Tony DeMarco Appreciation Thread

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

This is one fighter i feel privilaged to be able to see and to have a generous amount of footage to boot. The Boston Bomber is certainly one of the most entertaining boxers to grace the ring. If anyone has read his recent autobiography i'd love to hear how it is :good

...stunning victory over Johnny Saxton to win the WW title
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL9FWU-tqVA[/ame]

...DeMarco against future WW champion Virgil Akins

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfk9IrRh5Kg[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOWD31_2aZo[/ame]

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

Tony DeMarco, The Boston Bomber, former welterweight champion of the world, was one of the last significant prizefighters to come out of Beantown. A give-and-take brawler with a wrecking ball left hook, DeMarco, born Leonardo Liotta in 1932, won the world title by stopping Johnny Saxton in the 14th round at Boston Garden on April 1, 1955. He lost the title in his first defense two months later via 12th-round TKO in a ferocious scrap against Carmen Basilio in Syracuse, New York. The rematch, which DeMarco also lost by knockout in the 12th, was named Fight of the Year for 1955 by Ring Magazine. DeMarco retired in 1962 with a record of 58-12-1 with 32 knockouts. Among the quality opponents DeMarco defeated in a career that began in 1948 were Vince Martinez, Paddy DeMarco, Johnny Cesario, Wallace Bud Smith, Chico Vejar, George Araujo, Kid Gavilan, Larry Boardman, and Gasper Ortega. Dan Hanley, a contributor to the Cyber Boxing Zone, recently caught up with DeMarco, now 79, to reminisce about his glory days.

DAN HANLEY: Tony, how old were you when you started in boxing and where?

DEMARCO: I started at the Boroughs Boys Club in Boston when I was eleven. That year I won the Massachusetts Boys Club championship for 100 pounders. By 1947 when I was 15 I was really into it, fighting out of the Boys Club on Fleet Street, sparring with the pros.

HANLEY: When did the name change come into play?

DEMARCO: Well, when I was 16, there was no such thing as if I was going pro, I was told I was going pro. But you had to be 18 to get a pro license. So, I went down to the Parish to see Father Mario, who gave me a fake baptismal certificate and I borrowed the name of another kid named Tony DeMarco for the certificate. Of course, Father Mario good man that he was thought I was using this to get a job, not to become a professional fighter at the age of 16. Anyways, shortly after that the real Tony DeMarco tells me he was going pro. I said, What name are you fighting under? He said, Tony DeMarco. I tell him, You cant have it! Pick another name. So he took the name of another kid named Michael Termini, who also wanted to turn pro but he had to take his brothers name. So there was three of us fighting, all from the same neighborhood, all using someone elses name.

HANLEY: How active was Boston back then?

DEMARCO: It was good. We had the big three in promoters back then. Sam Silverman, Rip Valenti and Johnny Buckley.

HANLEY: Johnny Buckley! Jack Sharkeys old manager?

DEMARCO: Thats right, he was a promoter by this time. As a matter of fact, I used to train at Jack Sharkeys Bar. There was a pool room on the next level and the New Garden Gym on the level after that.

HANLEY: Who did you turn pro with?

DEMARCO: My legal manager was Bobby Agrippino, but it was Rip Valenti calling the shots. See, a promoter cant hold a managers license, so Bobby, who was a friend, was my manager of record.

HANLEY: At what point in your career did you realize you had something that set you apart from the other fighters? That you had something special in that left hook?

DEMARCO: At the end of 47, when I was still an amateur, Johnny Greco, the Canadian welterweight champion was headlining Boston Garden against Ralph Zanelli and they came to see me fight at an amateur show. I was still only 15 but I knocked out a Marine. Jimmy Doyle, Grecos trainer said to my corner, Wow, with a left hook like that, youd better convert him. See, I was fighting as a southpaw, which is probably where the power came from.

HANLEY: Are you a natural lefty?

DEMARCO: No, Im right-handed. But when youre starting out at eleven, you dont know what youre doing. Youre just messin around with the gloves and somehow my right foot was extended and suddenly I was a southpaw.

HANLEY: How did they convert you right-handed?

DEMARCO: Bobby and a trainer named Frank MacFallen tied my right arm down for three days straight. All I could do was jab and hook with the left hand. It worked.

HANLEY: In 51-52 you left Boston and fought out of the New York-New Jersey area. Was it to gain more experience?

DEMARCO: No, it was because, even though we had three good promoters, things slowed down a bit in Boston. So we contacted Willie Gilzenburg out of New Jersey and he told me to come on out. I bought myself a $29.00 suit from Filenes Basement and was on the train that night.

Click to expand...

http://thecruelestsport.com/2011/04/25/the-boston-bomber-an-interview-with-tony-demarco/

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

HANLEY: What would you consider your breakthrough bout?

