11/30/06 - Jim Amato Stan " Kitten " Hayward By Jim Amato Stan " Kitten " Hayward was just one of the many tough welterweights and middleweights that came out of Philadelphia in the 1960's and 70's. He battled the best his hometown had to offer and several other world contenders too. Hayward began his pro career in 1959. He won sixteen of his first eighteen matches. In 1963 he dropped a ten rounder to welterweight contender Jose Stable.Later in the year he stopped Percy Manning . In 1964 and 1965 Hayward made great strides up the ladder. First he halted future welterweight champion Curtis Cokes in four brutal rounds. In 1965 he beat Vince Shomo, Tito Marshall and " Bad " Bennie Briscoe. In 1966 Hayward suffered a setback when he lost in seven rounds to the talented Gypsy Joe Harris. Stan came right back in 1967 beating Fate Davis, Pete Toro and battling to a draw with Jean Josselin. In 1968 he drew with rugged Joe Shaw and then in October he won possibly the biggest fight of his career. Stan scored an upset ten round decision over former world champion Emile Griffith. The win over Griffith put Hayward in line for a title shot. On March 17, 1969 he met Freddie Little for the vacant WBA and WBC versions of the junior middleweight title. The bout took place in Las Vegas and Little outscored Stan over fifteen rounds. The loss to Little started Hayward's career on a downward spiral. Over his next fourteen fights he would go 5-8-1. He finished 1969 losing a decision in a rematch with Griffith. In 1970 He was defeated by Jean Claude Bouttier and Juan Carlos Duran. In 1971 he dropped a points verdict to Alvin Phillips. Stan's career really took a nose dive when he was blitzed in one round by the savage punching Eugene " Cyclone " Hart. As his career was winding down, Stan was kayoed in seven by Willie " The Worm " Monroe in 1974. In 1975 he lost a rematch to Bennie Briscoe. In his final fight taking place in 1977, Stan was taken out in four rounds by Larry Davis. Hayward amassed 48 fights in his respectable career. He finished with a 32-12-4 ledger meeting some of the best boxers of his era between the 147 and 160 pound weight classes.  JOEY GIAMBRA ; Was He A Champion Without A Title ? By Jim Amato For a decade ( 1952-1962 ) Joey Giambra was a mainstay among the middleweight elite. Still he never received a shot at the middleweight title. In fact he received his only title shot at the tail end of his career battling for the newly created junior middleweight division. He was not successful. Nevertheless in his prime he was as good as any middleweight contender in the world. Joey turned pro in 1949 and went undefeated in his first seventeen fights. His first loss was to tough veteran Johnny Ceserio in 1951. He then reeled off ten straight victories before losing a 1952 decision to the great Joey Giardello. Giambra would come right back to beat Giardello in a rematch. Giambra then won nine straight before losing to the clever Bobby Dykes. Joey had five more wins before dropping a verdict to Carl " Bobo " Olson. Giambra then went unbeaten in his next ten bouts including two wins over the rugged Rocky Castellani and a victory over Philadelphia's tough Gil Turner. Joey then lost a points call against rough Rory Calhoun. Giambra would not be denied and he would rally to win seventeen straight including revenge victories over Calhoun and Giardello in their rubber match. Throw in a win over Ralph " Tiger " Jones. In 1961 he was outpointed by Yama Bahama. In 1962 he dropped one to Farid Salim. Joey would bounce back again to score a kayo over the dangerous Florentino Fernandez. That led to a bout with Denny Moyer for the newly introduced junior middleweight division title. The cagey Moyer won the judge's votes and the title. In 1963 Joey reached the end of the line losing decisions to Luis Rodriguez and Joe DiNucci. In all he had 77 fights and he walked away a winner 65 times. He scored 31 knockouts and remarkably considering the competition he faced, Giambra was never stopped. He was truly an " uncrowned champion ". |
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