Sculptor immortalizing South Philly boxing legend

The face and physique belong to a seasoned fighter. Arms and shoulders bulge with muscles. And the face carries the puffy eyes earned in the boxing ring's school of hard knocks.

This is Joey Giardello in his prime, a South Philly legend who reigned as world middleweight champion from 1963 to 1965 and was inducted last week into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

A year after his death, his likeness is now emerging from clay at a makeshift Port Richmond studio, where sculptor Carl LeVotch is trying to capture the man he once knew as a neighbor in Cherry Hill.

"I liken the gloves that have touched his face to a sculptor's chisel tapping away," said LeVotch, 60, of Merchantville. "That Italian American face that was so perfect when he was younger changed as he chalked up 130 fights."

"The chiseling in the ring gave him character," he said. "It made him a work of art that I'm trying to re-create . . . something for the everyman and everywoman."

A bronze and marble statue of Giardello - based on the clay piece - is expected to be erected by May at the triangle of Passyunk Avenue, 13th Street, and Mifflin Street in South Philadelphia.

The piece depicts Giardello standing over a cartouche, bearing his name; a championship belt; and a small figure of Pollux, a mythological boxer.

More than $50,000 has been raised through donations toward the $75,000 estimated cost of the sculpture. The artwork will likely be cast at a foundry this winter. A concrete base will be donated.

The sculpture "is magnificent," said Giardello's wife, Rosalie, 77, who has lived in the couple's Cherry Hill home for 48 years. "I'm in awe of it. Is there a better word than proud?"

Carl LeVotch "is my Michaelangelo, a genius," she said. "He's making him come alive."

LeVotch grew up a few blocks from Giardello, whose real name was Carmine Tilelli.

The boxer took the name Giardello in his native Brooklyn, N.Y., when he went into the Army at age 16. He used the birth certificate of an older man, a friend of a cousin, and kept the new name when he began boxing in Philadelphia.

"I used to see him walking in the neighborhood," LeVotch said. "I'd say, 'Hello, Mr. Giardello.' He'd say, 'Hello, son.'

"I didn't know him well, but he came to the boxing gym where I worked out and sparred. And I saw him at an exhibition fight in Cherry Hill. It was like watching Rembrandt painting a portrait. Fighting is like a chess game. You're thinking two or three punches ahead."

The idea for the statue came from John DiSanto, a longtime boxing fan and marketing director of Fairhill Street Productions in Mantua. The project is sponsored by DiSanto's Web site, phillyboxinghistory.com, and the Veteran Boxers Association and Harrowgate Boxing Club, both in Philadelphia.

"Joey [Giardello] proved himself," said DiSanto, manager of the statue project. "There are many titles and many routes to get there today. But back in the 1960s, you had to be the best."

Giardello fought greats such as Gene Fullmer, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Dick Tiger. Out of 133 fights, he won 101 (33 by knockouts), lost 25, and tied 7 times.

He wrested the middleweight title from Tiger in December 1963 and beat Robinson in a 10-rounder in Philadelphia in June of that year. His accomplishments earned him a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., in June 1993.

Now, he "will have a prominent place in South Philly," said DiSanto, 47, of Mantua. "I knew Joey over his last few years. We talked to him about the statue project, and he was OK with it. He was like family to me."

LeVotch is still working on the statue's face and Monday was making adjustments to Pollux. "I believe athleticism brings out something in people," the sculptor said. "Somebody can look at you and tell if you're a boxer."

"Two men walk into a ring, almost naked before the world," he said. "When a boxer loses, he loses by himself. You play football. You play baseball. You don't play boxing."

Boxers "have a lot more at risk," added DiSanto. "Whether they win or lose, they have to take time to recuperate after the fight."

The Giardello statue is being completed in an empty second floor above the Veteran Boxers Association clubhouse in the 2700 block of East Clearfield Street.

When it's completed, sculptor and industrial designer Anna Krukles of Collingswood will cover it in silicone to create a mold. That will be covered with a fiberglass shell to hold the silicone in place, then the mold will be taken to a foundry for casting.

"Joey was South Philly's golden boy," LeVotch said. "He went all the way to the top. But he was more than a pugilist; he was a good man and a good father."

In the studio, Rosalie Tilelli's eyes studied every detail and finally fell on some sculpted roses in the piece - one for her and each of the couple's four children. Then she looked at the figure's extended arm.

"I can't express my feelings," she said. "I'd like to stick myself in that arm."