DEMARCO: Well, my second fight on the east coast was in Madison Square Garden. To fight in the Garden was something else. And you know they paid me $500.00 for a 4-rounder on the undercard to Sandy SaddlerPaddy DeMarco. I never saw that kind of money before. But my first big fight would have to be the Jackie OBrien fight. Jackie OBrien was a veteran main-eventer and was scheduled to fight Tony Pellone, another world class fighter, in Ridgewood Grove. Pellone pulls out and they offer it to me on a days notice. I tell them no. But then I thought about their offer of $300.00 plus 17.5% of the gate and I agreed. And I won the fight.

HANLEY: By 54 you were back in Boston and had been beating good fighters such as Paddy DeMarco and Red Top Davis. And then you were matched with New England rival Georgie Araujo. Was this fight considered that big to hold it in Fenway Park?

DEMARCO: Oh yeah! Georgie Araujo was a helluva fighter and had given Jimmy Carter one helluva fight for the title. Georgie had beaten me as an amateur and was a main-eventer when I was fighting 6-rounders. He made the grade and we both had a local following, but on this night I knocked him out in five.

HANLEY: You held a #6 rating in the welterweights when you fought your own war with lightweight champ Jimmy Carter in a non-title 10 rounder. Tell me about the fight.

DEMARCO: I beat him, but they scored it a draw. We all think we won the fight, but I know different (laughing).

HANLEY: Were you surprised when you got the call to fight Johnny Saxton for the world welterweight title?

DEMARCO: You know, it was understood at the time that it would be either myself or Carmen Basilio getting the title shot, with the winner to defend against the other. Now, I know Rip Valenti had connections with Blinky Palermo, Saxtons manager. I also think maybe after getting only a draw with Jimmy Carter, Saxtons people might have thought I was a soft touch. But I really believe it was simply a backroom flip of the coin which gave me the shot.

HANLEY: Tell me about the biggest fight of your career.

DEMARCO: Body punches won that title for me that night. I softened him up, and finally in the 14th round, I decked Saxton with a right hand, and Johnny was not easy to knock down. He got up and I hit him cleanly with about twenty consecutive punches. Mel Manning, the referee, really should have stopped it sooner. But there I was, world champion.

HANLEY: It was a close fight up until then. The officials, Mel Manning and Jim Shaughnessy had you ahead, but Tom McNeeley had Saxton leading.

DEMARCO: Look at that! (Laughing) You cant trust anybody.

HANLEY: How did it feel?

DEMARCO: Unbelievable! Yknow, there have been world champions from Boston. John L. Sullivan, Jack Sharkey, Sal Bartolo, Paul Pender. But Im the only native of Boston who ever won a true world title in Boston. And Im proud of that.

HANLEY: Lets talk about your first title defense.

DEMARCO: Awwwdo we have to?

HANLEY: Yes (laughing), we do. Tell me about the fight with Carmen Basilio.

DEMARCO: Well, I dont want to say anything bad, otherwise Carmen might want to beat me up. But I got talked into Country Club training up in the Catskills. It was supposed to be befitting a champion. But that wasnt me. And to tell you the truth I think I could have gone on in the 12th when Referee Harry Kessler stopped it.

HANLEY: Was that your biggest payday?

DEMARCO: Yes, $60,000. As a matter of fact 1955 was my biggest year. I made $150,000. But my handlers took half of that and Uncle Sam took half of what was left. So then what did I have?

HANLEY: Lets talk about the Basilio rematch. In the 7th round you hit Basilio with a left hook and I gotta tell you, that was the closest I ever saw anyone going down without going down.

DEMARCO: I wish I had followed up better, but what can you do? I was in much better condition this fight, having trained in the city, but Carmen hit me a right cross in the 12th and it was over.

HANLEY: Despite the loss, you were still holding world-class company, beating Bud Smith, Vince Martinez, Kid Gavilan and Gaspar Ortega, which led to the elimination tournament after Basilio vacated 147. Tell me about your first fight with Virgil Akins.

DEMARCO: It was a heckuva fight. I thought I had him in the 12th and 13th but he got me in the 14th.

HANLEY: A rematch was signed almost immediately by Rip Valenti, to take place within three months. In hindsight, after such a grueling fight, do you think it warranted a longer rest?

DEMARCO: Yeah, but I was stubborn and didnt want to leave anyone hanging.

HANLEY: After the Akins rematch you seemed to have a stop and go schedule, like you were unsure if you wanted to fight or retire.

DEMARCO: Well, I took off after the second Akins fight but I would end up getting hurt when I did start fighting again, like in the Denny Moyer fight. The bell rings and Denny and I run across the ring and immediately bang heads. I step back and Denny is covered with blood. But it was my blood. I split an artery in my forehead. They stopped it in the 2nd round after I had doused the ring and every ringside official with blood. I was off again after that.

