R.I.P. Former World Middleweight Champion Alan Minter

On March 16, 1980, Alan Minter became the first British fighter to win a world title on American soil in 63 years. Minter won both pieces of the middleweight title (there were only two relevant pieces back then) with a narrow 15-round decision over Vito Antuofermo. The Sunday afternoon fight at Caesars Palace, televised on ABC, was a “bloody, bruising war from start to finish of two starving wolves feeding over a roadrunner,” in the words of Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Tommy Lopez.

Alan Minter died today, Sept. 10, 2020 (Sept. 9 in the UK) after a long battle with cancer. He was 69 years old.

Vito Antuofermo won the middleweight title from Hugo Corro. His first defense came against Marvin Hagler and many thought he was lucky to keep the title when the fight ended in a draw.

Minter’s victory over the rugged Antuofermo wasn’t exactly controversial — most thought he had done just enough to edge it – but it was yet tainted because of the score turned in by British judge Roland Dakin. He favored his countryman 149-137, giving Antuofermo only the 14^th round when Vito scored the fight’s only knockdown.

Of all the ridiculous scores submitted by judges at Las Vegas fights over these last 40+ years, that arguably stands as the most disgraceful.

They fought again 10 ½-weeks later in London, and this time Minter left no doubt that he was the better man. He butchered Antuofermo. The New Yorker, an Italian by birth, had cuts over both eyes and on the bridge of his nose when his corner stopped it after eight one-sided rounds. It didn’t bode well for Antuofermo when he arrived in London with a black eye. He incurred the shiner in training.

When goes around, comes around, goes the saying, and in his next fight, Minter would be the one that got butchered. The man wielding the scalpel was Marvin Hagler. Minter started bleeding before the bout was a minute old and was a bloody mess when his manager, who was also his father-in-law, rescued him in the third round.

The fight at Wembley Arena would be remembered less for what happened in the ring than the aftermath. After the fight was halted, a full-blown riot ensued. Minter’s partisans showered the ring with beer bottles and beer cans and other projectiles. A cordon of police was needed to smuggle Hagler to his dressing room and the car that would take him back to his hotel had its windshield smashed. Veteran British boxing scribe Harry Carpenter would call it the darkest day in British boxing history.

Minter, who quit school at age 14, won an Olympic bronze medal before turning pro and was a British and European middleweight champion before winning his world titles. He brought a 38-6 record (with one no-decision) into his title defense against Hagler and all six losses were the result of cuts. He and his fellow Brit Henry Cooper were two of the greatest bleeders in boxing history.

Minter was given another chance to fight Hagler, but first he had to overcome Mustafa Hamsho, a Syrian-American mauler from Brooklyn. They met at Caesars Palace and Hamsho won a split decision. Hall of Fame judge Jerry Roth favored Alan Minter (96-94) but the decision was well-received.

Minter had one more fight and then called it quits. In retirement, he owned a restaurant, did some fight commentating on British TV, and had a well-documented battle with John Barleycorn, to invoke an antiquarian phrase.

About that previous title-winning performance by a British boxer on American soil: It happened in 1917 when Ted “Kid” Lewis, the Aldgate Sphinx, won a 20-round decision over Jack Britton in a fight held inside a big tent at a ballpark in Dayton, Ohio. Those two had quite a rivalry. That was their 13^th meeting and they had at least six more.

There was bad blood between Alan Minter and Marvin Hagler before they entered the ring. Hagler wouldn’t shake Minter’s hand at pre-fight confabs, saying it wasn’t his custom to shake the hand of a future opponent. Minter reportedly said, “I will never lose to a black man” (he said he was misquoted). Minter’s fan base included a large hooligan element and there was little doubt there was going to be trouble that night no matter how the fight unfolded.

Although Hagler and his handlers, the Petronelli brothers, swore they would never visit England again, Hagler was too classy to continue his feud with Minter now that he owned the titles. “He fought his heart out and went out like a good champion,” Hagler told reporters in the sanctuary of his dressing room.

The news that Alan Minter had passed away inspired a flood of tributes. Marvin Hagler, noting that the 40^th anniversary of their fight comes later this month — the fight that launched his illustrious title reign – added his voice to the chorus. “Today I received the sad news that Alan Minter has died this morning,” Hagler said on social media. “He left us in silence I hope he did not suffer. My condolences to the Family rest in peace Champion.”

Ditto.

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