Vito Antuofermo

Vito Antuofermo
Vito Antuofermo 2006
Data
Birth Name	Vito Gabrielo Antuofermo
Weight class	Light middleweight, middleweight
nationality	Italian
birthday	February 9, 1953
place of birth	Palo del Colle
style	Left-hand boom
size	173 cm
Combat Statistics
Struggles	59
Victories	50
Knockout victories	21st
Defeats	7th
draw	2

Vito Gabrielo Antuofermo (born February 9, 1953 in Palo del Colle , Province of Bari ) is a former Italian professional boxer and world middleweight champion of the WBA and WBC . He later became an actor in several films and television series.

He lives with his wife in Queens, New York City and has four children.

Beginnings as a boxer

Vito Antuofermo had moved with his family to relatives in New York City in 1969 , as a period of drought in his southern Italian homeland did not yield any harvest from his parents' farm.

There he came into contact with boxing in an unusual way; After a street fight, he and his opponents were handcuffed to the training center of the Police Athletic League (PAL), where the responsible manager Joe LaGardia offered them to fight their argument about the street here in the ring. However, only Antuofermo was willing to stay here and asked the leader to teach him more boxing.

As the following amateur boxer, he played 30 fights, including 28 wins. He won the New York Golden Gloves in 1970 and came the following year, at the same event, to the finals and only had to admit defeat to the later WBA light heavyweight champion Edward Gregory . He then became a professional in the light middleweight division.

Beginning of professional career

In his first professional fight on November 30, 1971, he defeated the former national champion from Guyana Ivelaw Eastman by winning points over four rounds. Except for a draw against Charles Hayward, he was able to win his first 18 professional fights in a row, eight of which by knockout. It should be noted, however, that only four of these opponents could have a positive match record. He suffered his first defeat on July 9, 1973 against Harold Weston when the referee broke off the fight because of a cut over Antuofermo's left eye. Weston was then declared the winner by a technical knockout.

Victory streak against important opponents

In his next fight on August 25, 1973, he defeated the veteran from the Bronx Danny McAloon by a points victory over 10 rounds. There was a surprise shortly after the fight when Antuofermo's father jumped past the police into the ring and kissed his victorious son. Until then, he had always spoken out against his son's boxing career. On March 8, 1974 he ended the winning streak of John L. Sullivan, who was undefeated in 22 fights, by winning points over 10 rounds, whereupon he could never build on his old performance.

After a spectacular knockout victory in round 1 over the multiple Canadian national champion Joey Durelle and a points win against the Texan Melvin Dennis, there was a tough encounter with the former WBA world champion Denny Moyer. Antuofermo was able to win the fight by winning points, but suffered nasty cuts in both eyes. He then defeated former WBA and WBC world champion Emile Griffith unanimously on points and was then included in the list of the top ten middleweight boxers by Ring Magazine in December 1974 .

On June 27, 1975 he boxed in a non-title fight in Milan against the Italian national champion Antonio Castellini, who had already boxed eight times in Milan and always won, and he was downright adored by the locals. Antuofermo won by technical knockout in round 5, but had to be evacuated by the police through an underground tunnel because of the angry crowd in the audience. He then returned to his hotel briefly and then left the city immediately.

European champion

After two more victories, u. a. against the later WBF world champion Vinnie Curto, it came on January 16, 1976 in Berlin for his first important title fight. Antuofermo boxed against the German Eckhard Dagge for the European title in the light middleweight division. Dagge couldn't find an answer to the Italian's boxing style and eventually lost to a point defeat over 15 rounds. After successfully defending his title against the French national champion Jean-Claude Warusfel, he unexpectedly lost in a non-title fight against the German Frank Wissenbach by losing points. Four months later he finally lost his European title against the Briton Maurice Hope by technical knockout in round 15.

