[Rocco Del Sesto]

OK here is the for awhile promised Ben Moroz , HW Prospect of the month in the January 1940 Ring Magazine. This prospect just turned more into an attraction and you saw a LOT of him in the newspapers but, really just because of his size and not really his overall success in the ring.

Ben Moroz - HW
Career Record: W21(KO 17) / L17(KO 6) / D1

Unknown information has been left blank.

Original rating by Mark Elwood

Real name Ben Morosz.
Manager Bill Duffy.

DOB estimated 1920 from Philadelphia Inquirer article of Nov 6 1939.
DOB estimated 1918 from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY article Dec 1, 1939.
DOB put as Feb 19, 1920 per the March 13 1940 St. Louis Globe-Democrat, a later article in The Long Beach Sun, CA in Oct 1943 put his age at 23 at the time so would appear to confirm his 1920 birth year.

21 Apr 1957, Sun, The Austin American, Austin, TX - Article talking to Gil Stromquist mentions that Ben Moroz had died in 1956.

19 Aug 1956, Sun, Daily News, NY, NY - Account that Ben Moroz, agae 36 passed away on that Friday the 17th after suffering a heart attack. Puts his DOB in 1920.

Numerous newspaper articles quoted Moroz's height at varying levels, anywhere from 6ft 8in on up to 7ft 1in. The most I found quoted though was 7ft 1/2in, so that is what I've listed him at instead of the 6ft 8in in Mark's rating.

You could probably make up a pretty thick book with all the newspaper accounts and photos of Ben Moroz over his career. A lot there with the media's infatuation with his size. That and not ability really kept him in the ring for as long as he did.

16 Sep 1939 Sat, The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah - Ben Moroz stopped Bill Kettle in 2 minutes - 10 seconds of the 4th and final round.

01 Oct 1939 Sun, The Minneapolis Star, MN - Account says Moroz is of Ukranian extraction, six feet 9 inches tall. Some other newspaper accounts around this time on Moroz was putting his height at 6 ft 10-1/2 inches?

23 Oct 1939 Mon, Courier-Post, Camden, NJ - "Bobbie Dawson, the trainer, refers to Ben Moroz, Bill Duffy's six-foot nine Lithuanian Loogan and a Lutheran but born in America."

06 Nov 1939 Mon, The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - A preview of Moroz before his fight with 'Young Hippo", gives his height at 6ft 9in and his age at 19 and of Austrian parentage.

07 Nov 1939, Tue, Reading Times, Reading, PA - Ben Moroz knocked out Anthony Ashrut in 2:20 of the second round in their scheduled six. Couple other accounts mentions he knocked Ashrut out with a left jab.

01 Dec 1939, Fri, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY - Mentions MOroz's age as 21 putting DOB in 1918? Also says he is a product of the Pennsylvania coal mines.

03 Dec 1939, Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Ben Moroz, 277 scored a TKO win in 1:44 of the third round over Robert Ely, 196 3/4.

January 1940 Ring Magazine listed Ben Morosz, Philadelphia PA as the best heavyweight prospect of the month.

29 Jan 1940, Mon, Daily News, NY,NY - Ran a short piece reporting saying Gene Tunney was said to picking Ben Moroz "as the coming heavyweight.." this piece places him as an ext steel worker from the Midvale plant in Philadelphia and puts his height at 6 ft 10, weighing 285! Get how the weight can vary but don't seem to have any agreement how tall he is, 6-8, 6-9, 6-10??

13 Mar 1940, Wed, St. Louis Globe-Democrat - Ran a story on Ben Moroz when he and his manager Bill Duffy traveled through St. Louis on their way to Arkansas. This article mentions he's 6ft 10in but includes some great bio info. The article states he just celebrated his twentieth birthday last Feb 19th. It says he is of Ukranian-Russian parentage, born and raised in Chester, PA, attended high school there and starred in athletics before taking up boxing. It says he had to abandon his plans to play football though because they couldn't find equipment large enough to fit him!

10 Apr 1940, Wed, The St.Louis Star and Times - Notes that Ben Moroz has been signed to fight Sandy McDonald, "sturdy Dallas Scotsman" on a fight card featuring Lee Savold against Johnny Whiters. The articles states Moroz, as an amateur won 29 bouts in a row. The St.Lous Post-Dispatch, recounting this matchup also, expands on the amateur record stating Moroz lost his first fight and then won the 29 straight for the remainder before turning pro.

