Nice documentary with rare footage This content is protected That Lastarza I fight was eye opening. I think the ref could have stepped in and stopped it. Lastarza was out on his feet for a while. Bucceroni had a sneaky powerful right hand. Not a world beater by any means but he was a tough Philadelphia fighter. Interesting that had Satterfield beaten Charles, Weill had an agreement with IBC for Marciano to defend his world title vs Bucceroni in February of 1954.
"I think the ref could have stepped in and stopped it." I disagree. LaStarza was doing a good job of defending himself, ducking under and rolling with punches. He made Bucceroni miss a lot. I noticed how different this was to Baker. Baker did nothing when hurt but put out his arms trying to hold Henry off. Henry had no problem punching over those arms and couldn't miss the stationary Baker. I know, different fighters. But I think one reason the little guys often did better. Superior torso flexibility. The ability to duck and roll. Big guys tended to be stiff and so if hurt could do little except stand and take it.
He was getting battered in there man, stop the fight. Lastarza showed some decent Bob and weave defense and was super tough but took way too many flush shots on wobbly legs Off topic but both Henry and Baker would have beaten Lastarza and Bucceroni.
It’s one of those animal-skin hats that the system here asterisks out if you try to use it. He wore it on his chest to honor Davey Crockett.
LaStarza survived very well and came on late, but not enough to win. He won convincingly in the rematch. I can't agree that he was taking that many "flush shots" although there were some. Bucceroni missed most of his punches. "Henry and Baker would have beaten LaStarza and Bucceroni" I think so also. Doesn't mean that LaStarza didn't display good survival skills. By the way, despite seeing this film of him losing to Bucceroni, I think LaStarza was the better fighter of these two.
From the late Joe Rein “He could REALLY CRACK, (He wasn't called THE BUTCHER BOY for nothing) His right was straight-as-string and could end a fight with one shot. Lean 'n raw-boned, far from the look of current heavies. He was a stiff-as-board boxer/puncher. With his hair parted down the middle, he looked like a throwback to the '20s & '30s. He was thrilling, knowing he could lower the boom any second. Thought sure he'd expose "Hurricane" Jackson, but either he went in the wateror got overwhelmed by the onslaught of gnats.“ Bucceroni would have made a tough light-heavyweight/cruiserweight in todays age. At 6’2 with a sneaky big right hand punch, he would have been formidable against men his size. He was a tough homegrown Philadelphia fighter. He couldn’t compete against the athletic big men of later eras but he’d be perfect at 175-cruiserweight. I think Bucceroni was clearly a good second-tier contender, but not a top man. He would have been destroyed by Marciano, as well as Walcott, Moore , H Johnson, and Charles. I would also rate him behind Valdes, Henry, Baker, Satterfield and Layne. Bucceroni had something of an interesting career. He started off at 175 then ran into the monster punching Irish Murphy. Bumped up to heavyweight scored a major upset over Roland LaStarza, but was then himself spoiled by a very uncharacteristic performance by LaStarza in their rematch. After that, Bucceroni went on to establish himself as a #3 for Marciano's title scoring a very nice win over slickster Jimmy Slade, and reportedly had a guaranteed $100,000 shot at Marciano all lined up. Weill talked about fighting Bucceroni constantly in the newspapers around late 53. Sadly, Bucceroni decided to take a "warm up" fight against an up-and-coming Hurricane Jackson. Jackson gave him a surprise thrashing and he pretty much went downhill afterward.
His big mistake was not moving to San Francisco and getting Rice-a-Roni to pay to have its logo on his robes.
Here is a short clip of Bucceroni fighting Hein Ten Hoff. https://imgur.com/EuzIq7b Bucceroni was a bad dude when motivated, but like Valdez made a big mistake not sitting on his rating until he got a shot at the title. Also, Bucceroni wasn't just a shareholder with Cloverlay, but also helped from time to time with Frazier's preparation early in Frazier's career such as securing topflight sparring partners for Frazier, scouting opponents, and giving suggestions on how to fight certain opponents.
I hadn't realised Bucceroni had that fast power. His fight with Nardico was a good scrap. The 1st Lastarza fight? Seen fights stopped for less and some allowed to continue when a fighter has taken more punishment. Speedy conditioned fighters but , don't these guys look tiny compared to todays heavies? Never thought much of Lastarza but there was nothing wrong with his heart! Thanks for posting this,interesting stuff!
"don't those guys look tiny compared to todays heavies?" They are tiny compared to today's heavies. It is useful to remember that even Sonny Liston and Ali would be closer in height and weight to these men than to someone like Tyson Fury. So would "big" men like Baker and Valdes. "LaStarza" "there was nothing wrong with his heart." I was impressed with his performance in this one. Everyone looks good when the edited clips are of them pounding away at someone. But how do they respond when they are in deep water? LaStarza showed not only heart, but good survival skills. He kept his hands up, ducked and rolled, and moved away when he had the opportunity. It makes an interesting contrast to Baker who did nothing to protect himself after he was hit by Henry. He stood straight up with his hands down and ate punches. I think Baker beats LaStarza--those 25 lbs. would be decisive, but I note the difference in survival skills.
Just perused Rollie's record 66 fights ,20 against men with losing records. His manager did some job with him! You're not wrong about the size of them compared to today's guys. 186 3/4lbs Lastarza 181 1/2lbs Bucceroni The current Ring top ten#s weights from their last fights. Fury 264 3/4lbs Usyk 221 1.4lbs Joshua 240lbs Wilder 238lbs Whyte 253 1/4lbs Parker 240lbs Ruiz Jnr 256lbs Ortiz 243 1/4lbs Joyce 263 3/4lbs Hrgovic 246 3/4lbs Sanchez 239 1/4lbs
I have seen here in the US "experts" go over the records of the opponents of Super Bowl teams and draw all sorts of conclusions, only to have the team which played the "weaker" competition win. The problem is that feeding on weak competition does not prove one can not beat strong competition. Rocky Marciano and Elmer Ray are two good examples.