Rocky Kansas

Rocky Kansas
Rocky Kansas
Statistics
Real name	Rocco Tozzo
Weight(s)	light weight
Nationality	American
Born	April 21, 1893; Italy
Died	January 10, 1954 (aged 58)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	171
Wins	125
Wins by KO	39
Losses	27
Draws	13
No contests	6

Rocky Kansas was a tough, short (5'2" tall) former world lightweight champion boxer. He was born Rocco Tozzo on April 21, 1893, in Italy and came to America in 1898.[1] He died on January 10, 1954.

Background

Rocky was the younger brother of Joe "Kid" Kansas (Tozzo), and older brother of boxer Tony Tozzo. Kansas and his two brothers combined to defeat 189 opponents in the Buffalo, New York area from 1909-1937. Father to Vincent Tozzo and husband to Jessie Tozzo.

Pro career

Kansas, (right) during his bout with Sammy Mandell

Kansas turned pro in 1911 and lost just two official decisions in his first 75 fights. In 1914, he faced his first contender, Johnny Dundee, losing a newspaper decision. Kansas also faced featherweight Champion Johnny Kilbane in a non-title match, but lost the newspaper decision.

During his career Kansas faced the cream of the featherweight and lightweight divisions. On February 28, 1916, Kansas fought the all-time great Benny Leonard. Although, Kansas managed to last the full 10 rounds for a No-Decision, he received a boxing lesson from Leonard.

In 1921 he met Richie Mitchell, a highly regarded Lightweight out of Milwaukee. In the first round Kansas pinned Mitchell against the ropes and knocked him out. Kansas then landed a non-title shot against Benny Leonard, but was again handily out boxed.

Kansas then came up with another upset victory, this time over southpaw Lew Tendler in a close 10-round decision. The victory landed him a title shot at Leonard's lightweight crown. In an exciting fight, Leonard was awarded the unanimous decision.

The two fought yet again. This time Leonard TKOed him in the eleventh round.

Leonard retired and Kansas was given his third title shot against Jimmy Goodrich, who claimed the title after Leonard's retirement. Kansas was able to get inside on Goodrich and won all but one of the first 13 rounds. Kansas was awarded the 15-round decision, and after over 14 years of professional fighting, Rocky Kansas was finally a champion.[2]

His glory was short lived. On July 3, 1926 he defended against 22-year-old Sammy Mandell. Mandell outboxed Kansas to win the title.[3]

Retirement

Kansas retired after the loss. Like many others, he was wiped out in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Kansas worked for the city of Buffalo.

References

Silverstein, Jack M. (June 4, 2016). "Mike Royko on "Cassius Clay" vs. "Muhammad Ali," from March 1971". ChicagoNow. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
Mulville, Mark (December 10, 2019). "Jimmy Goodrich, Rick Glaser to enter state boxing hall; Kreps loses at trials". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
Doyle, Mike (July 21, 2013). "Rock River Valley Insider: Sammy Mandell was a boxing champ". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved September 1, 2020.

External links

Cyber Boxing Zone page
Boxing record for Rocky Kansas from BoxRec

Achievements
Preceded by Jimmy Goodrich	World Lightweight Champion December 7, 1925 – June 3, 1926	Succeeded by Sammy Mandell

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Royko-1] Silverstein, Jack M. (June 4, 2016). "Mike Royko on "Cassius Clay" vs. "Muhammad Ali," from March 1971". ChicagoNow. Retrieved September 1, 2020.

[Goodrich-2] Mulville, Mark (December 10, 2019). "Jimmy Goodrich, Rick Glaser to enter state boxing hall; Kreps loses at trials". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 1, 2020.

[Mandell-3] Doyle, Mike (July 21, 2013). "Rock River Valley Insider: Sammy Mandell was a boxing champ". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved September 1, 2020.