In his ambitious, well-crafted book “Brick City Grudge Match: Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano Battle in Newark in 1948,” author Rod Honecker chronicles a specific period in American history and presents rich details about the fighters and their careers and the sport of boxing when it occupied a much higher profile and popularity.

Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano exchanged punches and etched a spot in the annals of boxing history in a trio of middleweight world title fights, in 1946 in The Bronx (New York City), New York, in 1947 in Chicago and in 1948 in Newark, New Jersey.

In the first Q&A in a series of articles about the book, published in 2023, Honecker shared some insights about why he decided to write this book. Background on the New Jersey resident’s upbringing also helps to give readers a keen understanding about his motivation to research the characters he richly wrote about in this illuminating book.

***

What piqued your interest in writing a book about boxing in the 1940s? And what specifically convinced you this was a project that was something you wanted to devote years working on?

Honecker: I was a boxing fan in my youth. In the 1970s and 80s there were many great fighters and the sport remained as one of the most important. I’m the type that enjoys reading about the history of sports that I follow and accordingly I was aware of the Zale-Graziano trilogy. What actually triggered my interest in writing the book was when I read a history of Newark, NJ and learned that the city reached its peak population in 1948, the same year as the fight which is the subject of the book. I thought it would be interesting to tell the story of the city at that time through the fight and the fighters. The research I did the more I became convinced that the idea could support a full-length book.

I’m curious if an older relative(s) or neighbors when you were growing up had memories and stories about the Tony Zale-Rocky Graziano fights or related events that inspired you to research them years later.

Honecker: My grandfather was a big boxing fan and introduced me to the sport. He was also a detective with the Newark Police Department and he worked the fight. My grandfather would talk about the fight and other famous fights. He attended the first “million dollar gate” fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in Jersey City.

In describing the general steps you took — from the original idea to the finished project — how long did it take for research, interviews, writing, rewriting and submitting the final version to an editor?

Honecker: Approximately three years.

Who were some of the key primary sources (or perhaps you’d consider them secondary) you spoke to about this famous boxing trilogy? Individually, how did they impact and/or enrich your book? Were there a few instances in the book, important passages, in which interviews were really the key in advancing the narrative? A couple examples would be great.

Honecker: Ted and Deb Zale were a great help in providing information regarding Tony Zale. Perhaps the most interesting interview I conducted was with the referee’s son, Paul Cavalier, Jr. He had attended the fight as an 18-year old and went to the locker room, which his father shared with Rocky Graziano, afterwards. His father, Paul, Sr., was a very good heavyweight himself before becoming NJ’s most respected 3d man in the ring. Paul, Jr., despite being 91 years old, had a vivid recollection of the fight and the post-fight scene in the locker room. Specifically, Paul, Jr. described the damage Zale had inflicted on the groggy Rocky, including a knot on Rocky’s forehead the size of an egg.

For the reader, what do you hope his book accomplishes?

Honecker: An appreciation for the sport, the old boxers, and working people of Newark, NJ, and perhaps help instill the never-give-up attitude of Zale and Graziano.

And now, 76 years after their third and final fight, what is the compelling argument that the interlinked story of Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano is an important chapter in American sports history?

Honecker: As Thomas Hauser said in his review of the book: “[A] reminder of what boxing can be and once was.”