| Vito Antuofermo | |
| Realname: | Vito Gabriele Antuofermo |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 5 ft 7+1/2 in |
| Reach: | 69 in |
| Nationality: | Italian American |
| Birth Date: | February 9, 1953 |
| Birth Place: | Palo del Colle, Italy |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 59 |
| Wins: | 50 |
| Ko: | 21 |
| Losses: | 7 |
| Draws: | 2 |
Vito Antuofermo (pronounced as /it/; born February 9, 1953) is an Italian American actor and retired professional boxer. He is a former undisputed World Middleweight Champion.
Antuofermo was born in Italy, in the town of Palo del Colle, about 150NaN0 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.[1]
Antuofermo won the 1970 147lb 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 147lb Open division. Antuofermo trained at the Police Athletic Leagues Sweeney Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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.[2]
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.
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.[3]
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.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | Loss | 50–7–2 | Matthew Hilton | RTD | 4 (10), | Oct 20, 1985 | |||
| 58 | Win | 50–6–2 | Larry McCall | UD | 10 | May 25, 1985 | |||
| 57 | Win | 49–6–2 | Mark Allman | TKO | 3 (10), | Mar 8, 1985 | |||
| 56 | Win | 48–6–2 | Marcus Starks | TKO | 4 (10), | Dec 14, 1984 | |||
| 55 | Win | 47–6–2 | Ricard Beranek | TD | 5 (10) | Sep 13, 1984 | |||
| 54 | Loss | 46–6–2 | Marvelous Marvin Hagler | RTD | 4 (15) | Jun 13, 1981 | |||
| 53 | Win | 46–5–2 | Mauricio Aldana | UD | 10 | Apr 2, 1981 | |||
| 52 | Loss | 45–5–2 | Alan Minter | TKO | 8 (15) | Jun 28, 1980 | |||
| 51 | Loss | 45–4–2 | Alan Minter | SD | 15 | Mar 16, 1980 | |||
| 50 | Draw | 45–3–2 | Marvelous Marvin Hagler | SD | 15 | Nov 30, 1979 | |||
| 49 | Win | 45–3–1 | Hugo Corro | SD | 15 | Jun 30, 1979 | |||
| 48 | Win | 44–3–1 | Mike Hallacy | UD | 10 | Nov 11, 1978 | |||
| 47 | Win | 43–3–1 | Willie Classen | UD | 10 | Aug 25, 1978 | |||
| 46 | Win | 42–3–1 | Willie Warren | UD | 10 | Jun 22, 1978 | |||
| 45 | Win | 41–3–1 | Bennie Briscoe | UD | 10 | Feb 4, 1978 | |||
| 44 | Win | 40–3–1 | Mike Nixon | TKO | 4 (10), | Oct 27, 1977 | |||
| 43 | Win | 39–3–1 | Ramon Beras | KO | 6 (10), | Aug 30, 1977 | |||
| 42 | Win | 38–3–1 | Eugene Hart | KO | 5 (10) | Mar 11, 1977 | |||
| 41 | Win | 37–3–1 | Pablo Rodriguez | KO | 4 (10) | Dec 2, 1976 | |||
| 40 | Loss | 36–3–1 | Maurice Hope | TKO | 15 (15), | Oct 1, 1976 | |||
| 39 | Loss | 36–2–1 | Frank Wissenbach | PTS | 8 | Jun 18, 1976 | |||
