I was raised in the mid-west and for awhile Tony was a rather big name in these parts. He fought out of Kansas City and had a solid record of 39-9-2 with 26 ko's. I remember his 1st big fight was against Bennie Briscoe in KC. This drew a lot of publicity and a big crowd but Bennie handled Tony pretty easily and stopped him late in the fight. Tony eventually fought 2 of the biggest names in boxing, Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez, both fights nationally televised. He lost both but showed guts in taking a pounding before his corner stopped the fights. Interestingly, Angelo Dundee was working the corners in both those fights. He was in SRL's corner but later became Tony's trainer and worked the corner for his fight against Benitez. Kansas City was not exactly a hotbed for boxing but he was a prominent local sports hero in his day. I enclosed a link that details more about his career. https://ringsidereport.com/?p=63903
I remember Tony well. Was fighting at jr. middle/middle and held some really good wins over Tony Licata (whom I thought was going to beat Chiaverini), Edgar 'Mad Dog' Ross, Vinnie Curto, Sandy Torres and Marcelo Quinones, whom the WBA was trying to push into a title shot. If memory serves me, he had a contract to fight Maurice Hope for his 154 lb. title but Angelo Dundee accepted a fight against Benitez before details were ironed out the shot went south. Good fighter.
I remember the Quinones fight. A TV boxing card showed highlights of it. Tony was knocked down twice early in the fight but came back to KO Quinones. If Angelo really did accept a fight with Benitez in lieu of a possible title shot against Hope, he should be spanked for that. Tony couldn't have beaten Hope but the fight would have been more competitive than his fight with Benitez. Tony was really hammered against Wilfred.