Things not thread worthy

[the ollie reed fan club]

Over at that 'other place' they have a thread that has been done a few times going about boxing's greatest trash talkers. I don't need to tell you who they all have at the top of their list. Fucken pathetic.

Anyhoo it got me thinking about a Tony Galento "I'll moider da bum."



I have read few funny stories about the guy in the past but it wasn't until i took a peek on Wikipedia that I realised how colourful his life had actually been:

"Galento was one of the most colorful fighters in the history of the sport. He wrestled an octopus, and boxed a kangaroo as publicity stunts for his fights. He also boxed a 550 lb. (250 kg) bear, as a stage attraction."

"Galento, who claimed to be 5'9 (177 cm) tall, liked to weigh in at about 235 lb (107 kg) for his matches. He achieved this level of fitness by eating whatever, whenever he wanted. A typical meal for Galento consisted of six chickens, a side of spaghetti, all washed down with a half gallon of red wine, or beer, or both at one sitting. When he did go to training camp, he foiled his trainer's attempts to modify his diet, and terrorized his sparring partners by eating their meals in addition to his.
He was reputed to train on beer, and allegedly ate 52 hot dogs on a bet before facing heavyweight Arthur DeKuh. Galento was supposedly so bloated before the fight that the waist line of his trunks had to be slit for him to fit into them. Galento claimed that he was sluggish from the effects of eating all those hot dogs, and that he could not move for three rounds. Nevertheless, Galento knocked out the 6'3" (192 cm) DeKuh with one punch, a left hook, in the fourth round."

"On 28 June 1939 Galento fought for the heavyweight championship of the world against the redoubtable all time great heavyweight champion, Joe Louis. At this time Louis was heavily favored (8 to 1) to stop Galento. Galento was not impressed. In a pre-fight interview, Galento summed up his perspective on the fight as follows:
Reporter: "Tony, what do you think your chances are against Joe Louis?"
Galento: "Joe who?"
Reporter: "Joe Louis."
Galento: "I never hoid of da bum."

He also predicted that he would "moida da bum", and would telephone Louis to personally inform him that he was a bum and that Galento would "moida him". To show that he was serious and properly prepared for the Louis fight, Galento stated that he had not taken alcohol for two days before the bout."

He actually floored Louis when they fought.

"Galento's fight with Max Baer ended when the referee stopped the bout in the eighth round. On the day of the Baer fight, Galento decided to first stop off at his bar. There he had a big bowl of spaghetti, with meat balls, washed down with half a case of beer. After his meal, Galento became embroiled in an argument with his brother. The dispute ended when his brother threw his beer glass in Galento's face, severely cutting his lip. Galento was forced to get the cut stitched up, hours before the fight. Baer re-opened the cut in the first round, forcing Galento to swallow blood for the remainder of the fight. After the fight, Galento blamed his inability to "hook him around the head and butt him" for the loss. His record was 80-26-5 with 57 knockouts."





They certainly don't make them like that anymore.