Mike Rossman

Philadelphian Mike Rossman's real name was Mike DiPiano, but went by his mother's last name rather than his father's as part of an 'appeasement agreement.' His father was Italian, and his mother Jewish, which led to his moniker 'The Jewish Bomber' and a tattoo of the Star of David being etched into the calf of his right leg. He started his career in 1973, and had an impressive run in the beginning before going into some moderate 'mini-slumps' where he appeared to have a lethargic attitude toward the sport. Things picked up, though, and he received a shot at the title held by the formidable Argentine Victor Galindez on the undercard of Ali-Spinks II in September 1978. Many thought Galindez would tear his opponent to bits, but Rossman methodically pounded away at the defender - the area around his eyes in particular - and opened up some nasty cuts over Galindez' eyes. He continued doing this to the poorly-conditioned champion over the better part of the fight, and near the end of the 13th round, with Victor blinded by blood and no longer able to see Rossman's punches coming, the referee stopped the fight, and the title thus changed hands. Rossman would make one successful defense before his hometown Philadelphia fans in December 1978, stopping Italian challenger Aldo Traversaro in the fifth round by busting open Aldo's forehead with a wicked left hook. Then, in February 1979, Rossman would fall victim to what could possibly be one of professional boxing's most embarrassing moments (at least in modern times). There he was, waiting in the ring to take on the man from whom he won the title - Galindez - in a rematch, but Galindez was not to show up. There was a feud in the challenger's camp over the fact that there should be 'neutral' judges scoring the fight, but what Galindez' crew really wanted was a partisan group of judges 'biased' toward Hispanics. After attempts to settle things, no fight was on, or at least not until two months later, when the two hooked up again for real in April. This time though, things were different. Galindez was much more conditioned, and with the champion fretting about politics (justifiably to an extent), Galindez was focused on regaining the title - and he did just that. Rossman won the first two rounds, then apparently broke his right hand, after which he became a one-armed fighter. The pain became worse, and unbearable to a point where Mike told his father-manager after the ninth round that he couldn't continue. Galindez was thus once again crowned champ. After the defeat, not only did Rossman no longer fight for a title, but his record seemed to go into another 'sputter.' He would fight into the early 1980's, and perhaps the biggest name he faced in post-championship status was the upstart Dwight Braxton (Muhammad Qawi) who stopped him in seven in May 1981.