Former Boxer/Gangster dies

Angelo Defendis Goes Down For The Final Count

Angelo (The Boxer) Defendis, a tough, two-fisted Golden Gloves champ who punched his way into the hearts of his neighbors in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn and later into the Luchese crime family, has gone down for the final count. He was 81.
Defendis, who won the Golden Gloves middleweight crown in 1953 and compiled an 18-5 record as a professional boxer the following four years, died two weeks ago of infections and other ailments after suffering a stroke on Thanksgiving day, according to his daughter Debra.
"He was a fighter, and he fought it tooth and nail, but his heart just gave out on Memorial Day," said Debra, fondly remembering her dad as a "good guy, a standup guy, and a great father. A man like no other." He was loved and admired by everyone he met, she said, even the guards at the federal prison in Pennsylvania where he spent two years for an extortion rap in the mid-1990s.
"When we walked into the jail," she recalled, "the guard said, 'Your father has enough macaroni under his bed to feed the whole prison. And I think he does.' And then when he was leaving, everyone was out there singing the Frank Sinatra song, Strangers in the Night. 'Doobie doobie do …' It's just the impact he had on people."
In the early 1990s, Defendis also had a quick and sudden impact on a contractor who resisted his $25,000 extortion demand, according to the feds. The impact was a one-punch knockdown and follow-up kicks by The Boxer and two cohorts, according to FBI documents — actions that led to his federal prison stretch for extortion from 1995 to 1997.
Defendis, an antique cars aficionado, was involved in "gambling, loansharking, strongarm extortions, an illegal gas tax scam, bookmaking and narcotics," according to FBI records. Despite that pedigree he fared pretty well.
His sentencing judge — with no objection from his prosecutor — agreed to postpone the start of his prison term for months so he could attend his daughter's wedding in June of 1995.
defendis-angelo-boxer.For decades, The Boxer's "pride and joy" was the All Nations Social Club on Avenue S and West 6th Street in Gravesend, where his old boxing gloves and a Daily News picture of him standing a few blocks away on West 11th Street and Avenue U were proudly displayed along with a photo of former heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano.
The club, according to FBI documents and court records, was the scene of a tense sitdown in the summer of 1993 at which Luchese mobsters were ready to whack Greek gangsters if they did not apologize for an insult one of them had leveled at then-acting boss Joseph (Little Joe) Defede.
The offending gangster apologized to Defede, and Defendis, who was seated on a couch and assigned to clean up duty, was "ecstatic the sitdown ended amicably" and his that club did not end up being a bloody mess, according to a knowledgeable Gang Land source.
During his wiseguy heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, everyone in Gravesend "knew he was mobbed up," said one longtime resident. It didn't stop him from being fondly remembered by many residents as the "pride and joy" of the neighborhood.
"He brought the Golden Gloves and The Daily News to West 11th Street and Avenue U," the old neighborhood denizen recalled, "and he was always respectful and friendly. He knew everyone's first name, he always had a smile on his face, and he never let any of that go to his head."
Defendis kept mum about his wiseguy life. "My father had a very interesting life," said daughter Debra. "But he always told me, 'I never did anything to anyone that didn't deserve it.'"
What he did like to talk about was his boxing days.
Defendis's moniker in the ring was The Brooklyn Bombardier. Records show he earned the name. In early 1957, he had an 18-2 record, including 10 knockouts. On a roll, he was booked for the Main Event at St. Nick's Arena against Canada's light heavyweight champ, Yvone Durelle. The Bombardier was the betting favorite, according to The New York Times.
Near the end of the first round, Defendis staggered his opponent, and knocked him down. But Durelle was saved by the bell, and came back to knock Defendis down in the fourth round, and win a split decision that earned him a title shot with light heavyweight champ Archie Moore.
defendis-angelo-champ.Defendis lost his next two fights, fractured his hand for the fourth time, and retired after that. But The Boxer's friends have long contended that if the bell hadn't saved Durelle, Angelo might have gotten that title shot against Moore, and maybe even beaten the aging champ. Defendis never made that claim, however.
"I don't think I could have beaten Moore, he was too big for me to handle," he told his son-in-law, Robert.
But Defendis, a natural middleweight, who had won two bouts in the trials for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, did think he would have beaten the legendary boxer who won the Gold Medal that year, Floyd Patterson, if he hadn't fractured his hand during his second fight.
"I have no regrets," said Defendis, "but I think I would have beaten him, and Patterson told me he was glad he didn't have to fight me."
Following a one day viewing at Torregrossa Funeral Home — where many "friends" paid their respects to their fallen soldier — The Boxer was laid to rest at the Moravian Cemetery in Staten Island. In addition to his daughter Debra, he is survived by four grandchildren, Angelo, Billy, Jenna, and Gianna, and two great-grand-sons, Angelo and Billy.

 

These type of people only hurt their own career type, very rare for them to hurt an innocent. Most of the neighborhoods they live in are pretty safe from burglars and they dont allow drugs to be sold....back in my day anyway... A lot of them were wartime hero's