Inducted on November 14, 1996
As a child Tony would get into so many fights that his mother talked him into becoming a Boxer.
He won all his amateur bouts (27-0), including the New Jersey Golden Glove Title in 1957.
He was once handled by Rocky Marciano and Charley Goldman.
Tony was a heavyweight contender from Paterson and started his pro career in 1959 at the age of 19. He had close to 50 Pro Bouts before he retired in 1967 and only lost 2 of them, one to Rodolfo Diaz and the other to Billy Daniels and both were very questionable.
He always stated that he wasn’t much of a puncher but half of his bouts ended up a knockout. He was noted as an outstanding boxer and by the Mid-1960’s he rated in the top 10 in the world.
He beat such standouts as Tod Herring, George Logan, Don Warner and Chip Johnson. He also fought a draw against highly rated George Chuvalo in Miami Beach and fought two draws with top rated Jerry Quarry at Madison Square Garden.
Career Review
Tony Alongi was a highly regarded and highly touted heavyweight prospect in the early 1960s.
Standing over 6 feet 5 inches, Alongi had a keen interest in boxing as a teenager. His favorite fighter was undefeated world heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano. Alongi dreamed of not only a professional boxing career and winning the world heavyweight title, but of also retiring undefeated.
In 1955, Tony made his first amateur boxing start. Within two short years, Alongi won the 1956 New Jersey Golden Gloves Middleweight Championship, and the 1957 New Jersey Golden Glove Lightheavyweight Championship. Tony retired from amateur boxing with an undefeated record of 27-0 (12 knockouts).
Alongi came under the guidance of legendary trainer and former boxer, Charley Goldman. Goldman had trained Alongi’s idol Marciano. In a storybook setting, Alongi became the protege of Rocky Marciano.
Using a stand-up boxer-puncher style, the lanky Alongi soon took the boxing world by storm. He scored impressive victories over undefeated fellow prospects, Todd Herring and Jefferson Davis. After two years in the ring, Alongi had complied an unbeaten record of 27-0 (16 knockouts). He made the cover of boxing magazines. In Miami, his adopted hometown, he became the number 1 drawing card for promoter Chris Dundee. A title shot seemed certain. Then, just like that, the Tony Alongi express-train to greatness was derailed.
On February 7, 1962, Alongi was on his way to a points victory over Argentine heavyweight Rodolfo Diaz, when the referee stopped the fight with only seconds remaining in the 10th and final round. Alongi’s eye was swollen shut and the ring official felt he was in danger of serious injury. Many Alongi fans blamed the eye injury on a head-butt; Diaz’s followers said it was his jab which caused the eye to swell.
Alongi’s dream of remaining undefeated was ended. He seemed to lose that spark which had so inspired his career. Two fights later he lost an upset stoppage to promising Billy Daniels; it seemed Tony Alongi days as a future champion had come to an end.
Alongi surprised the experts by launching a comeback. He went 11-0-4 on his return, including draws with top-rated Jerry Quarry and George Chuvalo. Then in 1967, at age 27, Tony suddenly announced his retirement.
Once he left the fighting world, Tony lived a quiet and normal life in South Florida.
When he died at age 64 on November 27, 2003, his Miami Herald published death notice never even mentioned his professional boxing career.
Boxing Record: Tony Alongi