No one gave Casale a chance against “Street Animal” Bobby Halpern, a leg-breaker for the mob who’d devastated opponents inside the ring and did hard time outside of it.
But “The Rock” shook up the boxing world with a devastating third round knockout in Madison Square Garden which left Halpern motionless on the canvas for three full minutes. Described by boxing historian Ted Sares as the most brutal KO he’d ever witnessed.
“I happened to be there, and he hit him with a right. He kind of feigned him with a left. He came in and he hit him with a short right, and he knocked him out, and he was out for three minutes, unconscious, and he did a leg twitch, and the only other time I've seen that was Graziano when he fought Sugar Ray, and Ingemar when he fought Patterson, where the legs twitch.” – Ted Sares