Tony Canzoneri
| Tony Canzoneri | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Tony Canzoneri |
| Rated at |
Bantamweight Featherweight Lightweight Light Welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Reach | 65 in (165 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born |
November 6, 1908 Slidell, Louisiana |
| Died | December 9, 1959 (aged 51) Staten Island, New York |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 175 |
| Wins | 141 |
| Wins by KO | 44 |
| Losses | 24 |
| Draws | 10 |
| No contests | 0 |
Tony Canzoneri (November 6, 1908 – December 9, 1959) was an American professional boxer. A three-time world champion, he held a total of five world titles. Canzoneri is a member of the exclusive group of boxing world champions who have won titles in three or more divisions.
When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to Staten Island, New York, where he campaigned most of his career. Canzoneri fit the mold of the typical American boxer of the era: He could box up to three or four times in one month and up to 24 or 25 times in one year and he would seldom fight outside New York City, considered to be boxing's mecca at the time. As a matter of a fact, of his first 38 bouts, only one was fought west of New York City and that one was in New Jersey.
Canzoneri won his first title, the World Featherweight title, with a 15-round decision over Benny Bass on February 10, 1928. He retained that title one time and then went up in weight and challenged World Lightweight Champion Sammy Mandell, losing by a decision in ten rounds. But in 1930, Mandell was knocked out in the first round by Al Singer and lost his title and Canzoneri, who had already beaten Singer by a ten-round decision before, challenged Singer for the title on November 14, 1930, knocking him out in the first round to become a two division world champion. In defeat, Singer made history by becoming the first man, and only man up until John Mugabi, to both win and lose the title by knockout in the first round.
Canzoneri's first defense was a unification of sorts: He faced World Light Welterweight champion Jack Kid Berg, who was putting his title on the line and trying to take Canzoneri's lightweight crown. Canzoneri became a three-division world champion by knocking Berg out in the third round on April 24, 1931. Canzoneri, Barney Ross and Henry Armstrong were the only boxing champions in history allowed to hold two or more world titles simultaneously. (Sugar Ray Leonard became both the vacant World Super Middleweight and the World Light Heavyweight Champion in one night in 1988, but he could keep only one and chose to keep the Super Middleweight title.)
...
Wikipedia