Vito Antuofermo

Vito Antuofermo (Template:IPA; born February 9, 1953) is an Italian American actor and retired professional boxer. He is a former undisputed World Middleweight Champion.

Background

Antuofermo was born in Italy, in the town of Palo del Colle, about Template:Convert inland from the city of Bari. His family moved to the United States when he was 17 years old. Antuofermo learned how to fight in the tough areas of New York City. By his teens, he had made up his mind that he wanted to be a professional boxer.

He has lived in Howard Beach, Queens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Amateur career

Antuofermo won the 1970 Template:Convert New York Golden Gloves Championship, defeating Thomas Chestnut in the finals. In 1971, Antuofermo was defeated by future Light Heavyweight Champion Eddie Gregory in the finals of the Template:Convert Open division. Antuofermo trained at the Police Athletic Leagues Sweeney Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Professional career

Antuofermo had a propensity to cut easily, especially around the eyebrows. In between rounds in his fights, as much attention (if not more) was given to Vito patching up cuts on his face as it was giving him advice and instructions.

In 1979, Antuofermo became World Middleweight Champion by beating defending champion Hugo Corro by a decision in 15 rounds at Monte Carlo. According to an article in The Ring, Howard Cosell, who was working on that fight's live broadcast to the US, was telling viewers that Corro was, in his opinion, way ahead on the judges' cards. When someone on the American television crew found out it was Antuofermo who was actually leading on the cards, Cosell then began to say he had Antuofermo ahead. All three judges' scorecards were very close, each showing a tight, one-point margin: 143–142, 146–145 in Antuofermo's favor, and 146–145 in Corro's favor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On the morning after winning the title, Antuofermo and his crew were driving to a small vacation in Italy, when he saw a car fly off a bridge under which they were passing. The car landed right in front of him, but luckily the accident did not injure any occupants in Antuofermo's car. He was so shocked that he kept driving and never found out what happened to the occupants of that car. He came back to his senses about 20 minutes later.

On November 30, 1979, Antuofermo defended his title against Marvelous Marvin Hagler in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fight resulting in a controversial 15-round draw. Judge Duane Ford scored the bout in Hagler's favor, 145–141. Judge Dalby Shirley scored it for Antuofermo, 144–142. Judge Hal Miller had it even at 143–143. The draw enabled Antuofermo to retain his title. In his next defense, against Alan Minter, also in Las Vegas, he lost the title by a 15-round split decision. The bout featured a wild disparity in scoring with a Venezuelan judge scoring the fight for Antuofermo while a British judge had Minter winning 13 of the 15 rounds. They had a rematch in London on June 28, 1980. Minter retained the crown by a TKO (on cuts) in eight rounds.

Antuofermo kept fighting and winning and, after Hagler won the title from Minter in 1980, Antuofermo was given another chance to regain the World Middleweight Championship. In front of an HBO Boxing audience and a full house at Hagler's native Boston's Boston Garden, Antuofermo this time lost by a TKO on cuts in the fourth round.

After several attempts at becoming a top middleweight again, Antuofermo retired from boxing in 1985.

Apart from Corro, other boxers he beat included world champions Eckhard Dagge, Denny Moyer and Emile Griffith.

In 1992, Michael Franzese, a Caporegime of the Colombo crime family, testified that Antoufermo had been under the control of mobsters including Andy Russo. Franzese stated that the outcome of many of Antuofermo's fights was pre-determined so that organized crime figures could safely bet, but that the fights with Marvelous Marvin Hagler were not fixed.<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Life after boxing

After retirement, Antuofermo began to pursue an acting career. In 1990, he landed a small role in The Godfather Part III as the chief bodyguard of gangster Joey Zasa. He has landed several small speaking roles in movies and television shows since, including the critically acclaimed television show The Sopranos as a mobster. He has also done many theater plays.

Antuofermo also made television commercials for Old Spice deodorant.<ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Antuofermo's record reads 50 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, with 21 wins by knockout. Vito Antuofermo's second oldest son, Pasquale Antuofermo, boxed as an amateur, but never turned pro. He now owns a successful landscaping company that operates in Long Island, New York.

Filmography

• 1990: Goodfellas – Prizefighter
• 1990: The Godfather Part III – Anthony 'The Ant' Squigliaro
• 1991: Loser – Homeless Man
• 1993: New York Undercover – Jimmy
• 1996: The Mouse – Trainer
• 1998: Hell's Kitchen – Boyle's Thug
• 1999: La bomba – Pippo Messina
• 2000: The Boys Behind the Desk

