By Jim Amato
For a decade ( 1952-1962 ) Joey Giambra was a mainstay among the middleweight elite. Still he never received a shot at the middleweight title. In fact he received his only title shot at the tail end of his career battling for the newly created junior middleweight division. He was not successful. Nevertheless [...]
FORMER MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDER TONY LICATA
By Jim Amato
One of the better middleweights of the 1970’s was New Orleans native Tony Licata. The smooth boxing Licata turned professional in 1969 and was undefeated in his first 52 fights, ( 49-0-3 ). During that streak he defeated the likes of Mike Pusateri, Luis Vinales, Jose Chirino, Art Hernandez, Denny [...]
By Jim Amato
Fraser Scott was a tough middleweight out of Seattle, Washington. He turned pro in 1968 and in slightly over a years time ran up a record of 17-0-1. His biggest victory was a two round, cut eye stoppage of former junior middleweight champion Denny Moyer. In 1969 Scott was awarded a title shot [...]
Roy Jones Jr.-vs- The 70’s and 80’s
By Jim Amato
Author’s note;
This article was first published after Roy’s wins over Lou Del Valle and Virgil Hill. This is what I thought about Roy then and my opinion has not changed even in light of his recent loss to Danny Green.
Roy Jones Jr., by far the class [...]
By Jim Amato
To me Jean Claude Bouttier was one of the best fighters of a great era who never won a world title. He joins Pierre Fourrie, Yaqui Lopez, Bennie Briscoe, Hedgemon Lewis, Armando Muniz and several others who were boxers fighting in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even some boxers who held a fragment of a [...]
By Jim Amato
In many of my past articles I have touched on boxers who came so close to winning a world title but just fell short. Talented fighters who I have no doubt in today’s four title per weight division format would have garnered a piece of the pie. The extremely gifted Howard Davis Jr. [...]
By Jim Amato
Long before Mark McGwire was launching tape measure home runs in Oakland and acquiring the nickname “Big Mac”, West Coast sports fans used to cheer the feats of another “Big Mac”. MacArthur Foster a heavyweight boxer from Fresno, California won his first 24 professional bouts all by knockout. Six came in the first [...]
WHY ALEXIS ARGUELLO WAS THE GREATEST 130 POUNDER EVER…
By Jim Amato
Note: I wrote this article a few years ago. He was a great fighter. May he rest in peace with God.
On November 18, 1921 Johnny Dundee won on a fifth round disqualification over George ” KO ” Chaney to become the first recognized champion [...]
By Jim Amato
One of Japan’s first great boxers was Mitsunori Seki. Seki was good enough to challenge for a world title no less then five times during the 1960’s.
Seki first attempted to win the flyweight title from Thailand’s Pone Kingpetch. On this occasion Seki lost a close decision. Seki would move up to bantamweight but [...]
By Jim Amato
The proud city of Cleveland has produced their share of notable boxers. All time greats like Johnny Kilbane, Jimmy Bivins, Joey Maxim, etc…helped to put Cleveland on the fistic map. One fine fighter from Cleveland’s gloried past has kind of slipped through the cracks of deserved recognition. He was a rough and tumble [...]
By Jim Amato
There may have never been a more talent rich period in the heavyweight division then from 1968 to 1978. With Muhammad Ali (a.k.a. Cassius Clay) on the sidelines due to his draft case, other big men emerged. They would compete with each other on an almost equal basis for the next [...]
“GLOVES GONE BY”: CASEY GACIC
By Jim Amato
He was from Parma, Ohio and he only had twenty one fights in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1979. Still he fought tough completion and he fought well enough to be ranked by the ” Bible Of Boxing “, Ring Magazine.
Casey Gacic started his career with a [...]
By Jim Amato
He turned professional in 1970, fighting in the clubs of New England, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. In his eighth pro contest he was trading shots with a fella named Edwin Viruet. He suffered his first pro defeat that night. No shame in that. Nor would there be any shame in his [...]
By Jim Amato
He was a classy boxer/puncher from New Jersey who appeared destined for greatness. Harold “the Shadow” Knight took a glossy 19-0 record into the ring in an attempt to win a world title. It would be his only chance…
Harold became a professional fighter in 1983 at the age of nineteen. It would not [...]
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
The late 1960’s and early 1970’s produced some of the finest, most dominant champions ever. While Ali, Frazier and Foreman were taking turns ruling the heavyweights, other divisions found themselves under the supreme rule of a certain superior boxer.
At light heavyweight “Bad” Bob Foster was the sheriff in town. When Vincente Rondon [...]
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
Note;
I wrote this article several years ago. Alexis was one of my all time favorites. I’m shocked and deeply sad at the news of his passing. He was a true gentleman and a credit to the sport. May he rest in peace.
ARGUELLO ;
One of the best pure punchers of my generation was Alexis Arguello. He [...]
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
He may have been one of the best middleweights to never hold a title. He was a ranked contender for almost a decade but he received only one title shot. That was fairly late in his fine career. He fought in the days when there only eight weight divisions with ONE champion [...]
Author’s note; Upon hearing of Jimmy’s next great battle against Pugilistic Dementia, I would like to re-release this article about him.
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
It’s too bad that the cruiserweight division was not around in the 60’s and 70’s. Many fine boxers scaled under 190 pounds and gave creditable performances against bigger men. Doug Jones is [...]
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
If ever a boxer was a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was Puerto Rico’s Esteban De Jesus. This former one time claimant of the W.B.C. lightweight title may have been the best Puerto Rican 135 pounder since Carlos Ortiz. Unfortunately he boxed during the era [...]
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
He was a popular and frequent performer on the early ESPN boxing broadcasts. Wilbert ” Vampire ” Johnson was a colorful character who could fight a little bit too. He turned pro in 1980 and in 1981 he won a six round decision over future light heavyweight champion Donny LaLonde. In a [...]
