Sport: Boxing
Born: March 12, 1910
Died: July 22, 1979
Town: Orange, New Jersey
Domenico Antonio Galento was born March 12, 1910 in Orange, NJ. The son of Italian immigrants, Tony grew up poor in a tough neighborhood, where he survived thanks to his blustering confidence, raw-boned physique and an ability to absorb physical punishment. Given the vibrant boxing culture in Newark during the 1920s, it was natural that Tony would apply his skill set to the ring. He fought his first professional bout at the age of 17 at Laurel Gardens, knocking out Floyd Shimalla, another young New Jersey fighter.
Tony won a few more times during his first year as a pro, mostly only brute strength. He was completely dismantled by veteran Johnny Alberts and was disqualified for head-butting Jimmy Lawless.
Tony stood 5’9″ and his weight climbed steadily to 235 pounds. He did very little training other than eating massive quantities of food—sometimes he even consumed his opponents’ pre-fight meals to intimidate them. His nickname “Two Ton Tony” was not a reflection of his size, however. It was a gift from his manager when he was almost late to a fight, claiming that he had to deliver two tons of ice on the way there. Later in his career, Tony opened a bar and basically trained on beer after closing up. He once ate 52 hot dogs on a bet before a fight. His handlers had to cut a slit in Tony’s trunks so he could fit into them; he was so sluggish he could barely move. Even so, he still knocked out his opponent with a single left hook in the fourth round.
During the 1930s, Tony typically stepped into the ring 8 to 10 times a year. He was immensely popular fighter and had a loyal following in New Jersey, New York and Brooklyn. Tony’s strategy was to overwhelm opponents, pummeling them with both hands until he could break through their defenses, or he just tired out. Even when he did, however, he was impossible to knock out or even knock down.
Beginning in the summer of 1937, Tony scored 11 consecutive victories in year and a half. The first fight in the streak saw him knock Al Ettore completely out of the ring twice in the 8th round. The last was a third-round TKO of Abe Feldman in Miami. That set up a 1939 fight with Joe Louis—just his third bout after knocking out Max Schemling in the first round of their famous return match.
On June 28th, 1939, Tony fought the “Brown Bomber” for the Heavyweight championship of the world. Louis was favored 8 to 1, but as usual Tony was not impressed. In a pre-fight interview, he claimed he had never even heard of “da bum” and predicted he would “moida” him. He must have known Louis would be a formidable opponent—Tony did not drink any alcohol two days before their meeting at Yankee Stadium.
Tony stunned Louis and the crowd when he landed one of his powerful left hooks in the first round. Louis retaliated in the second round by flooring Tony with a punch so hard that it lifted him off his feet. It was the first time Tony had been knocked down in a professional fight. In the third round, Louis was pummeling Tony with combinations when Tony unleashed a wild left hook that sent Louis to the canvas and brought the crowd to its feet. Alas, Tony’s lack of defense crippled him in the fourth round, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Later, Tony claimed that he lost the fight because he had been encouraged to change his style and “fight clean.”
Ten weeks later, Tony fought Lou Nova in one of the bloodiest and dirtiest fights in history, with kneeing, gouging, and hits below the belt from both fighters, and Tony “falling” on Nova twice, knees first. He eventually knocked Nova out in the 14th round after having thumbed him in the eye multiple times. Tony next fought Max Baer, going into the bout with a stitched-up lip from an argument with his brother just hours before the fight. Baer reopened the cut in the first round, leaving Tony to swallow blood for the remainder of the fight, which ended in Baer’s seven-round TKO. Tony broke his left hand in his next fight, which essentially ended his career. He fought three more times in the mid-1940s, with one of his opponents being wrestler Fred Blassie.
Tony’s final boxing record was 80-26-5 with 57 knockouts. Along the way, he participated in various publicity stunts and stage attractions, including wrestling an octopus, boxing a kangaroo, and having it out with a 550-pound bear. Folling his final fight in 1943, he turned to professional wrestling.
Tony also tried acting, with roles in Wind Across the Everglades, The Best Things in Life Are Free, Guys and Dolls, and On the Waterfront. In his retirement, Tony once got into a famous fight with Jackie Gleason, knocking him out cold after heckling Gleason while he was performing onstage. He died July 22, 1979 at the age of 69.