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
59	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Matthew Hilton	RTD	4 (10), Template:Small	Oct 20, 1985	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	50–6–2	Larry McCall	UD	10	May 25, 1985	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	49–6–2	Mark Allman	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Mar 8, 1985	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	48–6–2	Marcus Starks	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Dec 14, 1984	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	47–6–2	Ricard Beranek	TD	5 (10)	Sep 13, 1984	Template:Small
54	Template:No2Loss	46–6–2	Marvin Hagler	RTD	4 (15)	Jun 13, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	46–5–2	Mauricio Aldana	UD	10	Apr 2, 1981	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	45–5–2	Alan Minter	TKO	8 (15)	Jun 28, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:No2Loss	45–4–2	Alan Minter	SD	15	Mar 16, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:DrawDraw	45–3–2	Marvin Hagler	SD	15	Nov 30, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	45–3–1	Hugo Corro	SD	15	Jun 30, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	44–3–1	Mike Hallacy	UD	10	Nov 11, 1978	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	43–3–1	Willie Classen	UD	10	Aug 25, 1978	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	42–3–1	Willie Warren	UD	10	Jun 22, 1978	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	41–3–1	Bennie Briscoe	UD	10	Feb 4, 1978	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	40–3–1	Mike Nixon	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Oct 27, 1977	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	39–3–1	Ramon Beras	KO	6 (10), Template:Small	Aug 30, 1977	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	38–3–1	Eugene Hart	KO	5 (10)	Mar 11, 1977	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	37–3–1	Pablo Rodriguez	KO	4 (10)	Dec 2, 1976	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	36–3–1	Maurice Hope	TKO	15 (15), Template:Small	Oct 1, 1976	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:No2Loss	36–2–1	Frank Wissenbach	PTS	8	Jun 18, 1976	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	36–1–1	Jean-Claude Warusfel	TKO	14 (15)	Mar 26, 1976	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	35–1–1	Eckhard Dagge	PTS	15	Jan 16, 1976	Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–1–1	Bruce Cantrell	PTS	10	Nov 28, 1975	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–1–1	Ricky Ortiz	TKO	6 (10)	Oct 23, 1975	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–1–1	Vinnie Curto	UD	10	Aug 8, 1975	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	31–1–1	Antonio Castellini	TKO	5 (10)	Jun 27, 1975	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	30–1–1	Reinaldo Oliveira Jr.	TKO	6 (10)	Jun 6, 1975	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	29–1–1	Dave Huckaby	UD	10	Mar 20, 1975	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	28–1–1	Ramón Mendez	PTS	10	Jan 24, 1975	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–1–1	Emile Griffith	UD	10	Nov 22, 1974	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	26–1–1	Paul Osborne	TKO	3 (10)	Oct 18, 1974	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	25–1–1	Denny Moyer	UD	10	Sep 9, 1974	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	24–1–1	Melvin Dennis	PTS	10	Jun 7, 1974	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	23–1–1	Joey Durelle	KO	1 (10)	May 3, 1974	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	22–1–1	John L. Sullivan	UD	10	Mar 8, 1974	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	21–1–1	Chucho García	UD	10	Jan 14, 1974	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	20–1–1	Buddy Boggs	TKO	6 (10)	Dec 5, 1973	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–1–1	Tony Kid Durango	UD	10	Oct 8, 1973	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	18–1–1	Danny McAloon	UD	10	Aug 25, 1973	Template:Small
19	Template:No2Loss	17–1–1	Harold Weston	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jul 9, 1973	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	17–0–1	Tony Kid Durango	TKO	2 (10)	Jun 18, 1973	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	16–0–1	Art Kettles	SD	10	Apr 30, 1973	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	15–0–1	Luis Rivera	PTS	8	Apr 13, 1973	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	14–0–1	Ray Villanueva	TKO	4 (10)	Mar 9, 1973	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	13–0–1	Skip Yeaton	KO	2 (10)	Jan 31, 1973	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	12–0–1	Al Sewell	KO	7 (8)	Dec 15, 1972	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	11–0–1	Carlos Novotny	KO	3 (8)	Nov 22, 1972	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	10–0–1	Oreste Lebron	PTS	8	Oct 10, 1972	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	9–0–1	Charles Hayward	PTS	6	Sep 11, 1972	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	8–0–1	Gabe Bowens	PTS	4	Aug 28, 1972	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–0–1	Jerry Caballero	TKO	4 (6)	Jul 21, 1972	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–0–1	Don Sauls	PTS	6	Jun 30, 1972	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	5–0–1	Lenny Carter	KO	2 (?)	May 26, 1972	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	4–0–1	John Presley	KO	1 (?)	Apr 11, 1972	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	3–0–1	Ivelaw Eastman	PTS	4	Mar 1, 1972	Template:Small
3	Template:DrawDraw	2–0–1	Charles Hayward	PTS	6	Feb 17, 1972	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Juan Rivera	PTS	6	Jan 17, 1972	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Ivelaw Eastman	PTS	4	Nov 30, 1971	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• WBA middleweight champion (160 lbs)
• WBC middleweight champion (160 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles

• The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs)

Regional/International titles

• European light middleweight champion (154 lbs)

Undisputed titles

• Undisputed middleweight champion

See also

• List of world middleweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Vito Antuofermo - CBZ Profile
• Template:IMDb name

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