World Champion of the WBA and WBC

After eight wins in a row against strong opponents he was able to prove his class again when he defeated the Argentinian Hugo Pastor Corro on points on June 30, 1979 and thus secured the world title in the middleweight division of the WBA and WBC associations. The fight was tough and unfair at the beginning, both boxers were deducted points for illegal blows and head butts. Corro dominated the fight until the 10th round, but then lost a lot of stamina, whereupon the more persevering Antuofermo was able to secure victory. The first title defense came in November of the same year against Marvin Hagler , who announced in the run-up to the fight that "Vito, the mosquito, would hit like a fly swatter". Antuofermo only replied that he did not appreciate his opponent's demeanor, but that he respected him as a fighter. Eventually the even fight ended in a draw, which Antuofermo was able to keep his title.

On March 16, 1980 there was the next title defense against the British mandatory challenger Alan Minter . Although Minter went down once on lap 14, after the full 15 laps he was disputedly declared the points winner. The New York Times e.g. B., Antuofermo had seen as the real winner. Particularly criticized was the fact that in a fight with a British athlete, the Briton Roland Dakin was used as one of the judges and Antuofermo received the fewest points from him. Even the British press described Dakin's scoring as "disgraceful" and "embarrassing".

Rematches for the world title

Eventually, the Italian was given the chance for a rematch that came just three months later. But this time Minter clearly showed who the new middleweight champion was and hit Antuofermo hard in the right eye in the first round, whereupon he suffered a bloody cut. From the 4th round he could only see with his left eye and was finally taken out of the fight in the 8th round.

After winning points over Mauricio Aldana, Antuofermo got another chance to fight for the WBA and WBC belts. Since Minter has now been dethroned by Marvin Hagler, he had to play again against his old rival Hagler, against whom he had reached a draw in the last encounter. But already at the beginning of the first round, Hagler's head slammed into Antuofermo's face, who then suffered a heavily bleeding wound over his left eye. During the 60-second break between the rounds, cutman Freddy Braun tried to convince the referee to stop the fight and to leave the fight without evaluation because he could not stop the Italian's bleeding. After a consultation with Commissioner Walter Byars, however, this request was rejected and the fight continued. In the 3rd round he went down and was finally taken out of the fight from his corner in the 5th round because the bleeding could still not be stopped.

After this defeat, he only played five fights against rather insignificant opponents before he ended his boxing career in October 1985.

Success as a boxer

amateur

• February 27, 1970: 1st place at the New York Golden Gloves
• April 2, 1971: 2nd place at the New York Golden Gloves

professional

• January 16, 1976 - October 1, 1976: European light middleweight champion
• June 30, 1979 - March 16, 1980: WBA and WBC world middleweight champions

In the all-time European rankings, he ranks 11th and in the all-time world rankings 86th.

Private life and life after boxing

In 1975 he married his childhood sweetheart Joan and with her they have three sons and a daughter.

After his boxing career, he opened the pizzeria "Champ's Pizza" in New York City, which he later sold, however, working for the docks in Jersey. He also gave boxing lessons in a fitness center.

Because of his tough looks and his Italian origins, he has been hired several times as an actor for the role of a villain in Mafia films. His best-known role is that of Anthony “The Ant” Squigliaro in the film The Godfather - Part III . He also had other appearances. a. in the multiple award-winning mafia drama Good Fellas - Three Decades in the Mafia and in the Mafia series The Sopranos .

predecessor	Office	successor
Eckhard Dagge	European Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( EBU ) January 16, 1976 - October 1, 1976	Maurice Hope

predecessor	Office	successor
Hugo Pastor Corro	World Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBA ) June 30, 1979 - March 16, 1980	Alan Minter

predecessor	Office	successor
Hugo Pastor Corro	World Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) June 30, 1979 - March 16, 1980	Alan Minter

Web links

• Vito Antuofermo in the BoxRec database
• Boxing scoop
• Vito Antuofermo at IBRO
• Vito Antuofermo at The Sweet Science