Remarkable pair of vintage original candid  3.5 x 3.5 inches (8.9 x 8.9 cm) glossy photographs of a very young Sinatra boxing with a suspended punching bag and sparring with an unidentified companion. Ca. early 1940s and almost certainly unpublished, each stamped 339 to the verso. Creases to corners, else fine. 

Frank's father, Anthony Martin Sinatra, was a professional boxer, and Frank received first boxing gloves at the age of five. Frank would say early in his singing career, “My favorite exercise is boxing,” and he could be seen backstage, gloved up and punching heavy bags before he performed. He was a regular at the gyms, where he watched pros spar, and he even had some publicity shots in trunks and gloves. In "Sinatra: The Life," Anthony Summers writes that “It was even reported that he fought as a semipro in Hoboken clubs.”  At various times, Frank was involved in the business end of the sport, owning a piece of heavyweight Tami Mauriello and participating in the promotion of the 1947 bout between Jersey Joe Walcott and Joey Maxim. He was a regular at ringside for big fights and gave generously to Joe Louis when Louis fell on hard times.