Greg Toal, Don Bosco Prep head football coach, never shies away

The man standing across from Greg Toal seemed carved from granite. He was a natural middleweight, but recent time in prison had piled his body with muscle and bulked him to about 200 pounds. Now classified a heavyweight, the man had nearly 100 fights under his belt.

It was 1976 and Toal had walked into the basement boxing gymnasium in Paterson only four days earlier. Before then, he had never slipped on gloves or punched a heavy bag. He had never been in a boxing ring.