19 Apr 1940 Fri, The St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch accounts of the Ben Moroz vs Sandy McDonald both did not give much good to say about Moroz, despite his 2nd round KO of McDonald. The Democrate hoted Moroz' 75 1/4 pound weight advantage, "pawing his left and fanned his right at Sandy's jaw without effect until a right finally glanced off his chin." Sandy went down for nine, got up and then a short spurt of punches by Moroz sent Sandy down for the count. Dispatched called him big and strong but "green and unpolished". The Dispatch just said, Moroz didn't show enough despite his size to justify he'd go anywhere.

25 June 1940 Tue, Chicago Tribune - Referee Johnny Behr call the fight a draw but Judges William O'Connell and George Kenny scored it a win for Ben Moroz over Selman Martin in thier 8 round bout at Marigold Gardens. Some of the 1426 spectators did not agree with the decision.

23 Jul 1940 Tue, Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, PA - An overflow crowd of 5,360 spectators at the Chicago Marigold Gardens saw in the opener of the card, Don Siegel, 205, Detroit knockout Ben Moroz, 287, Philadelphia in the second round of thier scheduled 8.

30 Aug 1940 Fri, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ben Moroz, the Inquirer listed him at 299, lost by TKO to Big Jim Thompson, 235 pound Pittsburgh and noted he was a colored fighter. Moroz came up with a bad cut over his left eye after taking a nine count, at which Referee Al Graybar called an end to the contest. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted the end of the fight at 1:24 of the fourth round.

29 Sep 1940,Sun, Democrat and Chronicle,Rochester, NY - A 4 round bout originally scheduled between Ben Moroz and a Johnny Flynn on the card for the Pat Comiskey/Max Bear fight on 9/26/40, did not end up taking place.

14 Feb 1941, Fri, The Baltimore Sun, Maryland - In an 8 round fight, Ben MOroz, 300 lbs from Philadelphia knocked out Jimmy McAvoy, New York, 232 pounds. Moroz landed his big hands on McAvoy until a hard right to the body knocked him down in the third. McAvoy took a nine count and regained his feet but then was battered again down with another mid section belt and he fell face forward. He could not get up in time to beat the count.The article described Moroz as "neither very tough nor very fast".

18 Feb 1941, Tue, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington and numerous other papers - It was a "David-Goliath" fight as the Spokesman-Review described it. Al Williams form PHiladelphia weighed in at only 193 compared to the reported 305 pounds of his opponent, Ben Moroz. Williams knocked out Moroz at 2:31 of the second round on a left hook!

04 Mar 1941, Tue, The Miami News, FL - Ben Moroz was slated to meet Maxie Rosenbloom in a three-Round exhibition but suffered an injury and was replaced in the exhibition.

05 Aug 1941, Tue, The Evening News, Harrisburg,PA - Jose Fonesca of Mexico City who weighed 202 compared to his opponent's, ben Moroz' 291 was down once in the first and twice in the second before referee Jack Michaels stopped the fight at 2:12 in the second.

23 Aug 1941, Sat, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY - Ben Moroz, 285 3/4, knocked out Abner Powell, 199 1/4 of Harlem in 1:22 of the fifth round of their scheduled 8.

23 Oct 1941, Thu, Detroit Free Press, MI - Article was talking about the pairings and details of the second round of a White Hope heavyweight tournament at the Olympia put on by a promoter, Frank Barbaro's. Part of the article was discussing the fate of six boxers who failed to appear in Detroit for the first round but now wanted to get in to the next round. Those six fighters were Pat Comiskey, Lou Thomas, Ben Moroz, Jack Marshall, Pat O'Neill and Conrad Baron.

22 Nov 1941, Sat, The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, PA - Ben Moroz, 285, won a 4 round decision over Bill Cashaw, 212. The Gazette, noted that it was difficult to see why Moroz got the decision for the lack of little fighting that was done. Cashaw appeared to do more the fighting. Moroz "didn't seem able to even move his huge arms let alone punch with them."

Moroz then was not seen from for about six months. Finally then he shows up for a fight in Long Island City in NY.

