Rocky Mattioli

Bugger,,,,,,,,

Great Job on Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli -

I remember watching him on USA Television, winning the WBC Light-Middleweight Title
by using his short powerful arms to 'bludgeon' (KO 5) that 'tough' German, Eckhard Dagge in August 1977.

Always thought it a bit odd, that after turning Professional in Australia in March 1970, at age 16 1/2 -
It took Rocky 38-bouts and 5+ years to go back to Italy.

He fought Dominican Republic Light-Welterweight Chris Fernandez 25-10-4 (5 KO's) 'a southpaw cutey',
at the Palazzo Del Sport Stadium, Milan in May of 1975 - He stopped the Dominican by KO 4.
The win improved the 21 1/2 year-old Rocco Mattioli to 35-3-1 (26 KO's), and moved him to the
#8 WBA and #9 WBC-ranked Welterweight.

Rocky Mattioli had been ranked as high as the #4 WBA and #3 WBC Welterweight at the end of 1974 -
Prior to his 'upset loss' to Alipapa 'Ali' Afakasi.

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exciting fighter with lots of heart

 

As of January 31, 1975 -

Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli was the #3 WBC Welterweight

The 21 1/2 year-old was 33-2-1 (24 KO's) and 'was' the fighter to watch in the.
147 lb. Welterweight Division.

In 1974, he defeated the following Top-Welterweights, all in Melbourne, Australia.

April 1974 - (W Dec 10) Jose Luis Baltazar 33-18-1 (17 KO's)
A tough 5' 6" 'bulldog' Mexican Welterweight, who went on to become Pipino Cuevas'
primary sparring partner.

Rocky 'steam-rolls' the tough Mexican, by scoring with an assortment of left and right combinations
to the head and body. Rocky wins a convincing 10-Round Decision, by winning 9 of 10 Rounds.

June 1974 - (TKO 6) Dave Oropeza 46-6-1 (21 KO's)
A very talented American Welterweight, who could box, but had a 'suspect chin'.
Dave Oropeza was the #9 Welterweight earlier, in November 1973, but had been stopped by future
WBA Welterweight Champion Angel Espada, and Top-rated Welterweight Armando
Muniz in recent previous bouts.

Rocky falls behind after '4' Rounds, as the 5' 11" tall Oropeza is able to score with left jabs and
long lead right-hands. But in Round 5, Rocky lands several hard left hooks to the body, which bend the
American in half, as Rocky hurts him badly. In Round 6, Rocky unloads with hard left and rights,
forcing the Referee Gus Mercurio to stop the bout and save the 'defenseless' David Oropeza from further punishment.

August 1974 - (W Dec 10) Eddie Perkins 74-16-2 (21 KO's)
The 37 year-old Perkins, the former WBA/WBC Light-Welterweight Champion (1962 thru 1965),
was the current NABF Welterweight Champion, and #5 World-rated Welterweight.

No easy bout here, as Perkins was riding an 8-bout winning streak, including 'two' wins
over Top-rated Welterweight Armando Muniz. Perkins had won 17 of 18 heading into his bout with Mattioli,
and was just 'one win' away from a World Welterweight Title shot versus Jose Napoles (tentatively set for December 1974).

At the opening bell, Rocky swarms the shorter 5' 5" Perkins with body shots, and controls the First
'3' Rounds. Perkins manages to 'stem the tide' briefly in Rounds 4 thru 6, by smartly countering Rocky's rushes.
But, Rocky's youth, strength and harder punches turns the bout in his favor in Round 7, and he controls
the last '4' Rounds.

Rocky wins a convincing 10-Round Decision.
Referee; Terry Reilly;... 48-45 (5-2-3 in Rounds) Rocky Mattioli
Judge; Al Basten;........49-45 (5-1-4 in Rounds) Rocky Mattioli
Judge; John Wheeler;...50-45 (5-0-5 in Rounds) Rocky Mattioli

October 1974 - (W Dec 10) Ray Chavez Guerrero 21-4-2 (11 KO's)
Ray Chavez Guerrero was the #8 WBA Welterweight. The Venezuelan who was based out of Canada,
was a 'slick-boxer' who could also surprise with hard shots. Not an easy guy to fight, as Chavez was
willing to 'slug it out' with anyone, and he could take a pretty good wallop.

Prior to the fight with Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli at the Festival Hall in Melbourne, Chavez had lost a 'close Decision'
to #3 WBA Welterweight, Miguel Angel Campanino in July 1974. Other bouts included 1973 (W Dec) over Fernand Marcotte,
a 1973 (W Dec) over 'talented' Donato Paduano, a 1972 (KO 3) over Jo Kimpuani, and a 1971 (Draw 10) with Clyde Gray.

In a 'see-saw' battle, where each fighter took turns as the effective scorer, it was the harder punching
Rocky Mattioli who scored the 'close Decision (W Dec 10) with the 'heavier punches' over the 'busier' Ray Chavez Guerrero.

2 1/2 years later in March 1977, Ray Chavez went on to stop (TKO 11) the Top-Rated Welterweight Clyde Gray.

The victory over Clyde Gray, earned Ray Chavez an August 1977 bout with Wilfred Benitez
for the NYSAC Light-Welterweight Championship. Ray Chavez battled Wilfred Benitez in a highly
competitive bout, before getting stopped in the last round.

 

With a World Welterweight Title Shot on the horizon with the 'Great' Jose Napoles,
for the Spring of 1975 -

On Friday, February 14, 1975 at The Festival Hall in Melbourne

21 1/2 year-old, 5' 7" - Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli, 33-2-1 (24 KO's) and the #3 World-rated Welterweight
takes on Alipapa 'Ali' Afakasi, in a defense of his Australia-Asian Welterweight Title, scheduled for 15-Rounds.

