Lee accredits his desire to box to his cousins Bruno and Libro Sala, who were both professional boxers in the 1920s and 1930s, both of whom were top contenders.

Lee's older brother Tony was an All-American football player at Villanova University, as well as intercollegiate boxing champion four years in a row.

[2] He avenged his loss two weeks later[3] Lee fought many top contenders of his time, and newspaper articles reveal that he was in line for a title shot on several occasions.

At one point Sala had outstanding offers to fight both Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta for the title.

[4] Sala remained a top-10 middleweight contender for the majority of his career, and finally retired after a few setbacks to big-name fighters such as Carl "Bobo" Olson.