Robert Mladinich
32 articles · The Sweet Science
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Diddly boppers Pete and Nick Spanakos
On the streets of the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York, in the 1950s and 1960s, identical twins Petros (Pete) and Nikos (Nick) Spanakos were known as the “Terror Twins,” although…
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Charley Green: The Devil Made Him Do It
Although there was overwhelming evidence to suggest otherwise, Charley “Devil” Green, who competed against some of the top light heavyweights and heavyweights of the 1960s and 1970s, always insisted he was not…
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The Meteoric Rise and Fall of “Big” John Tate
IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant is set to defend his title Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Only a handful of Tennessee fighters ever hit it big in boxing and Plant…
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The Great Rollino, Strongest Man in the World
When Joe Rollino was struck by a minivan while crossing a Brooklyn, New York, street in January 2010, he held many distinctions. Not only was he one of the borough’s oldest citizens…
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Gerald McClellan: A Championship Heart
It has been over 20 years since longtime boxing photographer Teddy B. Blackburn began assisting former middleweight champion Gerald ?G-Man? McClellan, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in his 1995 bout against…
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Boxing by the Book: ?Gentleman Gerry?
For the uninitiated it is hard to fathom just how popular boxing was in the 1970s. The 1976 Olympic team won a then-unprecedented five gold medals and Sugar Ray Leonard emerged as…
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Bobby Crabtree: ?You don?t kick a man when he?s down?
Despite being a veteran of more than 90 professional fights against a veritable who?s who of prominent heavyweights, Bobby ?The Fighting Hillbilly? Crabtree?s face is not layered with scar tissue, he has…
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Joe Rollino: A man of many distinctions
When Joe Rollino was struck by a minivan while crossing a Brooklyn, New York, street in January 2010, he held many distinctions. Not only was he one of the borough?s oldest citizens…
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Tami Mauriello: A heart of gold
Any old-time boxing fan who saw the movie ?On the Waterfront? would easily recognize former heavyweight title challengers Tami Mauriello, Abe Simon, and ?Two Ton? Tony Galento. All had fought Joe Louis…
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Al Certo: ?What a life!?
Certo was extremely articulate in a ?dese and dem? kind of way, and was truly one of boxing?s last remaining colorful characters? The veritable Al Certo, a boxing legend who had been…
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Crown of Thorn?s
?People sometimes ask me why I gave up boxing. I always have to correct them. Giving up is not in my nature. I simply took it as far as I could?? According…
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Fighting Marciano: Six Degrees of Separation
His bone-jarring power, herculean work ethic, and fierce body-punching enabled him to overcome a lack of speed and grace? Since retiring from the ring in 1956 as the only undefeated heavyweight champion…
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Braverman New World
Braverman said he was ?thrown in?the nuthouse,? where he described the other inmates ?making sounds like roosters and reading bibles upside down?? Al Braverman?s ruggedly handsome face looked like a boxing glove…
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Warr and Peace
Floyd ?Jumbo? Cummings picked Warr up and attempted to throw him out of the ring. Not surprisingly, he was not disqualified? After half a ring, former journeyman heavyweight Johnny Warr answers the…
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Brian O?Melia: Arresting Negative Energies
He rarely weighed more than 195 pounds, but he sparred regularly with Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, and longtime friend Chuck Wepner? While growing up in the once rough and tumble Jersey City,…
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Jack Dempsey: A Gentle Man and a Gentleman
The New York Times wrote that ?during his long retirement, [Dempsey] set a standard of dignity rarely equaled by a former champion?? Former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey has always been a subject…
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Chuck Wepner: Going the Distance
Anyone meeting former heavyweight contender Chuck Wepner comes away feeling as if they have been friends with him for a very long time? Anyone meeting former heavyweight contender Chuck Wepner, the prototype…
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Astoria Assassin Comes Clean
Heavyweight boxer Henry Wallitsch was known as the Astoria Assassin during a career that lasted from 1957 to 1966? O?Neill?s restaurant in Maspeth, Queens, in the city of New York has been…
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Peter Wood: What His Soul Wants to Say
He freely talks about boxing, not just as a primal means to an end but also of the myriad of moral and psychological ambiguities that come with it? The New York Daily…
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The Darkness and the Light: Wimpy Halstead
He is as articulate as he is unabashed and audacious, and he is the first to admit he has quite a story to tell? Fighting professionally from 1980 to 1997, Jerry ?Wimpy?…