20 Jun 1942, Sat, Daily News, NY, NY - Ran a short add that advertized that with that add and 55 cents you could be admitted to the reserve section for "Pro Boxing Tonight Queensboro Area". The add played the fight as "6 round special attraction, Big Ben Moroz, Biggest Fighter of All Time vs Dee Amos". By this time, his size was appearing to be all that was getting him any kind of fights.

21 Jun 1942, Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer - Dee Amos spotted Ben Moroz more than 100 pounds in their 6 round fight in Queensborough Arena with Amos scoring the decision victory.

03 Jul 1942, Fri, Newsday(Nassau Edition), Hempstead, NY- Numerous articles on Moroz placed his height at 7 feet. This one noting his up and coming rematch against Dee Amos puts his hieght a 7 ft 1/2 in.
The Booklyn Daily Eagle on 06 Jul 1942 placed him at 7 ft 1 in.
08 Jul 1942, Wed, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ben Moroz was able to get a six round points victory against Dee Amos.

17 Jul 1942, Fri, The Morning Call, Paterson, NJ - Ben Moroz, 295 defeated Indian red Allen, 220 when Allen went down for the final count in 2:13 of the second round in a scheduled 6.

10 Aug 1942, Mon, The Courier-News, Bridgewater, NJ - This notes Ben Moroz as the tallest man ever to take to the prize ring at 7 ft, 1 inch and weighing 300 pounds in his upcoming fight against Lou Flowers.

12 Aug 1942, WEd, The Daily Record, Long Branch, NJ - Ben Moroz, 293 scoring a KO in the 1st at 1:52 over Lou Flowers, 216. Boxrec lists Flowers'first name spelled Lew not Lou.
15 Aug 1942, Sat, Daily News, NY, NY - Same kind of add the Daily posted for the first Dee Amos fight, it posts for "Big Ben Moroz, 7 ft 1/2 in. Giant vs Buddy Moore Former Golden Glove Heavyweight Champion".

16 Aug 1942, Sun, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY - Ben Moroz, 294 1/2, lost on points to Buddy Moore, 199 1/2 in a six rounder. Moore won by working inside getting past Moroz' guard to land heavy body punches.

28 Aug 1942, Fri, The Los Angeles Times, CA - Eddie Blunt, 226 on an eight round decision over Ben Moroz, 300.

13 Mar 1943, Sat, The Tribune, Scranton, PA - The "battle of the dreadnoughts" as the TRibune described it ended in a hurry as Ben Moroz with a righthand knocked out Gilbert STromquist in 2:09 of the fourth round of a scheduled 6.

17 May 1943, Mon, The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - This piece previewing Ben Moroz' fight against Napoleon Mitchell puts Moroz at 6 ft 8 in. and 270 pounds. I really think they are mixing this up with Gilbert Stromquist whom was listed at 6ft 8 in and around 260 in his fight with Moroz back in March.

18 May 1943, Tue, Daily News, NY, NY - Prefight account puts Moroz at 6 ft 11in and Gilbert Stromquist at 7 ft.

19 May 1943, Wed, The Los Angleses Times, CA - Ben Moroz, 295 knocked out Gilbert Stromquist, 256 1/2, in the first round of thier scheduled 8 main event at the Broadway Arena. Moroz decked Stromquist for a six count as the bout opened and when Gilbert regained his feet, Moroz crashed a hard right hook to the jaw sending STromquist down for the full count. Referee Jed Gahan though didn't even finish the full 10 count before calling Stromquist out. Per The Brooklyn Daily Eagle account on the fight the call was made at 2:42.

21 May 1943, Fri, Courier-Post (Camden, NJ) - Ben Moroz, 293 took a beating from his opponent, Napoleon Mitchell, 200 1/2, as Mitchell just kept working around the lumbering Moroz and belted him continually getting Moroz to wobbling on three occasions.

