Name: STEFANO (TAMI) MAURIELLO
Born: 28 September 1923
Died: 2 December 1999
Career: 1939 to 1949 aged 76
Record: 96 fights. 82 wins (60 by KO/TKO), 13 losses (4 by KO/TKO), 1 draw.
Division: Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight
Stance: Orthodox
Titles: None
Major Contests
Scored wins over: Steve Belloise*, Gunnar Barlund (three times), Red Burman* (twice), Lee Savold** (twice), Tony Musto* Lou Nova* (twice), Lee Oma* (twice), Steve Dudas, Bruce Woodcock,
Lost against: Billy Soose**, Gus Lesnevich** (four times), Jimmy Bivins (twice), Joe Baksi, Lee Oma*, Joe Louis**, Cesar Brion.
Drew with: Bob Pastor*.
**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title
* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title
Tami Mauriello’s Story
Mauriello “ The Bronx Barkeeper” (he worked as a barkeeper between fights) crammed 96 fights into a ten year career that saw him turn professional at 15 years and 10 months, start as a welterweight, challenge three times for a version of a world title, including at heavyweight, and retired at the age of 26. He was one of nine children but his father died when Mauriello was very young and a family friend “Lefty” Remini took an interest in him and started him boxing when only thirteen. Whilst fourteen he wanted to enter a Golden Gloves tournament but the minimum age for the tournament was seventeen so Stefano Mauriello borrowed the birth certificate of his elder brother known as Tami and stuck with the name of Tami from then on. He won the New York Golden Gloves welterweight title in 1939 and then turned professional having his first fight in New York on 25 July 1939-two months short of his sixteenth birthday. He weighed 144 lbs for that fight, the lowest he would weight in his career, and won on a first round knockout. He won nine more fight in 1939, including a first round kayo in a four round contests in Madison Square Garden, the first of many fights he would have in the Garden. His all-action style and heavy punching quickly built him a following and by the end of 1940 after just 17 months he had amassed a 24-0 record. That earned him a spot in the Ring Magazine top ten middleweights and his first ten round main event at the Garden on 2 January 1941 just a few months after Mauriello’s seventeenth birthday. He really was handed a ridiculously tough assignment against Billy Soose. In 1940 Soose had beaten both Ken Overlin and Tony Zale in the space of just 28 days. Soose won a split decision over Mauriello. It was scored in rounds and two judges had it 6-4 for Soose and the third 6-4 for Mauriello. Just four months later Soose outpointed champion Overlin over fifteen rounds to win recognition by the New York Staite Athletic Commission as World middleweight champion.
Mauriello rebounded from the Soose loss with a ruin of eight wins by KO/TKO in the next six months of 1941. The stunning performance in that run came against Steve Belloise in March just two months after the loss to Soose. Belloise had challenged Ken Overlin twice in world title fights in 1940 losing the first on a majority decision and the second on a split decision, Mauriello knocked Belloise out in the first round!
That run of eight wins and the kayo of Belloise saw Mauriello move up to challenge Gus Lesnevich for the light heavyweight title in August 1941 in the Garden. Lesnevich was a more experienced boxer with 63 fights on his record and Mauriello was still one month short of his eighteenth birthday. Lesnevich won but on a split decision. They fought a return in November 1941 and this time Lesnevich won a convincing unanimous decision.
Mauriello had his first official fight as a heavyweight in December 1941-although anything over 175 lbs was classified as a heavyweight then. Mauriello had an active 1942 going 11-1-1 with the loss against Jimmy Bivins. The draw was against Bob Pastor who had lost to Joe Louis in a title challenge in 1939 and Mauriello had wins over heavyweight title challengers Tony Musto, Red Burman and Lou Nova as well as Lee Savold who would lose to Joe Louis in a fight for the heavyweight title in 1951. The Bivins fight was for the “duration” title. Joe Louis had anointed Bivins as heavyweight champion when he went into the army. Mauriello was down in the first in the Bivins fight but rallied and only lost on a split decision-in Bivins home city. By the end of 1942 Mauriello was just three months past his nineteenth birthday, had a 44-4-1 record. Of his four losses two had come by majority decisions and one a split decision. The February issue of Ring Magazine had Mauriello rated No 2 heavyweight. In March 1943 Mauriello suffered his fifth defeat losing again to Jimmy Bivins-a majority decision- but he also scored eight wins. He found Joe Baksi, a genuine heavyweight even by today’s standards, too strong and was floored and outpointed in front of 16,015 fans at the Garden in February 1944 but climbed off the floor to kayo Lee Oma in September and then lost on points to Oma in a return fight in December. He made the score 2-1 in fights with Oma by outpointing Oma in March 1945. Mauriello then complied an eleven bout winning streak culminating in an eighth round knockout of 25-0 British hope Bruce Woodcock in the Garden in May 1946. A fight that drew a crowd of 14,000 and was virtually a title fight eliminator.
Jole Louis had shown he was back and in charge with an eighth round kayo of Billy Conn in a title fight in June 1946 and after his win over Woodcock Mauriello was next up as a challenger. A crowd of 38,494 turned out at the Yankee Stadium in Mauriello’s home turf of the Bronx. The fight was short but exciting. Just ten seconds into the fight Mauriello nailed Louis with a right cross that sent Louis reeling back and almost down. He managed to stay on his feet and ten seconds later floored Mauriello with a left hook. Mauriello made it to his feet and tried to move and hold but Louis just brushed Mauriello’s attempts aside and a series of hooks and uppercuts saw Mauriello slump to his knees hanging onto the ropes and Mauriello was counted out. All over in 2:09 of the first round . It’s been said that Mauriello never really recovered from that beating. Ten days later he celebrated his twenty-third birthday. He had a 69-8-1 record, had fought in every division from welterweight to heavyweight (that would encompass seven divisions today)and challenged for the world title in two divisions the first time when only 17. He continued to fight winning more than he lost but was stopped on cuts by Johnny Shkor, lost twice to Lesnevich and retired in October 1949 after consecutive defeats against Joe Dominic, who he had previously knocked out in six rounds, and Argentinian Cesar Brion.
After retiring Mauriello was unable to settle to anything. He worked as security at night clubs, dabbled with wrestling, had a job with a defence contractor and had a part in the film On The Waterfront ,the film that made Marlon Brando a star. In the film Mauriello played a mobster alongside other heavyweight title challengers “Two Ton” Tony Galento and Abe Simon and he was described as Frank Sinatra’s favourite boxer. Throughout his career Mauriello had been a compulsive gambler and that, together with a too generous nature, meant Mauriello was effectively broke when he retired. As a part of his downward spiral he divorced his wife of 43 years and was diagnosed with pugilistica dementia living with his daughter Marie until she was unable to cope and he was admitted to a nursing home before dying on 3 December 1999 at the age of 76.