story of his life. The father had threatened him: "You will tear with the teeth." There was no way.
Rocky, now years ago, the gym instructor and personal trainer in Milan: the first accounts of the club, now in a gym in via Salvini, Porta Venezia, a short walk from the center. "I have clients who follow me for 26 years. Obviously I manage. I teach gymnastics that I learned in Australia, you need to boxing: the best there is. " But he also teaches the art of fists to the gym Doria, a sort of second home. Now to Beccaria, a juvenile prison. Hunts for boxers, rather than fists. There is a difference. "An attempt. Mica'm going to try boxers in Piazza San Babila. Boxers are infamous in places where there are young and hungry stragglers.

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" It is not an easy hunt. There are still few, wanted to build some fitness Oggiaro Fourth, the Barona, in the wilds of Milan. "But there is no money. In Australia, the boys did not pay gym fees. I introduced myself, I never pulled out of money and I started boxing. "
In prison volunteers is exceptional. "We are helping, are required. There is one, in for murder, I think a boxer. Maybe when it comes out ... ". All foreigners, said. Italian? Not even the shadow. And someone says: Rocky, when I come out ... "What do you think? I share their fate. I would end up in prison. In Australia, a fight took 2:00 to 3:00 cops. But when he touched them ... I killed! But the process came to Melbourne to witness a half for me. And I saved myself. " Beccaria is to lesson once a week. He reasons: "We need a sponsor. I started in October, I brought gloves and bags. Help them, as I have been helped. Boxing proves that you can not win a football, a knife, a shotgun blast. Here only fists. "
Rocky's back. "But at their age, I was already a professional." Exactly forty years ago. The Australia of the ring was a jungle. "Between the ropes did not think that to kill the other. To save you. Tough people, few things and a lot of nastiness. Now the boys are flannel. At 13 he entered the ring one was man. At 16 I became professional. " On 9 March 1970, the first match. "I won by knockout in Round 2 against Tony Salta, another native son. Two years ago I received a call from a friend of Lipari. I say: you step one. And the Rocky as you hurt me this time. He was Tony Salta. I had not seen and heard. " Review the life: "In 12 years I worked and struggled: unloaded concrete, then a baker and three in the morning I was walking around. I held on for both cigarettes and a bottle of beer. "
What can you tell kids behind bars? Perhaps the most extraordinary story of his life. Father of three children, Mattioli after 30 years has discovered that the father of a girl in Australia. Out program when he was seventeen, love behind a church. He did not know, he never imagined. And when he saw the girl, he ran away: "But you Anna." It seemed his sister. At home, his wife (now ex) and children, did not like. But those were years of life and fists. When Stan Mounsey, a Vietnam veteran, by sending him back home with tears in his eyes. "We beat her. Wildly. He got drunk at the pub and then he led us to the gym more. He wanted to teach the suffering, accustomed to the defense. I cried, I cried. Then you get used to.
"
Rocky also thought of taking revenge. "I was penniless. I needed. Then I went to search the pockets of those who stood in the shower. Picked up and go! I was a *******. Today you'd head melee. But it was because they needed. Stan was furious. A beast. She screamed: if I take that son of a *****, rip his head off. And I shut up and cadaverous. Since then I gave up. "
The suffering taught him to stand in the ring. "They beat me because I was Italian. They said little worm, small spaghetti. Repeated: Wag. Which, when read in the dictionary, not a pejorative. But in the language becomes. " Then it was a great boxer, 20 years already champion of Australia, 24 junior middleweight world champion. He had a great left hook. The fighting in Europe, mainly in Milan, they seemed child's play compared to the bullfights in Australia. It was great. Could be more so. It is the regret of a story.
Rocky in Milan found love, first child was born. Umberto Branchini they saw the signs of decay. It is still a worry. "Marriage has softened me. I became too much for good, not that animal savage was unleashed. To boxing I should not marry. Let's be clear: I do not regret anything. That's okay. Branchini But he understood. I said you're too sensitive. " A lesson to teach kids. With another type of regret. "I could be bigger than Welcome," says regardless of the pedigree. "Sure, I would not be more than Loi: the best of all." After winning the World Cup in Germany against Eckehard Dagge, protege of a powerful organizer - furrier, everything fell apart, 39 years ago in Sanremo (and in the rematch a year later), against Maurice Hope, English color from the essence of Jaguar. Rocky came out with his right arm broken and was stopped after the 8th round. It tells the background: "I am in front of the Ariston, across the street and stop a motor Ape. Thus, blocking it with his right hand: I had gone on foot. Pain! The shock sent me overweight. In the evening he knew the consequences. "
Mattioli was a warrior, never would have surrendered. The meetings seemed battles from movies. "The world was important. But the finest match I came to Milan with Alfonso Haymann. The official said only: stop and go. We beat and we did not intervene. " What is the ring. There is engraved on his hands. One says: "love." The other door says: "hate." Love and hate. You said: "Like life: black and white." Black and white, you or me, in or out, guard or a thief. Stop and go. Life is all a game. Real Rocky? He gets up from the table, smiling sideways. It is a greeting. "Hey man, I beg you, put a nice picture of when I was a boxer. I deserve it. Do not you think? '.


(translated by google)


http://translate.google.com.au/tran...rt=80&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=950&prmd=imvnso

 

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Jeff Harding, Rocky Mattioli, Johnny Famechon and Fighting Harada at their Australian Boxing Hall of Fame induction.

 

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Another poster mentioned that story not long ago. That article was written by former Wallaby Peter Fitzsimons, who also wrote The Ballad of Les Darcy. It saddens me to here the treatment the likes of Rose, Richards, Bennett, Sands...ect recieved, they deserved far better. Fammo is a class act in and out :good

 

.... from what i've seen so is Harada for that matter

 

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