Shoulda' but Didna' -- Great Fights That Never Were

[BigBoyBrackey]

An in memoriam column written by Shirley Povich of the Washington Post on Zale's passing.

A look at the Zale-Graziano trilogy (with a nice picture of Don King down the right-side rail -- bonus!)

I wasn't able to find the first two Zale-Graziano fights online, but this youtube clip of III, even if it did not quite live up to the first two, provides excellent evidence of Tony's chin (in the second round) and his power (in the third).

[BigBoyBrackey]

As for the rest of the Gatti possibilities, I've decided to include them in a semi-regular feature of this thread, "(insert day of the week when I happen to sim and post them) Night Fights."

Like the series bearing similar names on network television during the 1950s and '60s and on cable from the '80s through the present, these will feature fights that are not true super-fights, but intrigue me in some way. This seems ideal for someone like Gatti, whose great moments came against other pretty-good opponents, but who got pretty thoroughly outclassed when he stepped up against Oscar and Floyd.

Like with Gatti's possible opponents and the super-fights, please chime in with guys like this you'd like to see in this sub-section, as well as possible opponents.

It goes without saying that Steve Albert and Sean O'Grady will be at ringside.

[BigBoyBrackey]

PRE-FIGHT

A crowd of about 52,000 -- many of them veterans recently back from Europe and Asia, wearing the uniforms of the U.S. Armed Forces -- files into Yankee Stadium on a sweltering July night.

Zale, a prohibitive betting favorite and a hero to his fellow veterans, shadow-boxes vigorously in his corner, breaking a sweat that glistens in the stadium lights.

Burley calmly stretches in his corner, his eyes never moving from Zale while he methodically works every muscle, from his neck to his calves and toes, extending himself on their tips 10 times while ring announcer Jimmy Lennon introduces the combatants.

Referee Arthur Donovan succinctly issues his instructions. The champion and challenger return to their corners to await the opening bell ...

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 1

The fighters meet at center ring. After a few feints by each, Zale launches a left hook that circumvents Burley's guard and crashes against his jaw.

Burley stands his ground, but winces when another Zale hook bounces off his ribcage.

Burley starts working his jab, briefly stalling Zale's forward march. After missing with a left lead of his own, Zale throws a right down the middle that crunches against Burley's nose.

Burley fires back with a hard left hook just before the bell.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 2

Burley opens the second working behind his jab, twice snapping Zale's head back.

The challenger mixes things up with a right lead, then sits back and counters nicely as Zale is frustrated in his efforts to resume a body attack.

Midway through the round, though, Zale unleashes the left hook to the ribs again, forcing Burley to take a step back. He fires a right that misses landing flush, with Zale countering with a cross that does not.

The impact convinces Burley to retreat momentarily, bub he catches Zale coming in with a sharp uppercut. Zale throws one of his own to the bell that lands at the bell.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 3

Burley circles steadily to his right, stopping only to pepper the stalking Zale with jabs.

Burley answers a hook followed by a jab from Zale with his best body shot so far, a right to the middle of Zale's chest.

The challenger starts throwing combinations, landing a three-punch salvo with a minute left in the round. the combo stops Zale cold, but Burley patiently continues moving and jabbing, rather than press his advantage.

A hard right to the chin at the bell stuns Zale again. While the Man of Steel appeared to have a slight edge in each of the first two rounds, the third clearly belongs to Burley.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 4

Burley shows off his defensive skills early in the round, slipping Zale's jab repeatedly and answering with quick rights to the jaw, then with a hard left hook that staggers the champion for the first time.

Zale gets through with a pair of jabs late in the round, but Burley looks unperturbed.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 5

Zale tries to get Burley to lead early on, but the challenger refuses to take the bait, leading to a feinting contest that lasts for longer than a minute.

Finally, Burley fires a nice jab, then hooks to the body off of it.

After a clinch, Zale connects with a thumping right cross to the forehead, following with another that lacks the same impact, but still scores points.

Stunned, Burley clinches away the last few seconds of a round that is Zale's best since the second.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 6

Sensing that he has the challenger hurt, Zale comes out firing left hooks. A hard one lands just below Burley's ribcage, leaving him gulping for air.