Rocky is also the Australia Welterweight Champion.

Ali Afakasi, a 5' 8" tall, Samoan-born New Zealander, is a 27 1/2 year-old boxer-puncher.
Sporting a record of 23-3-1 (12 KO's) - Afakasi is not a 'big-puncher' but does
possess a razor-slashing left hand.

Afakasi, competes in both the the 140 lb. Light-Welterweight Division and
147 lb. Welterweight Division. He is a good all-around boxer, and was a New Zealand representative
at the 1970 Commonwealth Games. Afakasi had an excellent amateur career, where he won
90-bouts, and won numerous titles.

On the loss side,

Afakasi had suffered a TKO 10 loss to World-Rated Lightweight/Light-Welterweight
Hector Thompson in 1972, and a Split-Decision Loss to World-Rated French
Light-Welterweight Champ and former European Light-Welterweight Champ
Roger Zami in May of 1973.

 

Alipapa 'Ali' Afakasi

Was one hell of an amateur 1965 thru 1970.

In 1970, at age 22, fought at the 67 -kg level (147 lbs.).
In the 1970 Commonwealth Games, lost a close decision to
John Olulu (Kenya), who went on to win the Silver Medal
of that division. (John Olulu lost to Emma Ankudey by Decision in the Finals)

Posted an amateur record of; 92-6

Turned professional on October 29, 1970 (Age 23)

Born in Samoa, and fought out of New Zealand. Was the Top-Rated
Australia-Asian in both the 140 lb. and 147 lb. weight levels.

Prior to his bout with #3 World-rated Welterweight Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli,
the 23-3-1 (12 KO's) Ali Afakasi was the #14 World-rated Light-Welterweight.

February 14, 1975 - 4600 fans turn out for the Friday Night Welterweight fight
for the Australia-Asian Championship, at the Festival Hall in Melbourne.

Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli weighed in at 144 1/2 lbs. (Australia-Asian Welterweight Champion)
Alipapa 'Ali' Afakasi weighed in at 147 lbs. (#1 Australia-Asian Welterweight)

In the opening rounds-
Ali Afakasi stayed on the outside, and used his left-jab, as well as his quickness
to avoid the 'bull-rushes' and power-shots of the shorter Mattioli.

After '6 brisk-rounds', the fight is Even on all scorecards.

In Round 7, Afakasi opens a bad cut over Mattioli's left eye with a slicing left-jab/right cross.
After a good 8th-Round by Mattioli, the fight was all Even on the scorecards (4-4-0).

But Ali Afakasi picked up the pace in Round 9, and found Rocky's face with
double and triple left jabs. - Rocky on the other hand, was looking for a
'one-punch equalizer', and was an open target for the sharp-shooting
Afakasi.

Afakasi won Rounds 9, 10 and 11 - all convincingly, worsening the cut above Mattioli's
left eye. The solid rounds by Afakasi, gave him a comfortable lead on the scorecards
after 11-Rounds.

After scoring with several hard crosses early in the 12th-Round, Referee Terry Reilly
stops the bout at 1:00, with the cut above Mattioli's left eye flowing heavily.

The Aftermath;
The 'upset loss' was a 'crucial blow' to Rocco Mattioli, as he was knocked out of the running for a shot at
Jose Napoles Welterweight Championship. Mattioli dropped from #3 to #10 in the Welterweight rankings,
as the loss dropped him to 33-3-1 (24 KO's).

On the other hand, Ali Afakasi while improving to 24-3-1 (13 KO's) - leaped from the #14 Light-Welterweight
to the #9 Welterweight. Afakasi said he would still compete for the Light-Welterweight Championship,
as he felt he was just as comfortable at 140 lbs. Afakasi said he would be asking the WBC for a bout
with Light-Welterweight Champion Perico Fernandez of Spain.

 

Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli flattening (KO 5) WBC Light-Middleweight Champion Eckhard Dagge in West Berlin, Germany
to win the WBC Championship.

August 6, 1977

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My dad was a big Mattioli fan, so I was too, for his brief time at the top. I guess he had two fights on American TV, maybe three.

Hope outclassed and exposed him, but a tough guy with more skill than first met the eye.

Have to admire a guy who's first coach told him to keep his chin UP.

 

Saint Pat,,,,,,

'5' of Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli fights were broadcast on American Television

I believe all were broadcast by ABC-TV, with Keith Jackson as the announcer.

* Saturday - August 6, 1977 (W KO 5) over Eckhard Dagge (Winning the WBC Light-Middleweight Crown)

* Saturday - March 11, 1978 (W KO 7) over Elisha Obed (WBC Title Defense)

* Saturday - May 14, 1978 (W KO 5) Jose Luis Duran (WBC Title Defense)

* Saturday - March 4, 1979 (L TKO 9) Maurice Hope (Loses WBC LIght-Middleweight Cronw)

* Saturday - July 12, 1980 (L TKO 11) Maurice Hope (Hope defends WBC Crown)

Note; According to my 1978 ABC-TV Boxing Guide, ABC-Television was supposed to broadcast
a November 1978 bout between the WBC Champion - Rocco 'Rocky' Mattioli 53-4-2 (40 KO's)
versus #6 WBC Challenger Walter Gomez 31-3-1 (19 KO's) of Argentina.

Note; Rocco Mattioli had to cancel, due to a wrist-related injury.

 

FIGHTER MAGAZINE

August 1974

Rocco 'Rocky'' Mattioli on Front Cover

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In the pic to the left the guy standing up would have been a great opponent for Rocky...Charkey Ramon :good

p.s that's Paul Ferreri crouching in front of Ramon