Tony Zale – hewn of rock
Many years ago I cut my teeth as a boxing hack on alternative boxing publication called Round One.
It was comprised of wannabees like me and has beens like Walter Schlumbermayer.
Uncle Walt as we called him was as well known and respected as AJ Leibling and to have met him was a considerable honour.
His biography of Tony Zale, the uncompromising American middleweight has passed into boxing lore. Zale hailed from Gary, Indiana, a steel town hence his nickname “Man of Steel” but Walter’s biography was called Tony Zale – Hewn of Rock
Zale fought three of the toughest battles in the ring ever with Rocky Graziano and one with Marcel Cerdan.
Undoubtedly he was one of the ring greats.
Super Ray Robinson is regarded as one of the finest fighters of all time but Tony Zale would have given him one hell of a battle.
I would also have liked, though, to seen him matched with the incomparable Carlos Monzon, only beaten three time in his career, each one reversed.
El Escarptio (The Shot Gun) and Zale would have fought toe to toe for 15 stanzas with no quarter asked or given.
