Petey Scalzo

On December 5, 1938, Scalzo defeated the reigning New York State Athletic Commission's (NYSAC) world featherweight champion Joey Archibald in a second-round knockout at Royal Windsor Arena in New York. The bout was not a title fight, and certainly not recognized as one by the National Boxing Association (NBA), a sanctioning body with a wider range and more prestige than the NYSAC. In the first round, Archibald received a hard right to the chin, but managed to rally to keep the round even. After finding an opening in the second round, Scalzo delivered three powerful right hooks to the chin of Archibald that dropped him 2 minutes, and 10 seconds after the bell.[7] The win would cement Scalzo as the leading contender for the National Boxing Association's world featherweight championship.[8][2][9][10]

Demonstrating his punching ability, Scalzo defeated Lou Transparenti at Turners Arena in Washington in a seventh-round technical knockout on January 3, 1939.[2]

On December 1, 1939, Scalzo defeated Allie Stoltz in a fourth-round knockout at New York's Madison Square Garden. It was Stoltz's first loss by knockout. In the fourth, Scalzo knocked Stoltz to the mat for a count of seven with a strong left hook to the chin. Upon arising he was knocked to the mat again with a straight right, after which the referee ended the bout when Stolz could not rise to his feet.[11]

On July 10, 1940, in one of his few defenses of the world featherweight title, Scalzo defeated Bobby "Poison" Ivy in a fifteen-round TKO in Hartford, Connecticut. Scalzo showed superiority in both long range boxing and infighting, though in the twelfth, Ivy staged a comeback which brought the Connecticut crowd of 5,000 to their feet. Ivy did not return to the ring as the bell sounded for the fifteenth round due to a badly cut and bleeding lip. The United Press scoreboard gave Scalzo eleven rounds, with the second and twelfth for Ivy, and one tied. A few officials present felt Ivy deserved the eleventh round as well.[14][15]

On July 15, 1940, Scalzo defeated Maxie Fisher before a crowd of around 5600 in a ten-round points decision at Meadowbrook Bowl in Newark, New Jersey. Scalzo was five years younger and had boxed professionally six fewer years. His youthfulness allowed him to step up the contest in the final five rounds. Fisher could not keep pace as Scalzo bored in and delivered a variety of blows, particularly his close range left hook. Nonetheless, there were no knockdowns, and Fisher rallied at times to keep the crowd interested.[2][16][17][18]

On August 26, 1940, Scalzo defeated Jimmy Perrin in a well publicized ten round unanimous decision which brought 10,000 fans to City Park Stadium in New Orleans. Perrin, who fought defensively throughout the bout, was "completely outclassed" by the hard punching Scalzo, and took only the ninth round.[19] Though Scalzo dominated, the fight had no knockdowns and neither boxer left the bout with visible injuries. As both boxers were over the featherweight limit, there was no title at stake.[20][21]

In an unexpected loss, on October 4, 1940, Jewish boxer Julie Kogon defeated Scalzo in a non-title eight round points decision at Madison Square Garden. Scalzo was down in both the sixth and seventh rounds.[22] Though both fighters fought under 131 pounds, very close to the featherweight range, Kogon was never recognized as a world featherweight championship, as he was a pound or two overweight.[23][2]

In a non-title bout on November 1, 1940, Scalzo defeated Bernie Friedkin, a Jewish boxer from Brooklyn, at New York's Madison Square Garden in an eight-round points decision, though the New York Times reported the decision was not well received by the fans who were rooting for Friedkin.[2]

On April 18, 1941, he won a first-round technical knockout against Andy Strivani at Legion Stadium in Hollywood, flooring him four times in the first round with rousing rights to the head. After 1:25 of the first around, the referee called the fight.[24]

Scalzo fought Phil Zwick for the National Boxing Association World featherweight title on May 19, 1941, in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin bout that was eventually declared a draw after it was discovered referee Barney Ross had changed his initial scoring from a draw to a Scalzo win. Ross may have been inexperienced as a referee, as his real fame was as a former world light and welterweight champion.[2]

Scalzo gave speaking performances that showcased his unique style of humor, eventually graduating to perform on TV's Ed Sullivan show in a skit he perfected with the great ring announcer Johnnie Addie. Though Scalzo was an ethnic Italian, his comic skits with Addie often presented him as owner of a Greek restaurant and were performed at such venues as Boxing Guild meetings and honorary dinners.[29][30] He appeared in the 1963 film The Doctor and the Playgirl, filmed in New York with boxing champions Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta, and Barney Ross, a childhood idol who refereed his 1941 fight with Phil Zwick.[31][32] In the 1967 made for TV Movie, World Heavyweight Championship: Muhammed Ali vs. Zora Folley, he had a small role as himself.[33] In 1970 he played "Dinty the Dope" in Starlite Film's poorly reviewed Cauliflower Cupids appearing once again with ex-champions LaMotta and Graziano.[34]

Scalzo died in New York on June 15, 1993, at 73. His wife Christina died a few years earlier. He spent several years in a Veteran's Hospital, suffering from Alzheimers prior to his death.[2][4]