HANLEY: You went at it hard in late 61 and you were doing well. Tell me about your last two fights and why you suddenly retired.

DEMARCO: Well, I knocked out former welterweight champion Don Jordan in two rounds with a body shot and then decisioned Stefan Redl. But before the Redl fight my mood changed. I said to myself, What am I doing? Im 30 years old and I dont feel like running anymore. So that was it.

HANLEY: So what have you been doing in boxing retirement?

DEMARCO: I was a liquor salesman for awhile, then relocated to Arizona due to my sons asthma and opened a cocktail lounge called Tony DeMarcos Living Room. After a family tragedy, I let the lease run out after 14 years and returned to Boston. Now, heres where I gotta tell you a story. When I was fighting, there was this kid in the gym, just starting out, who always looked up to me. He did very well in his career. He fought everybody, Joey Giardello, Emile Griffith, Joey Giambra and so on. After retiring the kid got into politics and eventually went on to become the Auditor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Now I know you want to know who Im talking about.

HANLEY: (laughing) I am racking my brain as to who this is.

DEMARCO: Former middleweight contender Joe DeNucci. And when I wanted to come home to Boston I asked Joe if he could help me out and he set me up. I was a court officer until my retirement.

HANLEY: So, at 79, what is Tony DeMarco up to these days?

DEMARCO: I just finished writing my book, which should be released around the summer of 2011.

HANLEY: Whats the title?

DEMARCO: Nardo. As in Leonardo.

Click to expand...

http://thecruelestsport.com/2011/04/25/the-boston-bomber-an-interview-with-tony-demarco/

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

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Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

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DeMarco, Saxton, Basilio

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

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Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

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Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

Those two DeMarco/Basilio bouts have to be the most stunningly photographed fights in history

Bugger · Jun 10, 2012

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PetethePrince · Jun 10, 2012

Big DeMarco fan. Tremendous heart.

john garfield · Jun 10, 2012

Thanks, B, for puttin' up this tribute to Tony DeMarco. He was one a my favorites.

More than one told me we looked alike when I was a kid.

See ifya can pick him out in the pre-fight vid I did before the Jones-Ruiz title fight. It's a short interview, but for more silver in his hair, 'n a few more pounds, he still looked like the guy that gave Basilio hell:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_HOWlGD6o[/ame]

burt bienstock · Jun 10, 2012

john garfield said: ↑

Thanks, B, for puttin' up this tribute to Tony DeMarco. He was one a my favorites.

More than one told me we looked alike when I was a kid.

See ifya can pick him out in the pre-fight vid I did before the Jones-Ruiz title fight. It's a short interview, but for more silver in his hair, 'n a few more pounds, he still looked like the guy that gave Basilio hell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_HOWlGD6o
Click to expand...

JG, I sure picked Tony DeMarco out...Basillio and DeMarco were the welterweight versions of the MW Zale / Graziano wars...Four warriors they all were...Years after DeMarco retired from the ring there was a New Englander fighter named Larry Boardman who I thought would be another Tony DeMarco but Boardman fell by the wayside...
P.S. Today Johnny Saxton is forgotten but he was a hell of a fighter, in a VERY tough welterweight division...:good

Bugger · Jun 11, 2012

john garfield said: ↑

Thanks, B, for puttin' up this tribute to Tony DeMarco. He was one a my favorites.

More than one told me we looked alike when I was a kid.

See ifya can pick him out in the pre-fight vid I did before the Jones-Ruiz title fight. It's a short interview, but for more silver in his hair, 'n a few more pounds, he still looked like the guy that gave Basilio hell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_HOWlGD6o
Click to expand...

Thx for the video JG. If the lads said you resembled DeMarco as a youngun i'd take that as a compliment, he had a little bit of a DeNiro look about him in that video .... and a "few" pounds is just that, Tony looked in great nick! :thumbsup

Bugger · Jun 11, 2012

burt bienstock said: ↑

JG, I sure picked Tony DeMarco out...Basillio and DeMarco were the welterweight versions of the MW Zale / Graziano wars...Four warriors they all were...Years after DeMarco retired from the ring there was a New Englander fighter named Larry Boardman who I thought would be another Tony DeMarco but Boardman fell by the wayside...
P.S. Today Johnny Saxton is forgotten but he was a hell of a fighter, in a VERY tough welterweight division...:good
Click to expand...

Your thoughts on DeMarco and his opposition are always appreciated Burt, both guys beat Gavalin which is a helluva achievement :good

Flea Man · Jun 11, 2012

Crude, but hard as nails and fists made of rocks. Love this guy!

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