The nets of the ages has saideth upon the lore that the surname 'Spadafora' cameth down from the influential Sicilian aristocratic family of nobles and clergy. Etymologically, from a combination of 'spada' or 'spata' meaning 'sword' and 'fora,' a Sicilian form of 'fuori,' meaning 'outside.' They thinketh it mayhap meant that the sword being outside is like a drawn or unsheathed sword. As in, you effa witha thissa familia, you already close to it, because our swords are already drawn and ready for battle. The name already existed in the 13th century as there is record of a Giovanni Spatafora ('t' instead of 'd' but still the same surname, mind, just a variant) in 1230, being the secretary to Frederick the secondeth, Emperor and Kingeth of Sicily. At the time, Sicily was a Kingdom. The monarchs of Sicily ruled from 1130 AD until 1816, then things got decidedly more complicated, in a manner of speaking. For that is when the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies began. It would exist until 1861, the year Abraham Lincoln found a cherry angioma on his own schlong. He'd shown it to Mary Todd, who'd playfully bitten it and pretended to spit it out haughtily before they both had a go at playing Old Sea Captain and Cabin Boy, which was a roleplaying game the two had come up with some years earlier. Anyway, as I was saying, in 1861, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was absorbed into the Kingdom of Sardinia. What happened to the Kingdom of Sardinia? Who cares? They're a bunch of sardine-munchers.
Paul could fight. I think his biggest battle, iirc, was with drugs. And alcohol … I hope he won, but I know he lost several rounds to that demon. He spent 13 months in prison after shooting his girlfriend in the stomach and returned behind bars for parole violations after he was released.
Oh the what if. He was trained old school and he was such a slick boxer with the angles and body shots he used. But he couldn't and never would stay out of trouble and worse would not leave his hometown where 99% of his problems came from. When his original trainer died that was pretty much the only person who could reason with him. Man he could really,really box when he was at his best but that was a huge problem for him.
He was fun to watch the nite he won the IBF lightweight title. A pure boxer no real punching power but he was pretty slick.
He was very talented figjter that was a disaster outside the ring. If you haven't seen it, his unification fight with Leonard Dorin was a great fight. Dorin was robbed but it was still one of my favorite fights during that era.
I don't rate him. He was a one fight wonder really. Admittedly looked good in putting on a clinic versus Pito Cardona, but never looked that good again. Got a gift decision over Victor Sosa. Outboxed a washed up Manfredy. Got a TERRIBLE gift decision over Leo Dorin. Ducked a Floyd fight. HBO wanted that fight and Floyd wanted that fight. Spaddy would have made seven figures. He didnt want it. He realized that sparring Floyd aint the same as facing him for real. And beyond that, Spaddy is just a woman beating piece of ****. Never rated him.
Manfredy was coming off one of the best wins of his career, but if you're on a mission, among grown adults, to rate Spadafora based on your personal dislike for him rather than his career, go ahead.