It's possible Zivic might give him a tough fight at times (like Steve Mamakos did) but Zale's size and all-around ability would ultimately prevail regardless. Zale by clear decision.
Zivic did give Billy Conn and Jake LaMotta a hard time at middleweight. I do think that Zale would prevail but Zivic was very crafty and could never be counted out in any fight.
I kinda like Fritzie in this one. Word was he beat Conn when they met, but they were grooming Billy. From what I recall of films of Zale he was a hard puncher but didn't have the inside game Fritzie had. I don't know, if Fritzie can take him into the late rounds....
Zale on his best day would win, he would get inside on Zivic and whack and wail away to his midsection and slow him to a crawl by the later rounds by which point Fritz will be looking to hear the final bell only. Zivic was a good boxer and clever too but he wasn`t so elusive that Tony wouldn`t find him with some regularity. Tony was a competent boxer himself with sound fundamentals, so its not as if he would be at a disadvantage in a tactical chessmatch. It wouldn`t come down to that however, Tony would look to impose himself physically and step into Fritz with those thunderous body punches of his to soften him up for later, and my guess is that he would succeed and the only question mark then would be wether Zivic hears the final bell or not.
:good This. And I'm a Pittsburgh boxing fan with a soft spot for Fritzie and his Smoky City contemporaries.
I saw Fritzie Zivic once against Billy Arnold. He knew the ropes alright. But the bigger, much stronger Tony Zale would most likely tko Fritzie in the late rounds. Prime for prime of course.Tony Zale was a murderous MW puncher too strong for the 147 pound Fritzie Zivic...