| 38 | Win | 36–1–1 | Jean-Claude Warusfel | TKO | 14 (15) | Mar 26, 1976 | |||
| 37 | Win | 35–1–1 | Eckhard Dagge | PTS | 15 | Jan 16, 1976 | |||
| 36 | Win | 34–1–1 | Bruce Cantrell | PTS | 10 | Nov 28, 1975 | |||
| 35 | Win | 33–1–1 | Ricky Ortiz | TKO | 6 (10) | Oct 23, 1975 | |||
| 34 | Win | 32–1–1 | Vinnie Curto | UD | 10 | Aug 8, 1975 | |||
| 33 | Win | 31–1–1 | Antonio Castellini | TKO | 5 (10) | Jun 27, 1975 | |||
| 32 | Win | 30–1–1 | Reinaldo Oliveira Jr. | TKO | 6 (10) | Jun 6, 1975 | |||
| 31 | Win | 29–1–1 | Dave Huckaby | UD | 10 | Mar 20, 1975 | |||
| 30 | Win | 28–1–1 | Ramón Mendez | PTS | 10 | Jan 24, 1975 | |||
| 29 | Win | 27–1–1 | Emile Griffith | UD | 10 | Nov 22, 1974 | |||
| 28 | Win | 26–1–1 | Paul Osborne | TKO | 3 (10) | Oct 18, 1974 | |||
| 27 | Win | 25–1–1 | Denny Moyer | UD | 10 | Sep 9, 1974 | |||
| 26 | Win | 24–1–1 | Melvin Dennis | PTS | 10 | Jun 7, 1974 | |||
| 25 | Win | 23–1–1 | Joey Durelle | KO | 1 (10) | May 3, 1974 | |||
| 24 | Win | 22–1–1 | John L. Sullivan | UD | 10 | Mar 8, 1974 | |||
| 23 | Win | 21–1–1 | Chucho García | UD | 10 | Jan 14, 1974 | |||
| 22 | Win | 20–1–1 | Buddy Boggs | TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 5, 1973 | |||
| 21 | Win | 19–1–1 | Tony Kid Durango | UD | 10 | Oct 8, 1973 | |||
| 20 | Win | 18–1–1 | Danny McAloon | UD | 10 | Aug 25, 1973 | |||
| 19 | Loss | 17–1–1 | Harold Weston | TKO | 5 (10), | Jul 9, 1973 | |||
| 18 | Win | 17–0–1 | Tony Kid Durango | TKO | 2 (10) | Jun 18, 1973 | |||
| 17 | Win | 16–0–1 | Art Kettles | SD | 10 | Apr 30, 1973 | |||
| 16 | Win | 15–0–1 | Luis Rivera | PTS | 8 | Apr 13, 1973 | |||
| 15 | Win | 14–0–1 | Ray Villanueva | TKO | 4 (10) | Mar 9, 1973 | |||
| 14 | Win | 13–0–1 | Skip Yeaton | KO | 2 (10) | Jan 31, 1973 | |||
| 13 | Win | 12–0–1 | Al Sewell | KO | 7 (8) | Dec 15, 1972 | |||
| 12 | Win | 11–0–1 | Carlos Novotny | KO | 3 (8) | Nov 22, 1972 | |||
| 11 | Win | 10–0–1 | Oreste Lebron | PTS | 8 | Oct 10, 1972 | |||
| 10 | Win | 9–0–1 | Charles Hayward | PTS | 6 | Sep 11, 1972 | |||
| 9 | Win | 8–0–1 | Gabe Bowens | PTS | 4 | Aug 28, 1972 | |||
| 8 | Win | 7–0–1 | Jerry Caballero | TKO | 4 (6) | Jul 21, 1972 | |||
| 7 | Win | 6–0–1 | Don Sauls | PTS | 6 | Jun 30, 1972 | |||
| 6 | Win | 5–0–1 | Lenny Carter | KO | 2 (?) | May 26, 1972 | |||
| 5 | Win | 4–0–1 | John Presley | KO | 1 (?) | Apr 11, 1972 | |||
| 4 | Win | 3–0–1 | Ivelaw Eastman | PTS | 4 | Mar 1, 1972 | |||
| 3 | Draw | 2–0–1 | Charles Hayward | PTS | 6 | Feb 17, 1972 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Juan Rivera | PTS | 6 | Jan 17, 1972 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Ivelaw Eastman | PTS | 4 | Nov 30, 1971 |
|-|-