I was banned from college for being invincible . i ko'd all my opponents, then turned pro as a great puncher.Split a tendon in my right hand,and had to become a one handed boxer. Won a title,by boxing one handed. Who am I ?
Fought under the tutelage of former middleweight great Leo Houck at Penn State. Hurt his right caroming it off hammerheaded Al Quaill's noggin if memory serves.
Surf, right you are, Billy Soose. What might have been, had Soose not have split a tendon in his right knuckle, making him virtually a one handed boxer.Even with that handicab Soose licked the likes of Ken Overlin, Babe Risko, tony Zale, Tami Mauriello, jimmy Reeves, etc. And a world title...:good
Yup. Soose achieved quite a bit considering the bad hand. Ray Arcel knew Soose had "the stuff" when he managed to survive the distance against Charley Burley. Been doing a lot of research on Pittsburgh boxing history, so I'm pretty up on Soose and his contemps for the time being.
Surf, there was a fighter who was a terrific puncher from Pa.,by the name of Lee Sala in the late 1940s. i saw him once. thought he would become a 160 pound champion, but there was great fighters at his weight then...And Rocky Castellani too.
What about Charley Zivic, tough-as-a-cob middleweight contender in the '40s, who, for all intents, only had a left hand 'n was blind in one eye?
He was a good one. Still alive from what I understand. The whole Sala family were fighters. Lee Sala Sr. fought in the 1920s and 30s and had a pretty nice run until he ran into Tommy Freeman. But Lee Jr. is the one who had the really notable career, true. They were from Donora, the town that spawned Stan Musial. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew each other.
Charley "Zivic" Affif. Glad you brought him up cuz not too many people seem to remember him.:good Fritzie's protege'. A Syrian fighter like Mustafa Hamsho.
From what I've heard, Lee sala and Joey De John were in two WARS. Each winning one. Lee Sala broke De John's jaw in the second fight. Shame there is no films of their bouts ! Joey Giambra was another good middleweight of those days.
