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Jewish World Review Feb. 2, 1999 / 16 Shevat, 5759
MASHUNTUCKET INDIAN RESERVATION, CT. – They looked a lot worse for the wear.
In fact, they looked a little like old-time fighters Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler, or
maybe Tony Zale and Jake LaMotta. They both looked like they had been in a war. One
had a giant mouse under his eye, and the other a nasty inch-and-a-half long gash near
the hairline on the right side of his forehead. Red welts and other marks marred
their physiognomies.
Dangerous Dana Rosenblatt, the man who "wants to be the first Jewish world champion
in decades," defeated Sammy Calderone, Friday night at Foxwoods Resort Casino in an
unexpectedly tremendous middleweight fight. The decision was unanimous.
The irony of this is that on Tuesday, neither had any thought of fighting the other.
One fighter, Sammy Calderone, was scheduled to fight in Germany on Saturday night.
The other, Dangerous Dana Rosenblatt, the International Boxing Association
Middleweight Champion, was scheduled to headline the fight card at Foxwoods against
veteran boxer Aaron Davis.
Meanwhile, Calderone was having problems of his own. He was scheduled to fight in
Germany on Saturday night. But suddenly his match was off because he had passport
problems that could not be resolved on short notice.
Katz scrambling, hit the phones and was able to put the fight together in a couple of
hours. But the short notice did not leave time to get the word out about the change
and 1,300 fight fans were surprised when they showed up and learned that Calderone,
not Davis, was fighting Rosenblatt. The disappointment, however, soon turned to a
standing ovation for both fighters, in what turned out to be a great boxing match.
Calderone, who recently moved to Brockton, Mass., extended Dangerous Dana, 10 hard
rounds in a non-title match. And although Rosenblatt won the bout, it took every
ounce of his ring savvy and physical toughness to do it.
"I went 10 rounds with a world-class fighter, tonight," the soft-spoken Calderone
said after the fight. "I’m proud of what I did. I proved I can fight with the best."
While Rosenblatt and Calderone never met in the ring before Friday night, the two
have sparred together. And it was obvious, both in the ring after the fight, and in
the press conference, that they have a genuine affection for each other. But in the
ring both took care of business and did their best to defeat the other except at the
end of the rounds when each would give the other a light tap in passing.
Rosenblatt started out cautiously, in the first two rounds, letting Calderone force
the action while he did just enough to win the rounds in the three judge’s opinions.
In the third, the expression on Rosenblatt’s face changed and he became focused on
the business at hand. Both fighters traded scoring punches and elected to stand and
fight rather than clinch. JWR gave the round to Rosenblatt based his landing two
heavy punches to the midriff and the ribs at the bell.
The next three rounds were more of the same with Rosenblatt continuing to land
several body blows that scored for him.
In the eighth, Rosenblatt’s concentrated right jabs – he’s a lefty – caused
Calderone’s eye to puff up cause him vision problems. And finally, a nasty clashing
of heads in the middle of the tenth round opened a gash on Rosenblatt’s forehead. He
said, later, he could see the blood spurt out of it.
Two of the three judges scored the fight 99-91 in favor of Rosenblatt; the third
scored it, 100-91.
Several reporters were mildly surprised by the margin. JWR scored it 99-96. Other
reporters also scored it a three or four-point difference.
"Pit" Perron, Calderone’s trainer, was neither surprised by the margins on the
judge’s cards nor was he disappointed in Calderone’s performance.
"This is Dana’s (boxing) home," he said. "Naturally, the judges are going to award
him the close rounds." Me. I’m thrilled with my guy’s performance."
Rosenblatt, who has flagged badly at the end of his two previous fights and needed to
prove he could go the distance, said that he wanted to go the distance and prove his
problem is solved.
"It was a simple problem due to a sodium deficiency. I just didn’t have enough salt
in my system. I just sweat at such a profuse rate that I just dehydrated."
Rosenblatt praised Calderone after the fight, saying that he was not a guy who came
to be a substitute.
"Obviously, Sam came to win," he said. "He’s a real fighter. This is a guy who has
never been stopped. He came to win and he showed it. He’s a class person and a class
fighter."
Calderone, who recently returned to the Boston area in hopes of restarting his
career, falls to 12-4-1. Rosenblatt moves forward with a 34-1 record and a May or
June return match against Vinnie Pazienza of Providence, RI, the only man to ever
defeat him.
Katz said he is hoping to stage the fight at Foxwoods in a tent large enough to hold
10,000 people, while broadcasting the match on Home Box Office.
The last time the two met, in Atlantic City, Rosenblatt had clearly won the first
four rounds of the match and was winning the fifth, when the referee stepped in to
break a clinch. Rosenblatt stepped back and dropped his hands on the break, and
Pazienza fired an overhand right that caught Rosenblatt full on the left cheekbone.
The punch knocked Rosenblatt to the mat. When he stood up, Pazienza swarmed all over
him and the fight ended on a TKO.
A win over Pazienza is expected to put Rosenblatt in line for a major title bout
before the end of the
Rosenblatt is one step closer to being 1st Jewish world champion in decades
Photo by Allen Mushin
By Lenn Zonder
But late Tuesday night, Davis’s managers withdrew Davis, saying he was suffering with
the flu and they didn’t believe he would be in condition to fight by Friday.
JWR sports columnist Lenn Zonder is managing editor of Chavura.
1/26/99: Will Jewish boxer’s defeat come this Shabbat?