PHIL MUSCATO HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER 1942-1950 

  



         TB     KO     WD     WF      D     LD     LF     KOBY     ND     NC 
         78     19     36     0       0     16     0       7       0       0

Phil Muscato was born on March 15, 1923 in Dunkirk, NY, and is the younger brother of Joe Muscato. He is considered by many the best heavyweight in Buffalo boxing history, ranked 2nd by Ring Magazine in the 1940's.
Phil started his boxing career in the 1939 Buffalo Courier Express Golden Gloves Tournament held at the Broadway Auditorium, fighting as a novice lightweight. He reached the quarter finals and, in 1940, reached the finals in the 147 lb. open class division.
Muscato fought thirty two main events in Buffalo, drawing thousands of boxing fans to Memorial Auditorium. He holds two of the biggest record drawing crowds at the Buffalo Auditorium, first against Lee Oma on January 28, 1946 when 11,431 fans attended, and then his bout with Joltin Joe Matisi. On January 20, 1948, 11,541 fans attended to see Phil Muscato avenge his brother Joe's March 27, 1946 loss to Matisi, winning a ten round decision.
In all, Muscato had 78 professional fights. He fought many of the best of his era, including Angelo Sotillo, Arturo Godoy, Joey Maxim, Herbie Katz, Lee Savold, Nick Barone, Archie Moore and Rocky Marciano.
He retired in 1950 at the age of twenty seven after his last fight with tough Nick Barone.
After his boxing career, Phil opened The Melody Night Club on Main Street in Buffalo. The business was not too successful and he was forced to file for bankruptcy. He then worked for General Motors as a laborer.
In the late 1960's Phil was diagnosed as having Lou Gehrig's Disease and fought his biggest battle until July 7th, 1991 when he died at the age of sixty eight.
PHIL MUSCATO Buffalo, NewYork 
1942
        
Mar	25	Jackie Hoffman	Buffalo        	KO	3
Apr	4	Joe Forlano	Buffalo	        W	6
Apr	29	Oscar Boyd	Buffalo	        L	6
May	21	Jerry Forlino	Rochester	W	6
Jun	23	Johnny Lawer	Cleveland 	KOby	5
Jul	23	Johnny Lawer	Cleveland	W	7
Sep	15	Jimmy Reeves	Cleveland	L	8
Oct	12	Jack Hill	Chicago	        W	6
Oct	30	Charley Hayes	Detroit	        L	10
Dec	4	Harold Hazlett	Detroit	        W	6

1943
Jan	22	Walter Thomas	Detroit	        W	8
Feb	5	Buster Parks	Detroit	        W	8
Mar	9	Otis McGraw	Buffalo	        W	6
		                   
 1944

Feb	8	Jackie  Hoffman	Buffalo	        KO	5
Feb	25	Harold Reiss	Detroit	        W	6
Feb	29	James Fitzjames	Cleveland	KO	6
Mar	22	Fitzy Fitzpatrick Cleveland 	KOby	1
Apr	3	Otto Blackwell	Pittsburgh	W	6
Apr	10	Otto Blackwell	Pittsburgh	W	8
May	1	Tiger Lou Jones	Pittsburgh	W	8
May	22	Tommy Yarosz	Pittsburgh	L	10
Sep	11	Mose Brown	Pittsburgh	KO	1
Sep	26	Jimmy Reeves	Buffalo	KO	2
Nov	8	Bill McDowell	Buffalo	W	10
Nov	27	Cleve Baily	Pittsburgh	W	8
		
1945

Jan	22	Gene Simmons	Pittsburgh	KO	5
Mar	25	Tom Woodward	Pittsburgh	KO	1
Mar	19	Johnny Clark	Buffalo	        W	8
Apr	9	Nate  Bolden	Pittsburgh	L	10
Apr	16	Lou Jones	Buffalo	        KO	4
Apr	30	Nate Bolden 	Buffalo	        W	10
May	21	Sampson  Powell	Detroit 	L	10
Aug	20	Coolige Miller	Baltimore	W	10
Aug	27	Reddy Evans	Baltimore	L	10
Sep	11	Prentice Hall	Buffalo	        KO	8
Oct	9	Vince Pimpinell Buffalo	        KO	1
Oct	24	Johnny Denson	Buffalo	        KO	3
Nov	23	Willy Barrow	Cleveland	W	10
Dec	4	Mickey Hayes	Buffalo	        KO	4

		        	


	1946

Jan	2	Henry Cooper	Buffalo	        KO	2
Jan	28	Lee Oma	        Buffalo	        L	10
Mar	13	Gunnar Barlund	Buffalo	        W	10
Apr	9	Joey Maxim	Buffalo	        W	10
Apr	30	Mike O'Dowd	Buffalo	        KO	1
May	14	Joey Maxim	Buffalo	        L	12
Jun	12	Tommy Gomez	Buffalo	        KOby	1
Aug	2	Joey Maxim	Rochester	L	10
Aug	16	Jackie Cranford	Buffalo	        KO	1
Sep	11	Henry Jones	Buffalo	        W	10
Sep	17	Lee Oma	        Buffalo	        W	10

