Rocky Castellani

Rocky Castellani
Castellani in 1953
Born	Attillio Castellani May 26, 1926 Luzerne, Pennsylvania
Died	August 31, 2008(2008-08-31) (aged 82) Atlantic City, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Statistics
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	89
Wins	69
Wins by KO	18
Losses	14
Draws	6

Attilio N. "Rocky" Castellani (May 26, 1926 – August 31, 2008) was an American boxer.^[1] He fought as a middleweight and was the top rated contender for the world middleweight crown in 1954 when he fought Bobo Olson, a year later Castellani lost to Sugar Ray Robinson. These two exceptional fights were featured on ESPN's "Classic Fights of the Century".^[2][3]

Castellani was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Attilio Castellani (1889–1974) and Rose Isopi Castellani (1896–1938), who later moved to Margate City, formerly South Atlantic City. He began boxing as a teenager at local gyms, and at a younger age would box opponents to entertain neighborhood kids.^[4][5] As a young man, he fought as a Marine in the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He boxed in the Marine Corps and won the title of "Champion of All China and Guam". After his discharge from the Marines he embarked on his professional boxing career around 1945.

After a three-month layoff from the ring on May 7, 1949, Castellani defeated Tony DeMicco before 1435 fans in New York's St. Nicholas Arena in a well publicized ten round unanimous decision. Castellani staggered his opponent in the third round, winning the bout from long range, and defending DeMicco's attempts to fight inside. Castellani was voted Ring Magazine's "Rookie of the Year" in 1948.^[6][7]

On September 9, 1949, Castellani lost to Kid Gavilan in a ten-round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden. All three judges scored for Gavilan by a significant margin of winning rounds. Castellani was knocked down in both rounds two and three, but surged in the middle rounds despite his hard tumble in round two. Castellani showed conditioning and skill but suffered in points from his two knockdowns. The Associated Press gave six rounds to Gavilan, and only three to Castellani, as did one of the judges.

In a noteworthy victory on November 14, 1951, Castellani defeated Joey Giardello in a convincing ten-round decision in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Giardello would later become an exceptional boxer, taking the WBA World Middleweight Title between 1963 and 1965. Castellani took charge of the future champion between the fourth and the ninth, though appeared to be coasting. He had taken four months off from a rib injury he received during training.^[8][9]

On June 18, 1952, Castellani defeated Johnny Bratton at Chicago Stadium. Both judges scored the fight closely, but the referee gave a larger ten point margin to Bratton. Bratton was a game opponent who would later compete for the World Middleweight Title on November 13, 1953, against Kid Gavilan and who was a world champion.

In his later life, Castellani was a judge who scored many important fights.