Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisAdam W.
Sounds like a likely reason for the Leaf Gum Co. to withdraw
his card. He was a guest speaker at a sportscard show back in
the '80s and he was certainly quite a character (I am putting
this mildly).
Now, when I acquired my uncut sheet of '48 Leaf Boxing cards
in 1985 the seller was aware of the rare Graziano card; and,
his theory was that this card was printed originally on the
lower right corner of the sheet. My sheet has Arturo Godoy in
that spot on the sheet. And, indeed Godoy's bio on the back
of his card is current right up to the summer of 1948.
Your thinking suggests Willie Pep as the replacement card and
Pep is #51 in the set so there might be some support for this
since Graziano's card is #50. However, as you know, the cards
are skip-numbered (up to #102), so I don't think the case for
Pep is a strong one. But, you are the boxing card expert; and
therefore, I will defer to you.