Phil Terranova
| Phil Terranova | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Featherweight |
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) |
| Nationality |
 American
|
| Born | September 4, 1919 New York, New York |
| Died | March 16, 2000 (aged 80) |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 99 |
| Wins | 67 |
| Wins by KO | 29 |
| Losses | 21 |
| Draws | 11 |
| No contests | 0 |
Phil Terranova (September 4, 1919 – March 16, 2000) was an American boxer who took the NBA World Featherweight Boxing Championship in 1943 in a bout against Jackie Callura. His manager was Bobby Gleason.
Phil Terranova was born on September 4, 1919, in New York City. In his first sixteen matches between July 1941 and September 1942, he won eight bouts, lost only two and drew six. His two losses were to talented opponents Johnny Dell and Gus Levine in front of large venues. In this first year of fighting he boxed twice in Madison Square Garden.
On June 4, 1943, while still basically an unknown, he was knocked out by former World Featherweight Champion Albert Chalky Wright in five rounds at New York's Madison Square Garden. Terranova was down in the second before being called out in the fifth. He had probably been matched too early in his career with the harder hitting, and more experienced Black boxing talent, who had little trouble with Terranova. Wright also had the benefit of a five inch advantage in reach, as well, at slightly over 5' 7". The fight was Terranova's first knockout in his first thirty fights, but it was certainly to a skilled opponent. In the third round, Terranova launched a successful body attack, but it was neutralized by Wright's longer reach.
Terranova won the National Boxing Association World Featherweight Championship when he knocked out Jackie Callura in front of 8,500 fans in eighth rounds at Pellican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 16, 1943. Astonishingly, Terranova had barely two years of professional boxing experience prior to his championship victory. Callura seemed to lead in the early rounds but may have tired by the fifth. Terranova with strong rights and lefts in the seventh, knocked his opponent to the canvas for a count of nine in the eighth. Upon rising, Callura was knocked to the canvas for good, around one minute into the eighth round.
In an upset, perhaps exhaling after his good fortune, he lost to Maurice Lachance, in a ten round non-title decision in Hartford, Connecticut. The referee gave every round to the challenger, who was down only briefly in the eighth, but knocked down Terranova briefly in the seventh. Lachance used his two inch reach advantage and five pound weight advantage to his benefit. It may also be important to note that Lachance was a southpaw, having the ringname "Lefty", which made him more dangerous to a less experienced boxer.
He defended his title in an NBA World Featherweight Title rematch with Callura on December 27, 1943, before a crowd of around 5,000, scoring a technical knockout in the sixth round at the Colliseum Arena in New Orleans. Callura was on the mat three times in the sixth from rights to the head. On his third fall to the mat from a right to the jaw, the referee stopped the bout after two seconds. Callura threatened only in the fourth round. It was Terranova and Callura's third meeting.
...
Wikipedia