Roland La Starza

La Starza had a long and successful career as a boxer before he became an actor. Boxing was king in those days and La Starza had a 59-9 won-loss record as a heavyweight when he retired, six of those losses coming in his last ten fights, when he was no longer at his peak. One of those six losses was a title bout against Rocky Marciano which was stopped on a TKO in the eleventh round. That fight was named by Ring Magazine as the "Fight of the Year" in 1953. The two fighters had met before and Marciano had managed a split decision.