Fritzie Zivic boxer

Zivic was born the youngest son of immigrant parents; his father was Croatian, his mother, Mary Kepele was Slovenian. As a young man, he followed the example of his four elder brothers, who boxed, and became known as the "Fighting Zivics". His brothers Pete and Jack, the first and second born, went to the 1920 Antwerp Olympics in 1920. Referring to his youth in the rough, tribal, and crowded Ninth Ward of Lawrenceville, Zivic later said, "You either had to fight or stay in the house. We went out."Against one of his most skilled early opponents, Zivic defeated Charley Burley, fellow Pittsburgh boxer, for the only time on March 21, 1938, in their hometown. Characteristic of Zivic's later boxing, he dominated the in-fighting. Burley started well, but in the later rounds, the more experienced Zivic scored with rights hooks to the midsection and pulled Burley in during clinches to reduce Burley's long range game. In two other meetings, in June 1938, and July 1939, Zivic lost in ten round unanimous decisions. The well managed Burley would amass an impressive record of eighty-three with only twelve losses in his career.