You don't hear much about this guy. Tiozzo was a two-time Light Heavyweight Champ as well as a Cruiserweight Champion. He retired as Light Heavyweight Champion and had an excellent record. (48-2 with 32 KOs) The only two losses in his career were to Hall of Famer, Virgil Hill. The second loss to Hill was arguably the only poor performance in his entire career (in a fight where he was caught cold in the first round). The first fight against Hill was a close, split decision loss. He beat Hall of Famer, Mike McCallum, as well as Dariusz Michalczewski. Although both men were past prime when Tiozzo beat them, he actually dropped the iron-chinned McCallum, and stopped the durable Michalczewski in 6. He was the only man to ever stop "Tiger." Tiozzo also beat a number of other respectable fighters like Leslie Stewart, Nate Miller, Eric Lucas, and Silvio Branco. Was on a winning streak and still held the title when he retired in his mid 30s. Not really sure why he chose to hang them up. Quite honestly, I am not sure he wouldn't have beaten the much more commonly praised Henry Maske.
His best victory was against Tiger Michalchewiski. Came in his backyard and destroyed him in 6. Mc Callum was 38 at the time, not prime. But still better than the fatter version Toney or Jones beat at LH.
I think he tends to get underrated due to the second Hill fight, which was one of those improbable early stoppages where a normally durable guy gets caught cold by a supposed non-puncher. It's a curious mark on Tiozzo's career that he was dropped early 5 times by Hill (across two fights), but otherwise appeared to have a solid chin that held up against bigger men at cruiserweight. He had the tools to beat Hill second time round if he had been focused, and he would have ended up with quite a tidy resume - 3 wins over (albeit faded) HOF worthy fighters (DM should get in at some point), as well as Lucas, Branco and Miller, alongside titles in two divisions. Of course, if my aunty had bollocks etc, and the fact remains that he was bombed out in a round by an over-the-hill Virgil Hill. It's difficult to see past that when evaluating his career. Was a fight with Maske ever close to happening? I tend to think Maske would have done what Maske generally did, which was win a boring fight without seeming to do anything special. However, Tiozzo's strength may have caused him problems in the same way that Rocchigiani did in the first fight.