Researching Rocky Castellani

Castellani was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Attilio Castellani (1889–1974) and Rose Isopi Castellani (1896–1938), who later moved to Margate City, formerly South Atlantic City. He began boxing as a teenager at local gyms, and at a younger age would box opponents to entertain neighborhood kids. As a young man, he fought as a Marine in the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He boxed in the Marine Corps and won the title of "Champion of All China and Guam". After his discharge from the Marines he embarked on his professional boxing career around 1945.

After a three month layoff from the ring on May 7, 1949, Castellani handily defeated Tony DeMicco before 1435 fans in New York's St. Nicholas Arena in a well publicized ten round unanimous decision. Castellani staggered his opponent in the third round, winning the bout from long range, and defending DeMicco's attempts to fight inside. Castellani was voted Ring Magazine's "Rookie of the Year" in 1948.

On September 9, 1949, Castellani lost to skilled middleweight Kid Gavilan in a ten round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden. All three judges scored for Gavilan by a significant margin of winning rounds. Castellani was knocked down in both rounds two and three, but surged in the middle rounds despite his hard tumble in round two. Castellani showed conditioning and skill but suffered in points from his two knockdowns. The Associated Press gave six rounds to Gavilan, and only three to Castellani, as did one of the judges.

In a noteworthy victory on November 14, 1951, Castellani defeated Joey Giardello before 1,932 in a convincing ten round decision in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Giardello would become an exceptional boxer, taking the WBA World Middleweight Title between 1963-65. Castellani took charge of the future champion between the fourth and the ninth, though appeared to be coasting. He had taken four months off from a rib injury he received during training.

On June 18, 1952, Castellani defeated Johnny Bratton at Chicago Stadium. Both judges scored the fight closely, but the referee gave a larger ten point margin to Bratton. Bratton was a noteworthy opponent who would compete for the World Middleweight Title on November 13, 1953 against Kid Galavan at Chicago Stadium, though he lost by large points margin.