Graziano was the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. Barbella, nicknamed Fighting Nick Bob, was a boxer with a brief fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, Graziano later moved to an Italian enclave centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write.

As he grew older and seeing no other way to raise his standard of living, Graziano signed a few boxing contracts, but the rigors of training disinterested him. He and his early managers went their separate ways but eventually, he was picked up by Irving Cohen who had the sense to give him a long leash. Cohen changed the young fighter's name from Barbella to Graziano (his grandfather's surname) and lined up a fight. Refusing to train much, Graziano nevertheless showed his killer instinct and won by a knockout. Other fights were lined up with Cohen trying, in his subtle way, to overmatch Graziano, get him defeated, and thereby show him the value of getting into condition. He even demanded a match against Sugar Ray Robinson.  In March 1945, at Madison Square Garden, Graziano scored a major upset over Billy Arnold, whose style was similar to that of Sugar Ray Robinson; he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. The Ring magazine and various newspapers across the United States touted Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano and then to go on to fight for the world title, but Graziano absorbed a beating in the early going, before going on to batter and knock Arnold out in the third round of the scheduled eight-round bout. Following his defeat to Graziano, Arnold was never the same.  Graziano is most famous for his three title bouts with Tony Zale, all for the middleweight title. In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from him, and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, he rallied and knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his title. The rematch, a year later in Chicago (July 16, 1947), was a mirror image of their first fight. The referee almost stopped the second fight in the third round because of a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, which would have awarded the victory to Zale, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding to let the fight continue. Graziano was battered around the ring, suffered a closed eye and appeared ready to lose by a knockout, then rallied and knocked Zale out in the sixth round, becoming world middleweight champion. Their last fight was held in New Jersey the following year (June 10, 1948). Zale regained his crown, winning the match by a knockout in the third round. The knockout blows consisted of a perfect combination of a right to Graziano's body, then a left hook to his jaw. He was knocked unconscious. His last attempt at the middleweight title came in April 1952, when he fought Sugar Ray Robinson. He dropped him to his knee with a right in the third round. Less than a minute later, Robinson knocked him out for the count with a right to the jaw. He retired after losing his very next fight, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey. CANNOTANSWER

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Graziano var son till Ida Scinto och Nicola Barbella. Barbella, med smeknamnet Fighting Nick Bob, var en boxare med kort fightingrekord. Graziano föddes i Brooklyn och flyttade senare till en italiensk enklav som låg centrerad på East 10th Street, mellan First Avenue och Avenue A i Manhattans East Village. Han växte upp som gatukämpe och lärde sig att ta hand om sig själv innan han hann läsa eller skriva. När han blev äldre och inte såg något annat sätt att höja sin levnadsstandard, skrev Graziano på några boxningskontrakt, men träningarnas stelhet ointresserade honom. Han och hans tidiga managers gick skilda vägar men till slut plockades han upp av Irving Cohen som hade vett att ge honom ett långt koppel. Cohen bytte den unge boxarens namn från Barbella till Graziano (hans farfars efternamn) och radade upp ett slagsmål. Vägrade att träna mycket visade Graziano ändå sin mördarinstinkt och vann av en knockout. Andra slagsmål var uppradade med att Cohen på sitt subtila sätt försökte övermatcha Graziano, få honom besegrad och därmed visa honom värdet av att komma i skick. Han krävde till och med en match mot Sugar Ray Robinson. I mars 1945, vid Madison Square Garden, gjorde Graziano en stor upprördhet över Billy Arnold, vars stil liknade Sugar Ray Robinsons; han var en slickboxare med blixtsnabba kombinationer och en knockoutpunch. Tidskriften Ring och olika tidningar över hela USA tippade Arnold som nästa Joe Louis eller Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold var en tung favorit till att besegra Graziano och sedan gå vidare till att slåss om världstiteln, men Graziano absorberade ett slag i det tidiga på gång, innan han gick vidare till slagman och slog ut Arnold i den tredje omgången av den planerade åtta-rondens bout. Efter sitt nederlag mot