Does anyone else remember this guy and his sad story. He fought an entertaining three fight series with Daniel Zaragoza lifting the WBC Super Bantamweight title in their second fight with a come from behind KO. I believe he had a history of drug abuse which unfortunately led to him contracting H.I.V through the sharing of needles. The last time I heard anything about him was about ten years ago after the Holyfield-Tyson rematch when he wrote a letter to a boxing magazine supporting Tyson who I think he was friendly with. He had full bown A.I.D.S then and I'm wondering if anyone has any information on his condition today,or how he is doing. Also if anyone would like to share their memories of his fights,particularly with Zaragoza as I've never had the pleasure to see any of them,only reading about them.
I have no info on his current condition, but I have had the privilege of seeing his second fight with Daniel Zaragoza, which he won. Terrific bout which I'd recommend to everyone to see, with lots of action and great heart shown by both guys. One thing I noticed about Banke is that he had pretty good handspeed and combinations. Whenever he let his hands go he was busting Zaragoza up. His defense looked pretty lax and he seemed inclined to fight in fits and spurts, but he definitely had talent.
Yeah i have only seen him in the 2nd Zaragoza fight, that fight blew me away absolutely awesome effort by both men. A very good fight. If you want a link to it PM me.
He showed that he could be a thrilling fighter in the Zaragoza wars, he burned out pretty quick though. I was sad to here about the HIV/Aids thing, I remember thinking at the time, Banke spilt a lot of blood in his career; I hope his opponents had no problems.
Re: Paul Banke Paul Banke is alive after fifteen years having been diagnosed with AIDS using dirty needles. Paul did not have AIDS during his boxing career therefore none of his opponents were infected. After he retired, he remarried two more times having AIDS, divorced and his ex-wives never contracted the virus. Both ex-wives knew about the virus used safe sex and remain to this day virus free.
