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Off the Canvas: A Tale of Two Brothers
Rusty Rubin
Author House
Bloomington, IN 2004

I picked up an inscribed copy of this novel from Rusty at one of the IBHOF inductions that I have attended. He's a real nice guy and I have to give this novel a good plug. The spirit of 1940s boxing and Americana is well presented and the characters are vividly described. In this case of lesser characters that aren't fleshed out, their figthing abilities can be well pictured as they contrast to the major characters. Because I don't want to detract from anyone's enjoyment of this novel, should they try to get themselves a copy, I won't include lengthy descriptions of the fighters here, although they will be in the bios of the fighter files.

The novel is the story of the Petrovic brothers, Tony and Billy, who both become world champions after World War Two. Both lied about their age and began fighting professionally at young ages, having added to years to their actual calandar ages.

Billy "Mr. KO" Petrovic
B. 1925(7) South Philadelphia, PA. Greek-American Dad, Spiro, left home and died in France in WWII. Older brother Tony. Red hair brown eyes.
(real birth father unknown). Developed a mean streak. Learned to turn a punch over. Faster hand and foot speed than Tony. LW as amateur and as a young pro. Chip on shoulder. Pro debut LW at age calandar age in 1941 on undercard of Harrison-Petrovic II. One punch KO artist. Rejected by army because of his attitude. Married Mary Sue Johnson in 1944.
Resistant to cuts. Not experienced vs. southpaws. Won WW title 8/10/1945 Philadelphia Colliseum.

Tony "Killer" Petrovic
B. 1923(5) South Philadelphia, PA. Greek-American Dad, Spiro, left home
and died in France in WWII. Big not fast. joined a local gym to protect brother Billy from bullies. Brown hair blue-green eyes. 1939 alters birth certificate by 2 years to turn pro. Won decision bouts as amateur. at time of Pearl Harbor. Mother's health prevented his enlistment. Boxes in 6 or 7 club fights, smokers, won all except for 1 ND. 5 KO's in 6 wins. Rediscovers his punch and becomes a crowd pleaser. Ko'd by Bob Harrison
for only career loss in a pre-prime bout. Won rematch. Summer of '43 Tony drops out of Penn St. Ranked 7th in world at MW. 16-1 (9 Ko's mostly TKO type, wears opponents down.) Faces Jorge Rivera in 1944 and promised title shot with a win. Becomes good friends with Harrison. 8/10/1945 at Philadelphia Colliseum has a title bout vs. Schultz for MW title and wins. Gave Schultz re-match wins by KO 1:16 of first. Schultz, is taken away in an ambulance and dies 4 days later. Loans Paulie $3,000 to pay off bookies. Larry Jones next opponent in a title bout. 4 wins in '46. Work's Billy's corner as cutman for Billy's rematch vs. O'Connor. In 1947 Tony has 10 bouts. Wins 9 draws 1 (2ko's). In '48 Tony & Billy decide to work each other's corner & no longer fight on the same cards. Going up to about 180. Having trouble maintining weight. 1949 he is planning for last year in ring. On collision course with contender Moss. 6/24 trining in Scranton. Wins last defense. Trained by Harrison to fight out of a crouch to counter Moss' body work. 12/12/49 Tony's last bout a unanimous
decision win. Career record 63-1-2 (47 ko's. less than 10 are one punch.) Retires 1950. Attends U. of Penn. With Harrison ttraining' manages Larry Jordan. Harrison-Petrovic Boxing buys Paulie's old gym.

Give us

Tony "Killer" Petrovic MW 10 Either

Billy "Mr. KO" Petrovic WW 10 Slugger (began as a LW)

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