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That's because the repair man Adolph (Adolfo) Ritacco is only five feet, two inches tall, which makes him eight inches shorter than Joey. Adolph, also known as Abie, is a former flyweight fighter, who admits that if he had been born 20 years later, he would have been a jockey instead of a beak buster.
Recently, Ritacco succeeded Joe Polino as Giardello's trainer, after Polino and manager Tony Ferrante had a disagreement. But Ritacco and Giardello are not strangers. Trainer in Shape for His Own Job "I was with Joey in 1955, '56 and '57," Adolph explained. "I took over from Polino. Joey lost his first fight to Charlie Cotton, then won 18 straight. Again Polino succeeded me as trainer. The only corner man who has been with Joey all during his 14-year career is this fellow Arnold Giovanetti (pointing to a wavy-haired felloe wearing a black leather jacket.)" Despite his stumpy stature, Ritacco is a broad-shouldered, impressive 130 pounds, whose suit size is 38 short. "I did four miles with Joey this morning," Ritacco said. "I also keep in shape with my job as doorman at the W. & B. Club on Locust Street. No, I don't have much trouble. The people who are looking for it take a second look at me and figure I'm no push-over." Ritacco's apprenticeship was rugged all the way. As an amateur ($25 per bout) he boxed as much as three times a night. After he turned pro in 1937, he won 18 straight fights, weighing 115 pounds. "I boxed for Boo Boo Hoff on several of those 52 rounds for 52 cents (admission) cards," Ritacco recalled. "I got $20 for fighting six rounds and I mean six hard rounds. After I paid off the corner men, I had $10 for myself. And although I fought on cards featuring Lou Ambers, Fred Apostolli and Henry Armstrong, the biggest purse I ever got was $300 for fighting somebody in Scranton whose name I have forgotten. " Ritacco entered the Navy in 1942, and the combat that ensued finished him forever as a mere prize fighter. "I was a gunner's mate on a landing barge, and in the invasion of New Guinea I was blown clear out of the barge by a direct hit from a Japanese dive bomber," the little man said. "I was hit on the back and legs. I spent a year in the hospital." Ritacco began his career as a trainer under the wing of the late Jimmy Wilson, who was described by his former pupil as "the best cut man I ever saw in the ring and that includes Whitey Bimstein and Charlie Goldman." Guided Bucceroni Too First among Ritacco's many "patients" was Dan Bucceroni, the classic stand-up Philadelphia heavyweight. whose meteoric rise toward the heavyweight title sputtered under the flailing fists of Tommy (Hurricane) Jackson. Handsome Dan's major handicap in the ring was a sensitive skin that cut easily, especially around the eyes. "I also trained Wallace (Bud) Smith when he took the lightweight title from Jimmy Carter in Boston in 1955," Ritacco said. "Smith was a good hooker with a strong chin, but the guy who took the title from him, Joe Brown, I regard as one of the best lightweight champions of all time." Giardello, now 31 and a veteran of 120 fights, once had the reputation of being a "cutter: - also a cutter-up". But an operation to remove scar tissue over Giardello's eyes has toughened the veteran middleweight's skin, according to the trainer. "Joey was 164 yesterday," Ritacco said. "He'll make 161 for the fight with Hank. Is he reluctant to train? Not when he gets started. Right now, he's hitting the road regularly and he is boxing five rounds a day. I think he'll take this Henry Hank." It was suggested that Giardello with his strength and style and skill, should have been middleweight champion long ago. Sadly, Ritacco and Joey's long time pal, Giovanetti, nodded agreement. "Joey destroyed Bobby Boyd, breaking his jaw," Ritacco said. "And when he got in that gas station trouble he was on his way to fight Bobo Olson for the title and Bobo was fading fast at that time with all his double family troubles." The little trainer doesn't think Gene Fullmer will fight Giardello again because "Fullmer will only do business in his own backyard." "That Fullmer is a cute one," Ritacco observed. "He talks like a minister and fights like a cave-man." |
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"But
when I was Middle Atlantic amateur flyweight champion from 1935 to 1937,
I never knew anybody connected with the race track," the 42-year-old
Ritacco said. "And that was too bad because I was a good rider. I used
to ride in Fairmount Park and on some of those Jersey 'ranches.'"