Luis Resto (boxer)

Luis Resto
Data
Birth Name	Luis Resto
Weight class	Welterweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	June 11, 1955
place of birth	Juncos
style	Standard boom
Combat Statistics
Struggles	31
Victories	20th
Knockout victories	8th
Defeats	8th
draw	2
No value	1

Luis Resto (born June 11, 1955 in Juncos , Puerto Rico ) is a former American professional welterweight boxer . In 1983 he wrote sad boxing history when he stepped into the ring with well-prepared boxing gloves against the unbeaten Billy Collins junior and fought an unusually tough 10 round fight that ended the professional careers of both athletes. In 1997, Ring Magazine voted the duel the dirtiest boxing match of all time .

Boxing career

As a child, he came from Puerto Rico to New York with his mother and five siblings, where he began boxing. As an amateur, he won the Golden Gloves of New York twice , and the Golden Gloves Open Championships in the welterweight division in 1975 and 1976 . He was also a participant in the Olympic Trials , the national qualifying tournament for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

He completed his first professional fight on February 4, 1977 against Júlio Chevalier and won on points. After three more wins, including two by knockout, he boxed on June 18, 1977 draw against Sam Hailstock. After two points wins in the same year, he suffered his first defeat on March 18, 1978 when he lost to Bruce Curry by technical knockout in the second round. He also lost his next two fights against Mario Guilloti and Luis Primera before he succeeded in knocking out Mark Harris in round 7 on October 1. After six more fights, including four wins, he boxed a draw against Adolfo Viruet on March 28, 1980. After three more victories, he suffered a defeat against Niño Gonzalez on November 25th when he was already leading on points and was knocked out in the 9th round. A points win over Jose Vallejo in March 1981 was followed by a points defeat in June against Manuel Jiminez. After three wins in a row, including two by technical knockout, he suffered the last defeat of his professional career on October 22, 1982 when he lost to Kevin Perry on points.

On December 16, 1982, he won with a knockout victory in round 12 over Robert Sawyer, the welterweight championship of ESPN and defended his title on April 7, 1983 by winning points against Sammy Horne.

He was also the sparring partner of Saoul Mamby , Vito Antuofermo , Christophe Tiozzo and Roberto Duran, among others .

Fighting Billy Collins Jr.

On June 16, 1983, one of the blackest days in boxing history took place in New York's Madison Square Garden . In this ten-round fight, Resto had to compete against the extremely strong Billy Collins junior, who was able to win all of his 14 professional fights in the almost 18 months of his young boxing career, 11 of them prematurely. Already in the first rounds, however, the superior punching power of Resto was evident, with Collins still able to counterbalance it fairly. After the 5th lap, Collins's face was already visibly swollen, which worsened considerably over the next few laps. However, he refused suggestions from his coach and father to throw in the towel and instead tried more and more desperately to deliver an even fight. Instead of losing stamina, the two boxers seemed to increase in intensity and fought a very tough and dogged fight in the 8th and 9th round. While Resto showed no visible injuries apart from a small swelling under his right eye, Collins's face was extremely swollen, especially in the area of ​​the eyes and forehead, which, however, did not lead to a breakdown by the ring doctor. In the tenth and final round, Collins had to accept several hard hits against his face, some of which made it difficult for him to stand on his feet.

After the fight, Collins Trainer touched Resto's boxing gloves with a shake hands and felt his bare fist under a thin layer of leather. While still in the ring, he asked the boxing commission to examine the gloves, while Resto was declared the winner on points. When Resto's boxing gloves were examined, it turned out that his trainer Panama Lewis had removed most of the inner lining, which turned the fight into a "no rating". Billy Collins Jr. suffered irreparable eye injuries and had to end his boxing career, he died nine months later when he was drunk and caused a traffic accident, whereby a suicide is not excluded. In 1986, Resto was sentenced to three years in prison for assault, conspiracy and criminal use of a weapon (his hands); he was also banned from boxing for life in the United States. His coach was also given a life ban and sentenced to prison. Resto later admitted that his bandages had also been hardened with plaster of paris in order to further increase his impact. After his release from prison he lived rent-free in the basement of the Morris Park Boxing Gym in the Bronx and after 15 years was given the opportunity to get back into the ring as a sparring partner. In 2008, he admitted in a press conference that he had used manipulated boxing gloves in at least two other fights in his professional career. Resto publicly apologized for his unsportsmanlike conduct and also visited Billy Collins' grave.

documentation

Under the title "Assault in the Ring" (formerly " Cornered: A Life in the Ring "), an 83-minute sports documentary about the fight was created in 2008 under the direction of former boxing manager Eric Drath, in which Luis Resto also had his say comes.

Web links

• Overview of all professional fights at BoxRec
• Boxing match against Billy Collins on Youtube , part 1 of 4
• Nora Gantenbrink: Boxing drama in New York. Not a fair fight, but a crime. In: Stern Crime No. 6/2016, June 11, 2016.