Associated Press photos

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Natalino Menchetti was 15 years old and working a heavy bag in the garage of his parents’ home in Hamden during the spring of 1930 when his life changed.

A truck driver named Bill Reynolds, a former boxer turned part-time trainer, was making a delivery from the local bakery. He pulled into the driveway, watched the kid for a few minutes and saw a power puncher with a world of potential.

Eight years later, Menchetti, who boxed as Nate Mann, was fighting Joe Louis for the world heavyweight championship before a sellout crowd of 20,000 at Madison Square Garden. It was Feb. 23, 1938. Mann, 22, and Louis, 24, became two of the youngest to fight for a heavyweight title.

Read Chip Malafronte's complete story

Boxrec.com fight by fight for Nate Mann

Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame

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YouTube video of the fight