The Hauser Report: Tony Danza, Federico Castelluccio, and Boxing

Published

1 month ago

August 11, 2023

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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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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

23 hours ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

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In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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