Zale surprisingly backs off, before countering a missed jab with a left-right that lands square. Zale counters another wayward Burley jab with a right-hand smash, leading Burley to grab on.

After Donovan separates them, Zale drills Burley with a hook to the body, a right uppercut to the belly and another hook to the ribs.

Burley lands a left to the beltline of his own, but Zale replies with an even harder right to the gut, putting Burley into full retreat at the bell.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 7

After two tough rounds, the 60-second break revives Burley, who comes out showing renewed movement.

The challenger doesn't run, but instead deftly moves in and out of Zale's range, making the champion miss or blocking his swings, then countering with left hooks to the body and straight right-hand leads to the face.

When Zale does get inside, Burley ties him up before he can do any damage, then beats him to the punch on the break.

A left-right to the face punctuates for Burley a round in which Zale does not land a meaningfuly punch.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 8

With both fighters looking a bit weary, the pace slows. Burley continues to frustrate Zale with economical movement, well-placed right leads and well-timed clinches.

With a little more than a minute left, Zale finally finds a gap in Burley's defense and exploits it with a hard right uppercut, following with an identical shot moments later.

He tries another, but Burley beats him to the punch, thudding a left hook to the ribs just before the bell.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 9

More than halfway through, the fight remains either man's to claim.

Zale comes out determined to do so, firing left hooks upstairs and down, scoring with roughly half of them.

Burley slips some shots and eats others, but even the hard blows don't discourage him from firing back, snapping Zale's head back with several combinations.

Late in the round, Zale connects with a devastating left hook to the jaw, but Burley collects himself and drills a right just above the belt that doubles Zale over.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 10

Zale rushes out at the bell and scores with a hard right uppercut, which puts Burley on the defensive for much of the round.

Zale continually moves forward, ducking or ignoring Burley's jabs in his quest to attack the body.

He delivers shots to the ribs and belly with both hands, though several seem to stray below the belt line. Finally, Donovan issues a warning with about 30 seconds left. Zale is not deterred, however, and connects with a left hook that lands just inside fair territory.

Remarkably, for all the punches landed by both men, neither is bruised or bloodied. Burley, however, is beginning to look winded as the fight reaches the two-thirds mark.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 11

Perhaps arm-weary after the onslaught delivered in the previous round, Zale's attack decelerates.

The slower pace favors Burley, who peppers the now-plodding Zale with single jabs, then a series of combinations.

Zale tries to get inside, but is met with a short left hook, followed by a hard right to the face and another to the body, causing his knees to buckle with about 10 seconds left.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 12

The challenger seems to have found a rhythm, moving away from Zale's power, but not so far that he can't counter effectively.

Burley appears more defensive-minded, preventing Zale from landing anything damaging. The challenger is also less aggressive himself, but scores with several crisp combinations and a clean right uppercut in the late going.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 13

Entering the championship rounds, Burley appears to have a slight edge. But many rounds have been close and, as defending champion, Zale should have some expectation of receiving the benefit of the doubt from one or more of the judges.

If either fighter is taking anything for granted, though, he doesn't show it.

Burley lands a vicious hook to Zale's ribs and the champion answers in kind.

After a clinch, Zale slips a jab by Burley and slams home a right cross that wobbles Burley, following up with a clean left-right to the face.

Though shaken, Burley returns fire with a jab-cross sequence of his own.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 14

A double-hook by Zale sends sweat spraying over press row.

Shaken, Burley steadies himself enough to land a hard jab, then uses his expert footwork to position himself for a nasty right cross.

Suddenly, Zale is looking vulnerable, even moreso after Burley drives home a left-right to the face. A follow-up right sends Zale stumbling across the ring.

He rights himself at the ropes and unleashes a barrage of body punches and, after Burley's jab goes astray, lands a right uppercut and, after grabbing Burley by the shoulder with his left hand, scores with two more.

Legal or not, Zale's tactics turn what looked like a clear-cut round for Burley into anybody's frame.

[BigBoyBrackey]

ROUND 15

With three minutes remaining and the Yankee Stadium crowd on its feet, roaring, who holds the advantage is purely a matter of taste.

