Petey Scalzo (1917-1993) was an American boxer from Hell's Kitchen, New York. He was declared the National Boxing Association Featherweight Championship of the World on May 1, 1940, two weeks prior to winning a sixth-round technical knockout over Frankie Covelli on May 15, 1940. The NBA had withdrawn the world featherweight championship from Joey Archibald the previous month for his refusal to fight leading contenders, including Scalzo.
Scalzo's manager was the hard working Pete Reilly who found monthly bouts for Scalzo as he began to rise in the boxing ranks. His trainers were Dan and Nick Florio.
Early life and career
Scazo was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 1, 1917, to an Italian family, and survived a rough childhood in Hell’s Kitchen. To earn a living as a youth, he sold newspapers, and danced on street corners for small donations from passing pedestrians. According to one source he spoke Italian, Greek, and sign language as a young man.
Showing remarkable talent in his pursuit of boxing as an amateur, he took the New York Metropolitan AAU championship, and International Golden Gloves bantamweight championship. At the end of his amateur career in 1936, he won the New York Daily News Golden Gloves Open Bantamweight 118 pound Championship before a crowd of 20,000, and soon decided to turn professional. The win would cement Scalzo as the leading contender for the National Boxing Association's world featherweight championship.
Demonstrating his punching ability, Scalzo defeated Lou Transparenti at Turners Arena in Washington in a seventh-round technical knockout on January 3, 1939.
Taking the NBA world featherweight championship, May 1940
On May 15, 1940, Scalzo defeated Frankie Covelli for the National Boxing Association (NBA) World featherweight title at Washington D.C.'s Griffith Stadium in a decisive sixth-round TKO. Scalzo had previously been declared world featherweight champion by the NBA on May 1, 1940. Scalzo first dropped Covelli to the mat in the fifth with a left hook during close infighting that required Covelli to take a count of nine before he could rise to resume the bout. Upon arising, Scalzo knocked Covelli to the mat again, and after he resumed the bout, Scalzo dropped him for the third and final time. The win was probably Scalzo's single most important victory. Belloise briefly held the NYSAC world featherweight title in 1936 before being stripped of it in August, 1937.
On July 15, 1940, Scalzo defeated Maxie Fisher before a crowd of around 5600 in a ten-round points decision at Meadowbrook Bowl in Newark, New Jersey. Scalzo was five years younger and had boxed professionally six fewer years. His youthfulness allowed him to step up the contest in the final five rounds. Fisher could not keep pace as Scalzo bored in and delivered a variety of blows, particularly his close range left hook. Nonetheless, there were no knockdowns, and Fisher rallied at times to keep the crowd interested.
On August 26, 1940, Scalzo defeated Jimmy Perrin in a well publicized ten round unanimous decision which brought 10,000 fans to City Park Stadium in New Orleans. Perrin, who fought defensively throughout the bout, was "completely outclassed" by the hard punching Scalzo, and took only the ninth round. Though Scalzo dominated, the fight had no knockdowns and neither boxer left the bout with visible injuries. As both boxers were over the featherweight limit, there was no title at stake.
In an unexpected loss, on October 4, 1940, Jewish boxer Julie Kogon defeated Scalzo in a non-title eight round points decision at Madison Square Garden. Scalzo was down in both the sixth and seventh rounds. Though both fighters fought under 131 pounds, very close to the featherweight range, Kogon was never recognized as a world featherweight championship, as he was a pound or two overweight.
Title match draw with Phil Zwick, May 19, 1941
Scalzo fought Phil Zwick for the National Boxing Association World featherweight title on May 19, 1941, in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin bout that was eventually declared a draw after it was discovered referee Barney Ross had changed his initial scoring from a draw to a Scalzo win. Ross may have been inexperienced as a referee, as his real fame was as a former world light and welterweight champion. As Scalzo gamely rose and made a futile attempt to resume the fight for the last time, Lemos dropped him for an eight count. Scalzo struggled to rise without success, and the referee called the bout.
Loss against reigning NYSAC world lightweight champion Bob Montgomery, October 1943
Scalzo's last publicized fight was against reigning NYSAC and Pennsylvania lightweight champion Bob Montgomery on October 25, 1943 at Convention Hall in Philadelphia. No title was at stake as both men were over the lightweight limit, with Montgomery at 137 and Scalzo at 138. Recovering from an impacted tooth, Montgomery was returning from a two-month layoff. Before a crowd of 6,500, Scalzo lost the scheduled ten round bout in the sixth by technical knockout. In the second round, Scalzo received a long cut on his head when Montgomery's head unintentionally bumped against his. Montgomery knocked Scalzo to the mat three times, once in the third and twice in the fifth rounds, and had him drowsy from repeated blows in the sixth. Fifty-three seconds into the sixth the referee stopped the fight, and though Scalzo was on his feet, he seemed helpless against the blows of Montgomery.
Life after boxing
After his boxing career ended, Scalzo refereed boxing matches throughout the 1950s, and worked for the New York State Athletic Commission. He appeared in the 1963 film The Doctor and the Playgirl, filmed in New York with boxing champions Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta, and Barney Ross, a childhood idol who refereed his 1941 fight with Phil Zwick. In the 1967 made for TV Movie, World Heavyweight Championship: Muhammed Ali vs. Zora Folley, he had a small role as himself. In 1970 he played "Dinty the Dope" in Starlite Film's poorly reviewed Cauliflower Cupids appearing once again with ex-champions LaMotta and Graziano.
Scalzo died in New York on June 15, 1993, at 73. His wife Christina died a few years earlier. He spent several years in a Veteran's Hospital, suffering from Alzheimers prior to his death.