1947

Jan	14	Lee Oma	        Buffalo	       W	10
Feb	4	Bill Peterson	Buffalo	       KO	3
Mar	11	Lee Savold	Buffalo	       W	10
Apr	16	Lee Savold 	Buffalo	       W	10
Apr	29	Walter Hafer	Buffalo	       L	10
Jun	18	Walter Hafer	Buffalo	       W	10
Jun	30	Erv Sarlin	Buffalo	       W	10
Sep	9	Walter Hafer	Buffalo	       W	10
Oct	14	Herbie Katz 	Buffalo	       KO	4
Oct	31	Angelo Sotillo	NYC	       W	8
Nov	19	Billy Grant	Buffalo	       W	10
Dec	1	Arturo Godoy	NYC	       L	10
Dec	16	Billy Grant	Buffalo	       W	10

1948

Jan	20	Joe Matisi	Buffalo	       W	10
Oct	19	Shamus O'Brien	Buffalo	       W	10
Nov	10	Shamus O'Brian	Akron	       KO	8
Dec	14	Bob Sikes	Buffalo	       KO	2

1949

Jan	11	Ted Lowry	Buffalo	W	10
Mar	8	Lee Oma	        Buffalo	        L	10
Apr	12	Ted Lowry	Buffalo	        W	12
May	16	Enrico Bertola	Buffalo	        L	10
Jun	23	Nick Barone	Syracuse	L	10
Jul 	25	Dave Whitlock	San Francisco	L	10
Oct	24	Archie Moore	Toledo	        KOby	6
Dec	19      Rocky Marciano	Providence	KOby	5

1950

May	2	Nick Barone	Buffalo	KOby	4
Jun	16	Harry Mathews	Seattle	KOby	1
 
Buffalo's Courier Express Dec 20,1949.
 PHIL MUSCATO STOPPED IN 5TH BY MARCIANO
Providence,R.I. Dec 19

Phil Muscato veteran Buffalo Heavyweight, became the 25th consecutive
ring victim of Rocky Marciano, young New England sensation, here tonite,
the New Yorker going down to defeat on a technical knockout at 1:15 in
the fifth round of a scheduled 10 rounder.
Marciano knocked Muscato down in all 4 rounds after the first, the bell
saving the Buffalo fighter from being counted out in the third and
fourth.
Despite the terrific lacing he absorbed, Muscato showed spirited
rallies.They were short lived however, as Marciano continued flaying him
with his heavy fists. Muscato weighed in at 180 1/2 pounds and Marciano
at 183 1/4.

Buffalo Evening News  Dec 20
Providence, R.I. Dec 19.
Knocked down in every round from the second in the fifth, Buffalo
Heayweight Phil Muscato suffered a technical knockout at 1:15 of the
fifth round against Rocky Marciano,  sensational young New Englander, in
a scheduled ten round bout here in Rhode Island Auditorium Monday night.

Phil rallied gamely in nearly every round but the rough aggressive
Marciano, rated one of the best of the current young heavyweight
prospects, kept boring in.  The bell saved the Buffalonian from being
counted out in the third and fourth rounds.
Muscato weighed in at 180 1/2 lbs. Marciano at 183 1/4 lbs. It was
Marciano's 25th straight victory, his 23 KO win.
 I would like to thank Dan Muscato for the information on his uncle Phil. The following is from a letter from Dan:
In a conversation I had with my Uncle a couple of years before he passed I asked him about his fight with Marciano, and the reply I remember most was his squint of his eyes and reply "Dan, I can still feel his punches, he kept punching me in the upper arms until I could no longer hold them up to defend or throw punches ". The fight was Marciano's 24th pro fight and one of my Uncle's final fights, as he learned of his manager skimming money off his fight purses in early 1949 and broke contract with his manager which prohibited my Uncle from fighting in the state of NY until contractual matters were settled. But the new manager was no better and this took a toll on Phil's training concentration on upcoming fights, so he retired, ending his career broke. To many this may sound like excuses, but you have to be knowledgable of the sport and its crooks to fully understand. In fact the same happened to Marciano and his manager.(Skimming).It's happened to all too many, and still happens today. In my conversation with Peter Marciano last year, Pete remembers Rocky remarking how his fight with Phil was one of his toughest. Phil was ranked #2 at one point of his career behind Billy Conn.
Beside his Uncles Phil and Sammy, Dan's father Joe also boxed. Anyone who would like to e-mail Dan may reach him at: Dan Muscato
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