He told me he was. I never got to meet Ray Arcel (his trainer for the fight) and ask him. Anyone ever dug up any research or info that confirms this? Or is it just another case of a fighter making excuses? Nova at his best still seems to me like he could have taken Galento, so I've always wondered if there's any truth to Lou's claim. I'm not meaning to be lazy here. I'm just doing other research and can't commit to digging into Galento-Nova history at the moment!
When you look at Nova at his best against fighters like Baer and Farr, you wonder how he ever managed to loose to Galento. For this reason I always tended to be receptive to the excuses i.e. he was fouled, he was sick. Looking at the fight reports a different story emerges. Incredibly, it seems that Galento found a way to counter him, and just had his number on the day.
Perhaps this was due to Tony's dirty tactics, which would mess up anyone's timing. Maybe that's the "way" he "found"? :smoke Worth a thought
Here's a two page interview he did with my hometown paper shortly after I met him and shortly before he died: http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-24/sports/sp-10359_1_lou-nova
I remember reading that article in the newspaper. I also recall, when I was a kid of maybe 9 or 10, that Lou Nova used to call the muay tai (I think; they wore tiny boxing gloves, maybe 4 0ounces, and were barefoot, kicked, used knees, etc...) on a Korean station, one of the old UHF channels. This was nearly 40 years ago. But he told some great stories.
Galento was recorded at a weight of 224 for that one. If accurate, that's 20 pounds and more below what he was recorded at for the Baer boys, and also significantly less than he was for Louis previously. So Tony, a veteran of 105 bouts at age 29, appears to have been in pretty good condition for Nova, and didn't take the protracted beating from Joe that he would then dish out to Lou. Galento was really motivated to get back to Louis after coming off the deck to return the favor to the Bomber. What Nova says about Arcel has been echoed by others like Larry Holmes. Sure, Ray was around for a long time, but he was dubbed "The Meat Wagon" by cartoonist Willard Mullins for a reason. Peppermint Frazer-Locche was a masterpiece of comeback strategy by Arcel, but he wasn't the genius Futch and others like Steward became acclaimed as. George Blake also essentially torpedoed his distinguished 20 year refereeing career. He never disqualified a fighter in a match he officiated, but Galento-Nova was the time to change that, and he didn't do his job. Blake was the third man for just four more bouts, then out from inside the ring for good eight months later. Nova's claim that Galento ruined him for Louis is flagrant bull**** though. He earned his shot at Louis after Galento by decisioning Comiskey, then took a deadly serious Max Baer in eight for a huge rematch win to end the Larruper's career. That entire match is readily available for viewing on-line. You tell me if it looks like Galento "ruined" Nova for Louis. No, Louis ruined Nova for Louis, and also for Lee Savold and Tami Mauriello (who both stopped Lou twice after Nova's title shot). Louis ruined lots of guys for himself.
Yeah I heard he froze against Louis...certainly wouldn't be the first fella to do that Max Baer had to be physically pushed on to his feet by Dempsey to go back out and fight Louis. Also Surf Bat what was Lou like? Was he as zany as they say? Still looked in good shape? Any feedback is appreciated.
Yes he was. A real character. He wore a powder blue suit and this horrendous bright colored tie. It fit him perfect. He got up on the podium, talked for a few moments and then started reciting some Edgar Allen Poe poetry called "Bells" [SIZE=+1]Of the bells! bells! bells! [SIZE=+1]-[/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]To the tolling of the bells! -[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Of the bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE] -[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]To the moaning and the groaning of the bells[SIZE=+1]![/SIZE][/SIZE] Keep in mind that he's shouting this up there and gesturing with his hand in the air. When he was finished there was a silence (the audience wasn't sure just what the hell they'd just witnessed). Lou gives a nod and a self-satisfied smirk and walked off the podium. The audience began to clap haltingly and my friend and I started cracking-up, saying "we HAVE to meet this guy!" We did and he was a pleasure. Signed autographs and posed for pictures with everyone. I have a pic of me with Lou waving his cosmic punch under my chin. I think he was flattered that this then-19 year old kid even knew who the heck he was. He showed me pictures of him beating Baer and clowning around with Abbott and Costello. Helluva guy. A classic. But oh that tie. We were going to start up a fund to buy Lou Nova a new tie the following year but didn't (and he wasn't there anyway). I think he would have loved that.
I remember Nova shown sitting in the ringside audience on a broadcast of ESPN's Top Rank Boxing during the early 1980s, very enthused and animated. I'd never wanted to buy a drink for a septuagenarian I'd never met so badly. [As a bartender, I'd have paid for that dude's drinks out of my own tips jar!] Looking into yoga as a highly stressed teenager, I'd have definitely had more than boxing to ask him about.