04 Aug 1943, Wed, The Los Angeles Times, CA - "Turkey Silences Big Ben In Hurry" read the headlines in the LA Times recount of Turkey Thompson's 2nd round KO of Ben Moroz 12 seconds before the end of the round. Moroz went to the canvas twice from left hooks by Thompson in the second round.From his 16 1/2" height dissadvantage, The Times describes how Thompson had to take "a running brad jump to land his left hooks to Moroz's head." The Times likened Moroz's ability in the ring a being better than Primo Carnera showed in the ring, but Moroz was just too slow to get out of the way of Thompson's punches. Referee Mushy Callahan called the 10 count on Moroz at 2:48 of the second round. The Eugen Guard, Oregon, account of the fight mentions Thompson send left hooks to Moroz's jaw sending hin down the first time for a nine count and then more marks on Moroz's jaw sent him across the ring and into the ropes where a left jab and a hook sent him down for the 10 count.

By Thursday, Aug 5, some of the California newspapers were reporting that the California state athletic commisision, declared that Moroz should not be boxing. "He must have gland trouble to be that big. He hasn't got enough behind his blows to hurt the other fellow and I'm afraid that if we let hm roam Califorinia he might suffer some serious injury." Jules Covey, chairman of the state athletic commission was quoted as sa ying.

24 Aug 1943,Tue, Daily News, LA, CA - Up until the day of the fight, Ben Moroz was to fight Roy Cramer at Ocean Park Arena, Santa Monica on the 23rd. Charley Johnson ended up being a last minute replacement for Cramer and the results was what would normally be expected from a fighter coming in last minute probably with no preperation. Johnson, 220 was put down four times by Moroz only to keep boing by in the fourth round, showing signs of running out of gas, Moroz hit Johnson in the stomach with a right hand and Charley went down for the count finally. The Los Angeles Times noted the referee in the fight was Reggie Gilmore.It noted Johnson being sent to the canvas a total of 6 times in the four rounds.

07 Oct 1943, Thu, The Long Beach Sun, CA - Referee REggie Gilmore stopped the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds after Ben Moroz had applied a thorough punishment to his opponent, Sergeant Barrow Woods. Moroz worked a steady stream of rights and lefts to Wood's ribs, putting Woods down for a nine count midway through the fourth round.Woods did manage to rock Moroz in the third round with a left hook to the jaw but Moroz rallied.

28 Oct 1943, Thu, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY - Al Ware, 210, rushed out of his corner in the opening round and quickly landed three hard rights to Ben Moroz's chin. Moroz though stepped into War, caught Ware with a right to the jaw and then crossed to the body. Ware backed away holding his right arm as if it was injured and told Referee Billy Burke he didn't want to continue and Burke raised Moroz' hand. An attending physician said Ware's arm was not broken per this account, but some other newspaper accounts stated Ware broke his arm.

18 Nov 1943,Thu, Oakland Tribune, CA - Ben Moroz won by second round knockout when a body punch to Jack Scott landed after two minutes of the round, caused a "bewilderment" look on Scott's face. He remained upright for a moment but then sagged to the canvas on his knees. Referee Billy Burke had counted to nine when Scott rolled over on his back where the count was completed. Up till then Scott had made a pretty good showing landing rights and lefts to Moroz' body and jaw that had Moroz looking in trouble at one point but he stayed up.

27 Nov 1943, Sat, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY - Ernie Griffin from Paine Field, washington pounded away at Ben Moroz for 10 rounds to earn a decision win over Moroz. Griffin, 6 ft and 195 pounds fought in close landing shots that earned him 5 rounds to overcome an earlier rounds lead by Moroz who "mauled his smaller opponent all evening but failed to land a single solid blow."

It was the beginning of the end it turned out of Moroz' career.

22 Jan 1944, Sat, The Times, San Mateo, CA - Ben Moroz, weighing in over 100 lbs more than his opponent Jack Cobbins, managed only a 10 round draw. Coggins sent Moroz down in the third but Ben came back to down Coggins two rounds later to pull the fight even at the end.

10 Feb 1944, Thu, The San Francisco Examiner, CA - Al Ware, 218, got off to a fast start using a "looping right to the chin to send Ben Moroz down for a nine count in the first round of their 10 round bout. Ware continued on through the fight using a variety of wild swings to tag Moroz who was fighting like a stationary target. Moroz would occassionly put a right to Ware's body but it seemed to lack any force. In the sixth Ware came close again to sending Moroz down, this time with a left hook and right cross on the jaw. Ware finished with a 10 round decision win.

