Two Ton: One Night, One Fight -Tony Galento v. Joe Louis [Hardcover]

Joseph Monninger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2006

Beetle-browed, nearly bald, a head that rode his collarbones like a bowling ball returning on rails, his waist size more than half his five-foot-eight height, Two Ton Tony Galento appeared nearly square, his legs two broomsticks jammed into a vertical hay bale. By all measures he stood no chance when he stepped into the ring against the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, the finest heavyweight of his generation, in Yankee Stadium on a June night in 1939. “I’ll moida da bum,” Galento predicted, and though Louis was no bum, Tony, the Falstaff of boxing, lifted him from the canvas with a single left hook and entered the record books as one of the few men to put the great Louis down. A palooka, a thug, a vibrant appetite of a man, he scrapped his way out of the streets and into the brightest light in American life. For two splendid seconds he stood on the canvas at Yankee Stadium, the great Joe Louis stretched out before him, champ of the world, the toughest man alive, the mythical hero of the waterfront, of Orange, New Jersey, of an American nation little more than a year away from war. Joe Monninger’s spellbinding portrait of a man, a moment, and an era reminds us that sometimes it is through effort, and not the end result, that people most enduringly define themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On June 28, 1939, in a heavyweight title fight, a very fat man knocked down the champion Joe Louis in the third round; Louis jumped to his feet and soon dispatched his opponent. From this slender thread, freelance writer Monninger hangs the story of Tony "Two Ton" Galento, a journeyman boxer and spectacular character whose lucky punch made him a celebrity. The child of poor immigrants and a professional "ice man," Galento, in his oversized way, embodied the forces that made boxing a realistic career choice for the poor and the most popular sport in pre-WWII America. As far as underdogs go, Galento is no bout-winning "Cinderella Man" or even a Chuck Wepner (the real-life model for Rocky), but his is an entertaining story. At times, Monninger's digressions range too widely, and he has an unfortunate tendency to impart what he thinks the average guy on the street is thinking. Yet he displays a sure feeling for the eccentricities and color of the era, and he has a novelist's ability to put the reader in the moment. In Monninger's hands, all "two tons" of Tony come alive. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In this by-the-numbers but still fascinating book, we get the first biographical portrait in years of Tony "Two Ton" Galento. Balding, love-handled, and massively underqualified for a bout with Joe Louis, Galento had the same manager as Cinderella Man James Braddock, but the resemblance ended there. (In fact, before the fight, Braddock said, "I haven't seen Tony in training, and I am not picking him to win.") Galento is more famous for his mouth than his fists--he ensured his linguistic immortality by saying of Louis, "I'll moida the bum." But their fight ranks as one of the more memorable (and surprisingly competitive) in heavyweight history--even if, to be sure, Two Ton was outmatched from the start. Monninger's book is as much a blow-by-blow description of that night (including the undercards) as a dual biography. The fight reportage is gripping, and while there's certainly nothing new here about Louis, Monninger's descriptions of Galento paint a portrait of one of boxing's great antiheroes. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Steerforth (November 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586421158
• ISBN-13: 978-1586421151
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,506,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling story, a great read, an instant classic, May 16, 2007

By 

Matthew (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Two Ton: One Night, One Fight -Tony Galento v. Joe Louis (Hardcover)

Boxing isn't really my thing, but I can't resist a good, well-written story. Joe Monninger's sharp, clear prose draws the reader back in time and deep into the drama of two men's lives, each both very ordinary and very special - almost mythological. It's tough not to find something of yourself in both, and impossible not to be pulled along by this engaging story of one night and one fight. Buy it. Read it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tony Galento: Quick Rise, Quick Fall, But Forever a Star, May 22, 2008

By 

Moeursalen (Pennsylvania: USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Ton: One Night, One Fight -Tony Galento v. Joe Louis (Paperback)

The book should be of great interest to living boxing or history fans who remember the era and add dimension to those who don't.
The book conjures up moments of history without being academic or tone-deaf to the human side. Author Monninger is a first class novelist and prolific writer; this one has the distinction of detailed research and facile delivery. Monninger creates the period as if you are living it. I might have done without reading a few sections too heavy in boxing detail such as the measurement of the forces of a heavyweight fighter's punch. In the ring with mere amateurs, I've had ribs broken twice by body shots, a broken nose, various cuts and an infinite number of bruises. It rather kills the fun of it all to read that a heavyweight's punch delivers a force of 2800 newtons. But the story of the determined loser-hero willing to risk all to make his mark on history is a testament to all of us who struggle to find inspiration.
Like Joyce Carol Oates well-known book `On Boxing', this story of Two Ton Tony Galento is something of a departure from traditional boxing literature. It's funny, it's fascinating, it entertains, and it's one of the markers by which America's time is measured.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick read, crisp rendering of an unusual man, September 15, 2009

By 

M. Dillon (Oak Hill, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Two Ton: One Night, One Fight -Tony Galento v. Joe Louis (Paperback)

I grew up in Orange and met Galento twice, decades after the big Louis fight. Both times he was amusing, colorful, and intimidating. I am thankful for this book; its portrayal is rather accurate to the man. One minor complaint: the book at times seems anti-boxing. Yes, boxing is brutal but it has its virtues which cannot be fully elaborated on here. And professional boxing ain't nothin' compared to the streets of Orange I knew!