Rocky Kansas was an Italian-born American tough, short (5'2" tall) former world lightweight champion boxer. He was born Rocco Tozzo on April 21, 1893, in Italy and came to America in 1898. Rocky Kansas was the brother of champion Joe "Kid" Kansas whom he combined with at an attempt to become a champion in 1938.

Background

Rocky was the younger brother of Joe "Kid" Kansas (Tozzo), and older brother of boxer Tony Tozzo. Kansas and his two brothers combined to defeat 189 opponents in the

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

area from 1909-1937. Father to Vincent Tozzo and husband to Jessie Tozzo.

Pro career

Kansas turned pro in 1911 and lost just two official decisions in his first 75 fights. In 1914, he faced his first contender, Johnny Dundee, losing a

newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club ...

. Kansas also faced

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

Champion Johnny Kilbane in a non-title match, but lost the newspaper decision. During his career Kansas faced the cream of the featherweight and lightweight divisions. On February 28, 1916, Kansas fought the all-time great

Benny Leonard Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was a Jewish American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ...

. Although, Kansas managed to last the full 10 rounds for a No-Decision, he received a boxing lesson from Leonard. In 1921 he met Richie Mitchell, a highly regarded Lightweight out of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

. In the first round Kansas pinned Mitchell against the ropes and knocked him out. Kansas then landed a non-title shot against Benny Leonard, but was again handily out boxed. Kansas then came up with another upset victory, this time over southpaw

Lew Tendler "Lefty" Lew Tendler (September 28, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 5, 1970 in Atlantic City, New Jersey) was an American boxer. He is generally considered one of the best boxers to never have won a world title, though he was a t ...

in a close 10-round decision. The victory landed him a title shot at Leonard's lightweight crown. In an exciting fight, Leonard was awarded the unanimous decision. The two fought yet again. This time Leonard TKOed him in the eleventh round. Leonard retired and Kansas was given his third title shot at

Broadway Auditorium Broadway Auditorium is a former multipurpose arena in Buffalo, New York. It was part of a complex that first opened as Broadway Arsenal in 1858 to accommodate the 65th and 74th Regiments of the New York National Guard. The facility was expanded i ...

against

Jimmy Goodrich Jimmy Goodrich became the World Lightweight Champion when he defeated Chilean boxer Stanislaus Loayza in a second round TKO at Queensboro Stadium in Queens, New York on July 13, 1925. He retained the title only five months, losing it by unanimous ...

, who claimed the title after Leonard's retirement. Kansas was able to get inside on Goodrich and won all but one of the first 13 rounds. Kansas was awarded the 15-round decision, and after over 14 years of professional fighting, Rocky Kansas was finally a champion. His glory was short lived. On July 3, 1926 he defended against 22-year-old

Sammy Mandell Sammy Mandell (a.k.a. Samuel Mandella; February 5, 1904 – November 7, 1967) was an American World lightweight boxing champion from 1926-1930. Born in Rockford, Illinois, and named Salvatore Mandala, he was known as the "Rockford Sheik" due to ...

. Mandell outboxed Kansas to win the title.

Retirement and death

Kansas retired after the loss. Like many others, he was wiped out in the

Stock Market Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

. Kansas worked for the city of Buffalo in New York State. He had a job there for a few years. Then, in 1952, when he was 56-years old, news then got out about a cancer that he had developed. Kansas died on January 10 or 11th, the exact date is not confirmed, but he died from the 10-16th of January 1954, of cancer, which type or what caused it is still unknown. He was about 60 years old.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All

s are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of

s in the win/loss/draw column.

References

External links

*Cyber Boxing Zon
page
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas, Rocky 1895 births 1954 deaths Lightweight boxers American boxers of Italian descent Boxers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York American male boxers Italian emigrants to the United States