Stories have become more meaningful during these "Covid Days". We've had an entire year of a whole new way of living, one of varying degrees of confinement. Multitudes of people can say that they have lived in virtual isolation, that they have been cut-off from most social contact. We've all sacrificed and given up important parts of our lives and when asked, the answers to the question of "what is it that you miss most"come in many forms, oftentimes as unique as the person asked. Many of the answers reflect universal themes - lack of spontaneity, missing family and friends, human touch.....the list is long. Personally, in addition to all of the above, the thing I am missing is the stories. In the year, millions of stories have simply "not happened". Our ability to create new stories, something we probably didn't even realize we had in the first place, has been struck from our lives. So, I am going to rely on some old stories, tales of lives that had meaning, days long before the notion that a virus could end the tales or at the minimum, put them on hold. And, I am going to ask for stories from anyone who would like to tell them. After all, this is MY blog and......I'm Talkin' Here...
So.....
Upon the passing of a warrior gentleman, ‘Kid’ Fratalia
By Stephen Fratalia
Posted Dec 22, 2008
Born in 1926 in his beloved hometown of Civitavecchia, Italy -- a place he has since returned to some 61 times-- Francesco Fratalia, or “Kid,” as he was aptly nicknamed by his dear friend Rocky Marciano, began his amateur career in 1939 at the tender age of 13. He would go on to fight for 15 years, a journey that would include the horror and personal tragedy of World War II and the joy and agony of a boxing career that included 112 fights and spanned three decades and two continents.
As an amateur welterweight, Fratalia would have 81 fights in a 10-year period, which would see him become the regional state champion of Lazio, Italy, for three consecutive years (1946-48) and being named to represent his country in the Olympics, an invitation he was unfortunately forced to decline due to an emergency appendectomy. In getting to this point in his career, he had won the Italian bronze medal in a regional “fight-off” that would involve numerous later Italian champions, many he would defeat as both an amateur and a professional.
Managed by the immortal Carlo Saraudi, the resident Italian boxing “guru” of his time, “Kid” Fratalia would become one of Sarudi’s many boxing disciples who would go on to achieve both national and international championship notoriety and fame.
In 1948, Fratalia turned professional and in the span of one short and very successful year, he would convince his mentor that a trip to America to compete with the world’s best was in his immediate interest. Fratalia’s career would land him in Brockton in 1949, where he lived with his father’s brother Antonio Fratalia and met up with the likes of well-known boxing people such as Ally Colombo, Rocky Marciano, Al Clemente, Frank Valenti and Russ Murray.
Fratalia would meet the love of his life, Gloria Vena of Roxbury, in 1949 and within 55 days of this chance encounter would marry her, settle here, and eventually have six children.
Throughout 1949, his American boxing experience would take him to Manny Almeda Auditorium in Providence, where he would fight two under-cards to Rocky Marciano’s main events.
Marciano would go on to defeat both Joe Dominic and Phil Muscato in that year, and Fratalia would beat Charlie Holmes (a six-round knockdown, unanimous decision) and then KO another very good fighter, Joe Trippi, in the third round. At another point later in his career, Fratalia would also fight as an under-card to a Joe Louis main event, in that same Rhode Island auditorium.
As many older former boxers and followers of the sport know, all too well perhaps, the money in those days was not there.
You fought for personal pride, love of the sport and whatever money you were lucky to make. Fratalia’s professional career returned to Europe in 1951, when he would fight Gustav “Bubbie” Schultz in Bonn, Germany. Schultz at the time was the undefeated European middleweight champion. Fratalia would lose a fiercely contested split decision that included a “long and loud rancorous string of booing from the hometown German crowd at the time of decision.”
To quote a renowned boxing magazine of the day, “The Germans felt that the Italian had won the fight and in an unusual show of German objectivity they voiced their disapproval.”
It was a loss for Fratalia, but a real confidence-builder just the same. Three weeks later a trip to Sardinia Island and a sellout crowd witnessed a Fratalia uppercut KO of the island champion, whose fall literally broke the ropes of the ring and the ensuing endless 5 minutes of nervous and silent wait that followed to see if the man would ever wake up.
He went onto the cities of Rome, Milan, La Spezia, Bari, and back to Civitavecchia.
The names of Minatelli, Campagna, Fuiano, Maretti, Ciardiello, Coluzzi and many others come to mind. Many of them went on to become Italian champions. A return trip by Fratalia to American soil in 1952 would include fights with Billy Andy (2), Eddie Andrews (2), Bobby King, Johnnie Walker, Joe Trippi and Charlie Holmes in places like the New Garden Gym, Boston Arena, Boston Garden, Mechanics Building and the Manny Almeda Auditorium. Sparring with contemporaries such as “Kid” Gavalin, Irish Bob Murphy, Johnnie O’Brien and “the Champ” himself, Rocky Marciano.
Rocky had personally requested via postcard that his friend Fratalia come to upstate New York to train with him for the Ezzard Charles and Roland LaStarza fights and especially to bring with him his classic European boxing style and blazing foot and hand speed.
Fratalia had 112 fights in total, 81 amateur and 31 professional. He enjoyed 92 wins and endured 14 losses, along with six draws. In all 112 fights, one thing is for certain, Fratalia emptied his bucket in every one of his fights, there was nothing left when the final bell would ring.
In October 2008, Fratalia was enshrined into the Massachusetts Ring 4 Boxing Hall of Fame.
Francesco “Kid” Fratalia died a sudden and painless death on Dec. 9 at his home in Wareham. He and his kind spirit will not be soon forgotten.
