ON this day in 1948, Tony Zale stopped Rocky Graziano in three rounds during their third fight with each other, regaining the middleweight world title he had lost in their second meeting a year before.

After two thrilling contests, which both went six rounds with Zale winning the first and Graziano the second, this fight was much more one-sided with Zale dropping Graziano heavily in the first round before finishing things with a left hook in the third.

The fight took place at Ruppert Stadium in New Jersey in front of 21,497 fans, although the fight was originally scheduled for the day before but had to be pushed back because of rain.