Coley Wallace Passes Away

He beat Rocky Marciano

01/02/2005

Coley Wallace Passes Away

Coley Wallace passed away in a New York City hospital over the weekend, according to the Associated Press.  Though the heavyweight has long been forgotten by current boxing fans, Wallace had a very interesting career in the sport.  In 1948, Wallace, a native New Yorker, entered the famed Golden Gloves tournament and defeated a Massachusetts heavyweight named Rocky Marciano. Although amateur records are sketchy, it appears to be Marciano's only documented loss in the unpaid ranks, and we all know Marciano went 49-0 as a pro and retired as world heavyweight champion.  Wallace didn't do nearly as well as a pro, compiling a 20-7 mark, but he did fight two more all-time greats, Ezzard Charles and Jimmy Bivins, losing to both in the early 1950s.  In 1953, he landed the title role in the Joe Louis story, and 27 years later he would reprise the role of the Brown Bomber in perhaps the greatest American movie ever made, Raging Bull.  Boxingtalk extends its condolences to the friends and family of Wallace, who is survived by a wife and daughter.  -Scott Shaffer Â