Graziano Critical After Having Stroke

NEW YORK —  Former world middleweight champion Rocky Graziano was in critical condition today, four days after suffering a stroke, according to a published report.

The New York Daily News reported in today’s editions that Graziano was stricken at his home and taken to New York Hospital. A spokeswoman at the hospital told the Associated Press that the 69-year-old former boxer was a patient, but said she was not permitted to discuss his condition.

The newspaper said Graziano, best known for his late 1940s title bouts with Tony Zale, was recently released from Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation. It said he suffered a heart attack Feb. 5.

Graziano, who knocked out 52 of 85 opponents, became world champion in 1947 when he knocked out Zale, who beat him a year earlier.