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Carmine Orlando Tilelli (born July 16, 1930),
better known by his professional pseudonym of Joey
Giardello, was an United States|American star in
the sport of boxing during the 1950s and 1960s.

Tilelli was born in Brooklyn, but lived most of
his life in Philadelphia, where as a young man he
joined many other Italian-Americans in the city in
taking up boxing. He turned professional in 1948,
not long after his 18th birthday.

As a pro, he quickly racked up an 18-0-1 record in
his first 19 fights while facing less-than-stellar
opposition. He fought just three men who had
previously won a fight during that time. It caught
up with Tilelli on January 16, 1950, when he was
handed his first defeat by Joe DiMartino, a
journeyman with a 6-10 record.

After that embarrassment, he began to face better
opposition and by 1951, was beating some of the
better middleweight boxers on the Philadelphia
scene. He continued to do so for years afterward,
but was blocked from receiving a shot at the world
championship by the underworld figures who
controlled the sport at that time.

It wasn't until 1960 that Tilelli, now known as
Giardello, received any kind of championship
opportunity. On April 20, he faced Gene Fullmer
for the National Boxing Association version of the
world middleweight title. He missed out on the
title when he and Fullmer fought to a draw over 15
rounds.

Giardello lost four of his next six fights, but
then came back strong with an 8-1-1 record in his
next 10, all of which were over some of the
biggest names in the division at that time. One of
his wins, a 10-round decision over Henry Hank on
January 30, 1962, was chosen as Ring Magazine's
fight of the year. Then, on June 24, 1963,
Giardello upset boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson,
and at the age of 33, was finally named as the No.
1 challenger for the world middleweight title.

He didn't waste the opportunity. On December 7,
Giardello faced Dick Tiger in Atlantic City for
the title and won, taking the world championship
by decision in 15 rounds and drawing with Tiger in
two others.

He reigned as world champion for nearly two years,
winning four fights during that time. The most
notable was a December 14, 1964 title defense
against Rubin Carter, which many today believe he
won on an unjust decision because of the fight's
portrayal in the 2000 movie The Hurricane.
However, most boxing experts of the time believed
he deserved the victory.

Giardello gave Tiger a rematch on October 21, 1965
and this time, the Nigerian decisioned Giardello
over 15 rounds to regain the belt. Giardello
fought just four more times over the next two
years before retiring.

After retirement, he went into private business
and went back to his real name, keeping a
generally low profile until the movie about
Carter's life came out. Angry that his win over
Carter was portrayed as a racist "fix", he sued
the movie's producers and won a settlement.

He was named to the International Boxing Hall of
Fame in 1993. His career record was 101 wins, 25
losses and 7 draws, but even more impressively, he
was 5-3-1 against other boxers in the Hall of
Fame, including a 2-2 mark against Tiger.