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The Hauser Report: Tony Danza, Federico Castelluccio, and Boxing
Larry Goldberg promoted his sixth fight card at Sony Hall on August 10. There was a touch of stardust in the room because Tony Danza and Federico Castelluccio were there.
Antonio Salvatore Iadanza (Danza’s name at birth) was born in Brooklyn in 1951. He made his mark as an actor and is best known for roles in Taxi and Who’s the Boss? Before his success in Taxi, he was a fighter.
Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler remembers Danza as “a tough kid and all-action club fighter with a brawling style.” Legendary trainer Gil Clancy once opined, “Tony is lucky he can remember his lines in Taxi because it’s obvious from the way he fights that he doesn’t remember the instructions his corner gives him.”
BoxRec.com lists Danza’s ring record as 9 wins against 3 losses with 9 knockouts and 2 KOs by. One of those fights (listed as an April 9, 1978, knockout of “Tony Rodriguez” at an unidentified venue in Brooklyn) might not have occurred.
Most of Danza’s opponents had marginal skills. But there were exceptions. For his second pro fight, someone got the bright idea of matching him against John LoCicero (who would win nineteen fights and battle William “Caveman” Lee in a 1981 war that was short-listed for “fight of the year”). It did not go well for Tony. KO by 1.
But give Danza credit. He was a real fighter.
Danza is now 72 years old, weighs 155 pounds (five pounds below his fighting weight), and looks remarkably fit. Several years ago, he decided that he wanted to learn how to play piano. “I practice three hours a day,” he says. “I suck but I enjoy it.”
Sitting at Sony Hall in Times Square as the fights unfolded, Danza reminisced about his years as a fighter.
“I was a club fighter,” he said. “I grew up in Brooklyn and fought on the streets the way some kids play stickball. I could really punch. Unfortunately, I could really catch too. And I kept my chin high in the air which didn’t help. If I had to chase you, I looked bad. But if you came to me, I could hurt you. My idea of fighting was to survive long enough to hit the other guy on the chin. Sometimes I’d lose my temper and turn back into a street fighter which was a problem. But I was tough. And I believed in myself. You have to believe in yourself to be a fighter.”
“It’s rare that a fight comes down to where you have to outwill the other guy,” Danza continued. “Usually, skills are the difference. But if it comes down to will and you win, which I did a few times, it feels special. I liked fighting inside. I’d have to go through a bad neighborhood to get there. But when I got inside, I’d stay on top of the guy I was fighting.
“I have so many good memories of being a fighter. I loved it all. I loved the gym. I loved the dressing room on fight night. I loved the fights. One night, I hit a guy with a three-punch combination; jab, straight right, left hook. And I heard the crowd gasp. Another time, I was on the Long Island Railroad. I was sitting next to this girl and I had a black eye. She asked me how I got it and I told her I was a fighter. I was proud to say it.
“For my early fights, my purses were in the hundreds of dollars. Then I got Taxi and took some time off from boxing. When I came back, the money was better. Nothing like these guys [social media personalities] are making today. But it wasn’t about the money. I look back on my life now and think, ‘I’m a garbageman’s son from East New York in Brooklyn. And somehow this all happened to me.'”
Federico Castelluccio was born in Naples in 1964 and has lived in the United States since the age of three. He’s an accomplished artist who graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York. But his celebrity status comes in large part from having played Furio Giunta (a bodyguard and enforcer for Tony Soprano) in season 4 of The Sopranos. In that season, Furio and Carmela (Tony’s wife) develop an intense mutual attraction which Furio understands can lead to no good. So without notice, he leaves the United States and returns home to Italy.
“Things were crazy back then,” Federico remembers. “One time, I was on an elevator at Madison Square Garden and, just as the door was closing, Roberto Duran got on. He took one look at me, gave me thumbs up and big smile, and said, ‘The Sopranos!'”
In 2014, Castelluccio discovered a 17th-century painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (an Italian artist known as “Guercino”) at an auction in Germany. The painting had been misidentified as an 18th-century work. Federico bought it for $68,000. After restoration and other expenses, the cost came to $140,000.
“I’d studied Guercino’s work and written a paper on one of his paintings,” Castelluccio recalls. “His style was embedded in my brain. So when I saw the painting, it was unmistakable to me.”
The painting is now in storage at Christie’s. Castellucci and a business partner are co-owners. Estimates are that it will bring between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000 at auction.
“I’m a painter first, then an actor,” Federico says.
Castelluccio grew up watching boxing on television with his father in Paterson, New Jersey, and is a lifelong boxing fan. In 2009, he and Burt Young (of Rocky fame) were grand marshals for the Parade of Champions that preceded the annual induction ceremony at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.
Like Danza, Federico understood what he was watching at Sony Hall and followed the action with a knowing eye. “I love boxing,” he said. “It’s a sport with a lot of heart.”
Then he was asked the inevitable question: “Do you miss The Sopranos
“Of course,” Federico answered. “Everybody misses The Sopranos.”
Federico Castelluccio
****
A moment of reflection on Edy Valencia Mercado, who was the opponent brought to Sony Hall on April 27 of this year to lose to Tsendbaatar Erdenebat. As expected, Erdenebat won a lopsided unanimous decision.