Graziano blev Arnold aldrig sig lik. Graziano är mest känd för sina tre titelbouts med Tony Zale, alla för mellanviktstiteln. I sin första match (27 september 1946), efter att ha golvat Graziano i första ronden, tog Zale en vilde som slogs av honom, och var på gränsen till att förlora kampen av TKO. Han samlade sig dock och slog ut honom i sjätte omgången för att behålla sin titel. Återmatchen, ett år senare i Chicago (16 juli 1947), var en spegelbild av deras första slagsmål. Domaren stoppade nästan den andra matchen i den tredje ronden på grund av ett svårt snitt över Grazianos vänstra öga, vilket skulle ha tilldelat segern till Zale, men Grazianos cutman, Morris ("Whity") Bimstein, kunde stoppa blödningen för att låta kampen fortsätta. Graziano blev slagen runt ringen, drabbades av ett slutet öga och syntes redo att förlora av en knockout, sedan samlade sig och slog ut Zale i sjätte ronden, och blev världsmästare i mellanvikt. Deras sista match hölls i New Jersey året därpå (10 juni 1948). Zale återfick sin krona, och vann matchen genom en knockout i tredje ronden. Knockoutstötarna bestod av en perfekt kombination av en höger mot Grazianos kropp, därefter en vänsterkrok mot hans käke. Han slogs medvetslös. Hans sista försök till mellanviktstiteln kom i april 1952, då han slogs mot Sugar Ray Robinson. Han tappade honom i knät med en höger i tredje ronden. Mindre än en minut senare knockade Robinson honom för greven med en höger mot käken. Han drog sig tillbaka efter att ha förlorat sin allra nästa match, ett 10-runda beslut till Chuck Davey. CANNOTANSWER Ställ en fråga om den här artikeln.
Graziano was the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. Barbella, nicknamed Fighting Nick Bob, was a boxer with a short fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, Graziano later moved to an Italian enclave located centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up as a street fighter and learned to take care of himself before he could read or write. As he grew older and saw no other way to raise his standard of living, Graziano signed some boxing contracts, but the rigidity of the trainings disinterested him. He and his early managers parted ways but in the end he was picked up by Irving Cohen who had the sense to give him a long leash. Cohen changed the young boxer's name from Barbella to Graziano (his grandfather's surname) and lined up a fight. Refusing to train much, Graziano still showed his killer instinct and won by a knockout. Other fights were lined up with Cohen trying in his subtle way to overmatch Graziano, getting him defeated and thus showing him the value of getting in shape. He even demanded a match against Sugar Ray Robinson. In March 1945, at Madison Square Garden, Graziano made a major upset over Billy Arnold, whose style resembled Sugar Ray Robinsons; he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. Ring magazine and various newspapers across the United States tipped Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano and then go on to fight for the world title, but Graziano absorbed a punch in the early days, before moving on to batsman and knocking Arnold out in the third round of the planned eight-round bout. After his defeat of Graziano, Arnold never became the same. Graziano is best known for his three title bouts with Tony Zale, all for the middleweight title. In his first game (27 September 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage who was beaten by him, and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, he collected and knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his title. The rematch, a year later in Chicago (July 16, 1947), was a reflection of their first fight. The referee nearly stopped the second game in the third round due to a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, which would have awarded the victory to Zale, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding to allow the fight to continue. Graziano was beaten around the ring, suffered a closed eye and appeared ready to lose by a knockout, then gathered and knocked out Zale in the sixth round, becoming the world middleweight champion. Their final game was held in New Jersey the following year (10 June 1948). Zale regained his crown, winning the match by a knockout in the third round. The knockout shocks consisted of a perfect combination of a right to Graziano's body, then a left hook to his jaw. He was knocked unconscious. His last attempt at the middleweight title came in April 1952, when he fought Sugar Ray Robinson. He dropped him in his lap with a right in the third round. Less than a minute later, Robinson knocked him out for the count with a right to the jaw. He retired after losing his very next game, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey. CANNOTANSWER Ask a question about this article.
Blev Rocky skadad någon gång i sin professionella karriär?
Did Rocky ever get hurt in his professional career?