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Tony Zale The Man of Steel
On the day he was born, Tony Zale's future was hardly guaranteed, but his would be an exemplary life. It would be one of triumph in the ring and fulfillment in his faith and his family. His would be a career and a life that would inspire everyone who knew him or knew of him. This is the story of how the son of Polish immigrants beat the kind of odds others chose not to. Tony was a "man of steel" in so many ways.
Kindle Edition
First published November 4, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 30, 2026
During one of boxing’s most popular decades, the 1940s, one fighter twice won the middleweight championship: Tony Zale. The man who defeated Zale to win the belt—and then lost it back to him in their third match—was Rocky Graziano. Because Graziano had a far more outgoing personality and published an autobiography, he is better known to boxing historians and fans. However, Zale led an interesting life of his own, and this book by Thad Zale (Tony’s nephew) and Clay Moyle provides a rich account of Tony’s full life and boxing career.
As one might expect from a biography written by a family member, there are passages in which Thad’s admiration for Tony comes through clearly, sometimes in ways that feel biased. Even so, this is a very good biography of Tony Zale’s entire life. This review won’t go step-by-step through that life; instead, it highlights the most interesting sections.
The best parts, especially for a sports fan, are the descriptions of Zale’s major fights. There are separate chapters on each of the Zale–Graziano bouts and on his fights with Al Hostak, whom he defeated in 1940 when he first won the middleweight crown. Each chapter covering a significant fight is rich with detail—not only round‑by‑round accounts of nearly every punch, but also the actions taken in both corners and even the referee’s interactions with the fighters. These details make readers feel as if they are ringside, despite the fact that these fights took place more than 80 years ago.
As for Tony’s personal life, this is where having a family member as author is both helpful and, at times, somewhat biased. This is especially true in the discussion of Tony’s first marriage, which ended in divorce, and his subsequent inability to see his two daughters as often as he wished. While Thad appears to strive for objectivity, the narrative is more sympathetic to Tony than to Adelaide, even if all allegations against both parties are accurate.
Tony also faced financial difficulties after retiring from boxing. Here again, the reader sees the family’s sympathy, but the book also describes how Tony refused to ask for assistance because of his faith, pride, morals, and work ethic. When he married his second wife, Philomena (affectionately called “Mighty Mouth” by Tony), his life changed dramatically. Philomena took charge and ensured that Tony received the recognition due to a former world champion. That improved Tony’s life immensely, and Thad writes about this period with the same strength and clarity he brings to the boxing chapters.
Since this book set out to tell the story of Tony Zale’s life, it succeeds. I had known of Tony Zale only from lists of past champions and occasional mentions of great fights, such as his trilogy with Graziano. This book showed me that Tony Zale was not only a great fighter but a good man as well
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
As one might expect from a biography written by a family member, there are passages in which Thad’s admiration for Tony comes through clearly, sometimes in ways that feel biased. Even so, this is a very good biography of Tony Zale’s entire life. This review won’t go step-by-step through that life; instead, it highlights the most interesting sections.
The best parts, especially for a sports fan, are the descriptions of Zale’s major fights. There are separate chapters on each of the Zale–Graziano bouts and on his fights with Al Hostak, whom he defeated in 1940 when he first won the middleweight crown. Each chapter covering a significant fight is rich with detail—not only round‑by‑round accounts of nearly every punch, but also the actions taken in both corners and even the referee’s interactions with the fighters. These details make readers feel as if they are ringside, despite the fact that these fights took place more than 80 years ago.
As for Tony’s personal life, this is where having a family member as author is both helpful and, at times, somewhat biased. This is especially true in the discussion of Tony’s first marriage, which ended in divorce, and his subsequent inability to see his two daughters as often as he wished. While Thad appears to strive for objectivity, the narrative is more sympathetic to Tony than to Adelaide, even if all allegations against both parties are accurate.
Tony also faced financial difficulties after retiring from boxing. Here again, the reader sees the family’s sympathy, but the book also describes how Tony refused to ask for assistance because of his faith, pride, morals, and work ethic. When he married his second wife, Philomena (affectionately called “Mighty Mouth” by Tony), his life changed dramatically. Philomena took charge and ensured that Tony received the recognition due to a former world champion. That improved Tony’s life immensely, and Thad writes about this period with the same strength and clarity he brings to the boxing chapters.
Since this book set out to tell the story of Tony Zale’s life, it succeeds. I had known of Tony Zale only from lists of past champions and occasional mentions of great fights, such as his trilogy with Graziano. This book showed me that Tony Zale was not only a great fighter but a good man as well
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
June 20, 2021
A solid biography on a great champion.
Of the two authors, Thad Zale is Tony's nephew and he gathered most of the personal information and thoughts from Tony and his family over a number of years. The book was published in 2014 but Thad was asked to write it by Tony in 1987. And Clay Moyle is a boxing historian who has written two other biographies of former fighters and he brings his expertise on the fights themselves. They both combine well to bring Zale's story to light which is something he had wanted since 1958.
That is when he first went to an editor to talk to him about writing a book after the success of Rocky Graziano's brilliant autobiography Somebody Up There Likes Me. Rocky and Zale were inexorably linked after their history but were chalk and cheese in terms of personality and life stories. The editor at the time turned him down because compared to Rocky's life story, Tony's didn't have the sex, drugs and rock n roll. Tony walked away saying "Someday, somebody will want to tell my story." Thankfully someone has.
There are 492 pages but the last 110 or so are pictures and there also plenty of pictures scattered throughout the book so it's not as many words as it may appear.
Of the two authors, Thad Zale is Tony's nephew and he gathered most of the personal information and thoughts from Tony and his family over a number of years. The book was published in 2014 but Thad was asked to write it by Tony in 1987. And Clay Moyle is a boxing historian who has written two other biographies of former fighters and he brings his expertise on the fights themselves. They both combine well to bring Zale's story to light which is something he had wanted since 1958.
That is when he first went to an editor to talk to him about writing a book after the success of Rocky Graziano's brilliant autobiography Somebody Up There Likes Me. Rocky and Zale were inexorably linked after their history but were chalk and cheese in terms of personality and life stories. The editor at the time turned him down because compared to Rocky's life story, Tony's didn't have the sex, drugs and rock n roll. Tony walked away saying "Someday, somebody will want to tell my story." Thankfully someone has.
There are 492 pages but the last 110 or so are pictures and there also plenty of pictures scattered throughout the book so it's not as many words as it may appear.
December 8, 2019
Brilliantly written book
Not only does it feature his career as one of boxing's finest but speaks of the man himself. This makes it a Fascinating insight into the man himself. A must read for any boxing fan.
Not only does it feature his career as one of boxing's finest but speaks of the man himself. This makes it a Fascinating insight into the man himself. A must read for any boxing fan.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews