The Man Of Steel

One day, in the late 1970’s my brother and I were down at the railroad tracks and we met two guys that had obviously been riding the rails for a while, they were wearing multiple jackets and had that unmistakable train grime.

We made introductions all around and one of the men told us his name was Tony Zale. He was a little drunk and looked to be in his 60’s, with an ugly black eye. The younger man in his late twenties told us Tony used to be a middleweight boxing champ and that he still likes to fight, that’s why he had that black eye.

Tony told us how he sparred with Joe Louis and how he hit him with a left hook and knocked old Joe down and how Joe got up mad and beat him to a pulp. He also told us that he got divorced and his wife and family took all his money so he went on the road.

The next day I went to the library and looked up Tony Zale in “Who’s Who of Boxing” and found his name and his nickname, “The Man of Steel.”

Many years later I heard a song on the radio about a guy who was a boxer, and I thought, I met a boxer once, I should write a song about Tony.

So I looked in my journal what I had written about our little meeting with Tony Zale and looked for more information on the Internet and whether he ever really sparred with Joe Louis and whether he wound up riding the rails or ever was down on his luck in the Northwest.

I found that after his last bout in 1948 he did divorce but remarried and lived a quiet life working as an amateur boxing coach in Chicago. He fell ill with Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s and spent his last years in a nursing home.

I don’t know for sure if the man I met was truly Tony Zale but he fit his stature and sure looked like an old time fighter.

Billy Soose is the fighter that said, “When Zale hits you in the belly, it’s like someone stuck a red hot poker in you and left it there.”

I met the man of steel
Down at the railroad tracks
His name was Anthony Zaleski
You may know him as Tony Zale
Born and raised in the steel town of Gary, Indiana

Chorus:
A two time world middle weight champ
One of the greatest punchers of all time
A body shot from the man of steel (was like)
Someone stuck a red-hot poker in you and left it there
He was the man of steel, he was the man of steel

At 62 years of age with a swollen right eye
From his most recent fight
Worn and ragged from his life on the rails
His name was Tony Zale
Massive hands with an iron grip 
when he shook my hand

Chorus:

He died at 83 went down in boxing history
For his bouts Graciano
1946, 47, and 48
All for the middle weight title
Not just boxing matches, these were wars
Great furious battles in the ring

Chorus