On July 31, Valencia suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was hospitalized in a coma following a knockout loss to George Acosta in Ontario, California. A source close to the situation says that Edy is no longer in a coma but adds, “The situation is not good. He responds to certain stimuli but his future looks bleak.”
Valencia was a mid-level club fighter. He had eight fights during the last nineteen months of his career and won one of them. The fighter Valencia beat during that stretch had a 15-14-1 record. Edy could win if given a realistic chance. The other seven opponents had a composite ring record of 109 wins, 5 losses, and 1 draw at the time he fought them. In other words, too often Valencia was treated as cannon fodder.
He deserved better
****
There was an empty seat at Sony Hall on Thursday night. David Goldberg (promoter Larry Goldberg’s father) died unexpectedly on July 22.
I didn’t know David well. We sat at the same table at Larry’s first four fight cards and had several telephone conversations when David picked my brain about the business side of boxing. He impressed me as a decent man whose word could be trusted; someone you could make a deal with on a handshake. He had a fondness for underdogs and liked saying, “Ten-to-one isn’t ten-to-none.”
After Larry’s first fight card, David told him, “Congratulations! This was your second bar mitzvah.” Two shows later, David told me, “I’m very proud of Larry. I had doubts about his promoting at first . But now I think he can make this work.”
David died at the much-too-young age of 74. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know him better.
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – The Universal Sport: Two Years Inside Boxing– was just published by the University of Arkansas Press. https://www.uapress.com/product/the-universal-sport/ In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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It was just a numbers game for Gabriela Fundora and despite Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo’s elusive tactics it took the champion one punch to end the fight and retain her undisputed flyweight world title by knockout on Saturday.
Will it be her last flyweight defense?
Though Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) fired dozens of misses, a single punch found Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and ended her undefeated career and first attempt at a world title at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.
Fundora, however, proves unbeatable at flyweight.
The champion entered the arena as the headliner for the Golden Boy Promotion show and stepped through the ropes with every physical advantage possible, including power.
Mexico’s Badillo was a midget compared to Fundora but proved to be as elusive as a butterfly in a menagerie for the first six rounds. As the six-inch taller Fundora connected on one punch for every dozen thrown, that single punch was a deadly reminder.
Badillo tried ducking low and slipping to the left while countering with slashing uppercuts, she found little success. She did find the body a solid target but the blows proved to be useless. And when Badillo clinched, that proved more erroneous as Fundora belted her rapidly during the tie-ups.
“She was kind of doing her ducking thing,” said Fundora describing Badillo’s defensive tactics. “I just put the pressure on. It was just like a train. We didn’t give her that break.”
The Mexican fighter tried valiantly with various maneuvers. None proved even slightly successful. Fundora remained poised and under control as she stalked the challenger.
In the seventh round Badillo seemed to take a stand and try to slug it out with Fundora. She quickly was lit up by rapid left crosses and down she went at 1:44 of the seventh round. The Mexican fighter’s corner wisely waved off the fight and referee Rudy Barragan stopped the fight and held the dazed Badillo upright.
Once again Fundora remained champion by knockout. The only question now is will she move up to super flyweight or bantamweight to challenge the bigger girls.
Perez Beats Conwell.
Mexico’s Jorge “Chino” Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) upset Charles Conwell (21-1, 15 KOs) to win by split decision after 12 rounds in their super welterweight showdown.
It was a match that paired two hard-hitting fighters whose ledgers brimmed with knockouts, but neither was able to score a knockdown against each other.
Neither fighter moved backward. It was full steam ahead with Conwell proving successful to the body and head with left hooks and Perez connecting with rights to the head and body. It was difficult to differentiate the winner.
Though Conwell seemed to be the superior defensive fighter and more accurate, two judges preferred Perez’s busier style. They gave the fight to Perez by 115-113 scores with the dissenter favoring Conwell by the same margin.
It was Conwell’s first pro loss. Maybe it will open doors for more opportunities.
Other Bouts
Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1) managed to pass a serious heat check by unanimous decision against former contender Felix Valera (24-8) after a 10-round back-and-forth heavyweight fight.
It was very close.
Kalkreuth is one of those fighters that possess all the physical tools including youth and size but never seems to be able to show it. Once again he edged past another foe but at least this time he faced an experienced fighter in Valera.
Valera had his moments especially in the middle of the 10-round fight but slowed down during the last three rounds.
One major asset for Kalkreuth was his chin. He got caught but still motored past the clever Valera. After 10 rounds two judges saw it 99-91 and one other judge 97-93 all for Kalkreuth.
Highly-rated prospect Ruslan Abdullaev (2-0) blasted past dangerous Jino Rodrigo (13- 5-2) in an eight round super lightweight fight. He nearly stopped the very tough Rodrigo in the last two rounds and won by unanimous decision.
Abdullaev is trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio.
Bakersfield prospect Joel Iriarte (7-0, 7 KOs) needed only 1:44 to knock out Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-12) in a welterweight bout.
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‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’
At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.
Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.
Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.
The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.
Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.
Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.
That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.
Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.
Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.
In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.
Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.
Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.
The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.
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Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.
One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.
Take your pick.
The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.
Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.
Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.
If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.
He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.
During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.
Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.
Fundora
Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.
Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.
Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.
Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.
Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?
When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.
This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.
Commerce Casino
Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.
Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.
It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.
Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?
That’s a question for another day.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).
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