CHERRY HILL, N.J., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Former middleweight boxing champion Joey Giardello has died in a New Jersey nursing home at age 78, the International Boxing Hall of Fame announced.
Giardello died of congestive heart failure, the Los Angeles Times said.
Born Carmine Tilelli in Brooklyn, N.Y., Giardello became best known for his controversial role in the 1999 film "The Hurricane." Giardello won his 1964 fight with Rubin Carter and later an out-of-court settlement from the movie producers, the Times reported Sunday.
Elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993, Giardello had a career record of 101-25-7 with 33 knockouts while fighting from 1948 to 1967. He took the middleweight title at the relatively late age of 33, after edging Dick Tiger of Nigeria in a 15-round, Dec. 7, 1963, Atlantic City, N.J. bout.
He successfully defended the title the next year against Carter.
But "The Hurricane" depicted the victory of Giardello, who is white, as racially motivated. Giardello filed a defamation lawsuit and settled for an undisclosed sum and inclusion of commentary in the DVD version of the film noting liberties were taken in fight scenes.
Giardello's survivors include his wife, Rosalie, and four sons, Carmine, Joseph, Paul and Steven, who all use the surname Tilelli.
