Joey Giardello passed away today.

[Robbi]

Former middleweight champion Joey Giardello passed away today a little after noon at the age of 78 in Cherry Hill, NJ. "He was the greatest middleweight ever to come out of Philly and one of the few white fighters of his era who fought every tough black guy out there," said Hall of Fame Philadelphia promoter J Russell Peltz. Funeral arrangements are pending.

[mcvey]

Rip. Joey.

[shommel]

he was a great champion. i love watching him fight gil turner its one of the most action packed fights ive ever seen. giardello was a master boxer and a tough fighter.

[salsanchezfan]

.............I've only recently gotten to see footage of him, via a couple of his fights with Dick Tiger. What a superb boxer he was.

Seems like we've lost a lot of them this year........

[Bill1234]

R.I.P. Joey, you were a great fighter.

[Dempsey1238]

A Shame he lived to see Hollywood trash his name in that movie.

Great fighter, One of the best. RIP champ.

[bladerunner]

RIP Champ.

i wonder why the media instead of always talking about the same stuff,dont talk more with these old fighters and do some interviews with them instead of interviewing Bob Arum every day.

we still have guys like Basilio and Lamotta around and when these guys like Giardello die a piece of boxing history is lost too.

i know i would rather read an interview with those guys than one with DLH or Mayweather or any current fighter.

[GazOC]

RIP. Grew up reading boxing books about that type of fighter. 78 is a good knock though!!

[GazOC]

A Shame he lived to see Hollywood trash his name in that movie.


Yep, thats Hollywood for you.:twisted:

[klompton]

rip one of my all time favorite fighters. should have been a champ much sooner but you couldnt beat fullmer out west if you shot him in the head with a .357.

[mcvey]

rip one of my all time favorite fighters. should have been a champ much sooner but you couldnt beat fullmer out west if you shot him in the head with a .357.
Fullmer's head was his best weapon,better to shoot him in the belly I think!

[teeto]

R.I.P. Joey, rememer when i first saw Giardello i on film, bought a video of him on the cheap from some stall when i was about 15, the 'Boxers' series videos. Was really impressed and soon learned he was a great middleweight who paid his dues in the ring.

[TommyV]

Damn!

R.I.P Joey.

[Luigi1985]

R.I.P. Joey, I liked him very much as a fighter...

[round15]

A Shame he lived to see Hollywood trash his name in that movie.

Great fighter, One of the best. RIP champ.

The movie "The Hurricane" did absolutely no justice to his name and his fight with Rubin Carter. I haven't seen this fight that in reality was slightly controversial in terms of Carter getting the decision. Giardello argued that the fight was a lot more competive than what was shown in the movie, and he firmly believes he won it.

RIP Joey Giardello

[GazOC]

The movie "The Hurricane" did absolutely no justice to his name and his fight with Rubin Carter. I haven't seen this fight that in reality was slightly controversial in terms of Carter getting the decision. Giardello argued that the fight was a lot more competive than what was shown in the movie, and he firmly believes he won it.

RIP Joey Giardello

Giardello DID win it in a close but clear decision, it was the fact that the film showed it being a robbery against Carter that annoyed boxing fans.

[frankwornank]

One of my five favorite fighters. Tough as nails, great boxer, never ducked anyone. Fought them all. He was a great family man as well. I only met him once but I am saddend by his loss. From what I've read, he was a man of great faith. I pray he is at peace. RIP Joey.

[Raging B(_)LL]

Fullmer's head was his best weapon,better to shoot him in the belly I think!

:lol: lol!

On a more serious note this is sad news, it seems so many former greats have died this year that it is hard to keep count. Kenny Lane, Vic Toweel and Rocky Castellani all passed away within the last month as well. I wrote Joey a letter many years ago when I was still a teenager and he replied to me with a letter of his own thanking me for the kind words I had to say about him and he also included a signed picture of him nailing Dick Tiger with a right cross... it is to this day one of my most prized possessions.

Joey G fought anyone and everyone there was to fight back in his day and feared no man or challenge, definately no gimme fights for him on the way up either as he was throw to the wolves early on. Talk about old school toughness and grit and Joey comes to mind right away, one of the greatest ring technicians of all time in my book as well as one of the toughest.

R.I.P. Brave Warrior, you will be missed.

[teeto]

:lol: lol!

On a more serious note this is sad news, it seems so many former greats have died this year that it is hard to keep count. Kenny Lane, Vic Toweel and Rocky Castellani all passed away within the last month as well. I wrote Joey a letter many years ago when I was still a teenager and he replied to me with a letter of his own thanking me for the kind words I had to say about him and he also included a signed picture of him nailing Dick Tiger with a right cross... it is to this day one of my most prized possessions.

Joey G fought anyone and everyone there was to fight back in his day and feared no man or challenge, definately no gimme fights for him on the way up either as he was throw to the wolves early on. Talk about old school toughness and grit and Joey comes to mind right away, one of the greatest ring technicians of all time in my book as well as one of the toughest.

R.I.P. Brave Warrior, you will be missed.
Think i might know the pic u mean RB, is it the one where Tiger tries to block the right hand, but Joey got there before him and it looks to have quite an impact?

[Rock0052]

RIP, Joey.

[heehoo]

Rest In Peace, Mr. Giardello. You will be missed.