23 Feb 1944, Wed, Oakland Tribune, CA - Lou Nova completely out fought Ben Moroz to win by TKO in the seventh round of a scheduled 10. There were no knockdowns in the fight, but Nova, 207 was in control the whole fight continually putting shots with his left into the mid-section of Moroz, 289. Nova was hitting Moroz at will when the referee stopped it. The News, Paterson, NJ reported the stoppage at 2:48 of the seventh. The Los Angeles Times also recorded the stoppage at 2:48 and had this interesting painting of Moroz' ring abilities.."Moroz, a fourth-rate heavyweight, is just a big whale and too massive to get out of his own way."

14 May 1944, Sun, The Pittsburgh Press, PA - Found mention that "ailing Bill Duffy has turned over Ben Moroz to Eddie Walker, which is no bargain as Ben is a false alarm with only size and heart."
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 08 May 1944 noted this change.

24 Jul 1944, Mon, The Daily Times, New Philadelphia, Ohio - After being out of the ring for 5 months, it is announced that Ben Moroz was signed to meet Bill Peterson on the 27th at the Cleveland Stadium. The Moroz-Peterson six rounder was to replace a scheduled welterweight bout between Bobby Richardson and Jose Basora. Nothing much said in the papers on this fight as Moroz lost a 6 round decision to Peterson. The Des Moines REgister, Iowa listed Moroz at 304 and Peterson at 200 for the fight. BoxRec does not list their weights.

16 Sep 1944, Sat, The Wilkes-Barre Record, PA - Ben Moroz, 302 knocked out Gilbert Stromquist, 250 in the second round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Stromquist cut Moroz over the left eye in the opening round with a right hand, then Moroz cut the Texan down int he next round with two right uppercuts to the body. The Pottsville Republican, PA on 19 Sep 1944 noted the stoppage at 27 seconds of the second round.
23 Sep 1944, Sat, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY - Ben Moroz lost a 6 round decision to Dee Amos.

Moroz was out of the ring then for almost a year. Some different newspaper accounts in January 1945 discussed him taking on some fights in Portland, Oregon. He was said to be on a card for February to fight Jack Huber. This never materialized.An article in the May 2, 1945 Wilkes-Barre Times Leader written by none other than Damon Runyon talked about goiong to the Roseland Dance Hall on Broadway one evening and seen Ben Moroz there. Moroz was working as one of about 16 "housemen" which in less elite circles Runyon describes as bouncers! This story ran in a number of newspapers.

11 Sep 1945, Tue, Daily News, NY, NY - Ben Moroz reappears in the ring, at Madison Square Garden no less to take on Abel Cestac from Argentina, a protege of Luis Firpo. Cestac outpointed Moroz despite being a foot shorter and some 70 pounds lighter. Moroz was just too slow to get out of the way of Cestac's punches and had Ben's left side "looking like hamburger steak (very rare)."

30 Jun 1946, Wed, The Tampa Times, FL - Ben Moroz was no match for Tommy Gomez despite outweighing him by 110 pounds and being over a foot taller. Gomez won every round as he hit the "ambling" Moroz with everything he had. The bout was described as slow and uninteresting though as Moroz didn't appear to have enough hitting power to "beat an egg" and Gomez did manage to bring Moroz down on the canvas in the third for a seven count and then dropped him again in the sixth when referee Ton Cancela stopped the fight, TKO for Gomez.

After the Gomez fight, Moroz pretty much gave up on boxing. He later took up wrestling. Seen some newspaper accounts of him taking up acting and wrestling! Found an article in the April 27th, 1948 The Tipton Daily Tribune, Indiana, talking about his acting. Says "Moroz was originally lured to Hollywood by RKO to do a lead role in "The Harder They Fall", an expose of the fight racket. The Nov 28th, 1947 Cumberland Evening Times, Maryland, in the "Along Broadway" column by Jack O'Brian accounts how Moroz then working as a bouncer, was recently signed by an RKO Pictures talent scout who dropped into the Roseland dance hall where Moroz worked. The talent scout signed him to play in "The Harder They Fall", to play the role of Toro Molina, a "thinly fictionalized story of one of our recent behemoth heavyweight champions."

Several articles later in January time of 1949 show up talking of his wrestling career taking off.

Short quick account in the Hartford Courant, Connecticut, only thing found on Moroz,301 loosing a six round decision to Les Irwin 202 3/4 in last recorded fight.