If you prefer aggression and power punching, Zale has the edge. If you're more the scientific type, with a preference for hand speed, defense and footwork, then it's Burley's fight to lose.

This being 1946, the question lingers of whether the officials will side with a boxing challenger against a slugging champion.

The two fighters, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, grapple through much of the first minute. After Donovan breaks them, Burley steps back and motions Zale to come and get him.

That's all Tony needs, and he rushes in to throw a wild left hook. Burley ducks it and fires a right cross that lands flush, sending Zale stumbling back.

Burley moves in with two hard jabs, setting up another right hand down the pipe that lands with a loud crack. Blood begins spurting from Zale's obviously broken nose.

Zale retreats to collect himself, pawing at the injury with his right hand. This creates an opening for a left hook by Burley that nearly floors the champion.

Burley follows with another left hook, then a right cross that again sends Zale stumbling, his left eye suddenly swelling rapidly.

Burley lands a left hook that sends Zale sprawling along the ropes and into a neutral corner, where he absorbs a series of a half-dozen unanswered headshots, capped by a scythe-like right uppercut that snaps the champion's head back at a 90-degree angle to his body.

Zale falls over the top rope, clearly out on his feet. As Burley moves in, his right fist cocked, Arthur Donovan realizes he has no choice but to save the defenseless and unconscious, but still upright, champion from even more severe injury.

Donovan nearly tackles Burley, then waves one arm over his head to signal a stop to the fight with only six seconds remaining in the 15th and final round.

With no video monitors to magnify the fight's ebb and flow for the tens of thousands for whom the fighters are mere specks, much of the crowd is initially silent, stunned that a championship bout would be halted so close to the final bell. Some even boo.

But by the time Jimmy Lennon steps to the microphone to deliver the official outcome, at least half the crowd has realized the enormity of what it has just seen. The sounds of at least 30,000 feet stomping, accompanied by a chant of "Charley! Charley!" nearly drowns out the ring announcer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! The winner by technical knockout at 2:54 of the 15th and final round and NEW middleweight champion of the world is Charley Burley!"

[BigBoyBrackey]

POST-FIGHT

If possible, Burley's final assault becomes even more dramatic when the official scorecards are revealed.

Referee Arthur Donovan had Burley firmly in control, eight rounds to five, with two even.

But the two judges, Willie DeJames and Jack O'Sullivan, each had Zale ahead, 7-6-2, heading into the 15th. So, no matter how convincingly Burley won the final frame, Zale would have escaped with a draw and his title had he made it to the final bell.

Zale regains consciousness about 10 minutes after Donovan stops the fight and is rushed to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, where he is treated for a severely broken nose and kept overnight for observation, but released the next morning.

Burley, the first black fighter to hold the undisputed middleweight championship since Tiger Flowers two decades earlier, celebrates in the ring with an entourage that includes the man widely considered the uncrowned welterweight champion, Sugar Ray Robinson.

"I'd like to thank Tony Zale for giving me the chance to fight for this title," Burley tells a national radio audience. "And I'll be more than glad to return the favor. This feels better than I ever thought it could."

[BigBoyBrackey]

SBD Promotions, in conjunction with Title Bout 2.5, presents a first-of-its kind fistic spectacular paying tribute to the champions and contenders, past and present, who passed away during an incredibly grim 30-day span.

REQUIESCAT IN PACE will be a multi-site promotion consisting of seven fights spotlighting Johnny Caldwell, Cesar Brion, Nicolas Cervera, Yama Bahama, Arturo Gatti, Alexis Arguello and Vernon Forrest. Each will take place in their respective primes against hypothetically plausible opponents at historically correct venues.

Gatti and Arguello have already been featured in tribute fights in this thread, but I don't think anyone will mind seeing them again.

I would have liked to include Marco Antonio Nazareth and Pancho Moncivais, but both were relative novices not yet rated by anyone for the game.

RIP will open with Johnny Caldwell in the rematch he never got against fellow Belfast brawler Freddie Gilroy. I have opponents in mind for the rest of the fights, but am more than willing to listen to suggestions ...