[Stonehands89]

* 107 fights before a title shot.

* Fought everyone.

* "Remember, when the chips and the money’s on the line, bet on Giardello.” ~ Joey Giardello

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[Bigcat]

Yes, Rocky Castellanni and Joey both passed this week , absolute greats..
and the forgotten Olympian Rhoshii Wells passed too.. wayy before his time...

God Bless em, true warriors......

[Dempsey1238]

Is 2008 the year were most boxing greats past??

Thats a long list of greats that went this year. Mostly its just 1 or 2.

[Russell]

Tough son of a bitch, and one I'm becoming more interested in as time goes on.

Need to dig up some footage of him someplace.

[NoCoolFool?]

The movie "The Hurricane" did absolutely no justice to his name and his fight with Rubin Carter. I haven't seen this fight that in reality was slightly controversial in terms of Carter getting the decision. Giardello argued that the fight was a lot more competive than what was shown in the movie, and he firmly believes he won it.

RIP Joey Giardello

Never seen the fight myself either...but it goes further than this. Giardello sued the makers of the film and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Google it - you will still find articles.

[Dempsey1238]

Seen the fight, felt Joey won by 2 rounds or so. It was CLOSE. I felt the right guy won. No were near the way the move show the fight. Giardello staggering around like a drunk. Carter was unable to do that too Giardello in 15 rounds.

[RockyJim]

RIP Champ...great boxer......

[Minotauro]

R.I.P Joey Giardello a great champion.

[abraq]

The first boxing mag (an issue of The Ring) I bought at the age of 8 had a small picture of him fighting Rocky Rivero. Joey was the World MW champ then. What a record he has! The number of great fighters he fought is truly mind-boggling.

Another thing about Joey was his true grit. For instance, in the middle of the year 1956 he lost twice in quick succession to Charlie Cotton. Towards the end of the same year, he returned the compliments, beating Cotton twice. This trend is found throughout his record. What a great fighter.

REST IN PEACE Champ.

[Stonehands89]

...that trend abraq mentions is apparant at the very end. He lost to Jack Rodgers in '67, he beats Jack Rodgers 5 months later. Then retires.

[john garfield]

Hearing Joey G died saddens me. One more link to my youth gone. Tried to affect the same tousled pompadour. That’s as close as I ever got to lookin’ like him in the ring.

For a street tough-guy – where you’d just expect Graziano bunker busters -- the man could box – cut’ya ta ribbons, and had Billy Conn’s legs.

Thought you might get a kick out of a behind-the-scenes moment:

Joey G was gonna fight Walter Cartier, a tough NY middleweight, in the main-go at the old Garden.

I was in the dressing room with a buddy who was fightin’ on the undercard.

Walter was a very serious, intense guy -- strapping shoulders and chest -- trained religiously under the watchful eye of his twin brother at Stillman’s Gym. Walter was an orthodox, stand-up boxer, with a solid right hand. And you could see, under his brother’s encouragement, he believed he could beat Joey, and be vaulted into the title picture.

He was getting his game face on. All of a sudden, the locker room door burst open. It’s Giardello in an outrageously expensive camel’s hair coat tied at the waist -- cigar in his yap -- surrounded by an army of goombahs spilling into the room. All commotion and noise.

Joey strode over to Cartier, who’s mouth was open, and gave’m a big slap on the back: “Hi ya doing, Walter?”

The blood drained from Cartier’s face. The TKO in the first round was a formality; Walter lost it in the dressing room.

[Chinxkid]

Love it JG, the best laid plans of mice and men.... when exposed to the light.

[frankwornank]

Hearing Joey G died saddens me. One more link to my youth gone. Tried to affect the same tousled pompadour. That’s as close as I ever got to lookin’ like him in the ring.

For a street tough-guy – where you’d just expect Graziano bunker busters -- the man could box – cut’ya ta ribbons, and had Billy Conn’s legs.

Thought you might get a kick out of a behind-the-scenes moment:

Joey G was gonna fight Walter Cartier, a tough NY middleweight, in the main-go at the old Garden.

I was in the dressing room with a buddy who was fightin’ on the undercard.

Walter was a very serious, intense guy -- strapping shoulders and chest -- trained religiously under the watchful eye of his twin brother at Stillman’s Gym. Walter was an orthodox, stand-up boxer, with a solid right hand. And you could see, under his brother’s encouragement, he believed he could beat Joey, and be vaulted into the title picture.

He was getting his game face on. All of a sudden, the locker room door burst open. It’s Giardello in an outrageously expensive camel’s hair coat tied at the waist -- cigar in his yap -- surrounded by an army of goombahs spilling into the room. All commotion and noise.

Joey strode over to Cartier, who’s mouth was open, and gave’m a big slap on the back: “Hi ya doing, Walter?”

The blood drained from Cartier’s face. The TKO in the first round was a formality; Walter lost it in the dressing room.
Real good story about Joey and Cartier. I too am saddened by his loss and I too, feel he was a connection to my younger days.

[Jack Dempsey]

One more for the great ring in the sky

RIP Champ

[ron u.k.]

r.i.p. joey. another magical name from my childhood gone.in 1960 joey came to england and lost to terry downes on points over 10 rounds,does anyone know how the fight went did terry deserve the decision? i know downes beat pender for the title a while later but the giardello win must be the best one of his career.