A boxer’s victories are certainly important to enamor the fans, but when triumphs are accompanied by a fighting style and indomitable courage, the acclaim of the large public becomes inevitable. This is well known to those who followed the career of the intrepid Vito Antuofermo, whose bloody battles between the 1970s and 1980s enamored both American and Italian crowds, consecrating him among our most esteemed and beloved compatriots in every corner of the globe. From the small italian town of Palo del Colle to Brooklyn, from turbulent beginnings to European glory, from world triumph to wars with Hagler and Minter, let’s go together through the stages that made Vito one of Italy’s winning protagonists!
A Winning Career that Began by Chance
There is a lot of chance in everyone’s fate. Few can testify to this better than Antuofermo, who landed in boxing by chance and, once again by chance, found himself a professional boxer overnight. The first stroke of luck dates back to when Vito was a teenager, facing the harsh reality that awaited Italian immigrants in the USA. Frequently involved in street fights and brawls, the future champion was one day taken into custody by the police after knocking out an African American who had threatened him with a right hook; but to his great surprise, the patrol did not take him to the city jail, but to the adjacent boxing gym. Here, Vito refined his self-taught style and, with Nino Benvenuti as his idol, had an excellent amateur career. The next leap was another twist of fate: attending a professional boxing event, Antuofermo agreed to replace an absent boxer and thus made his debut in the world of pros. He did not know that by doing so he would give up the Olympics, but fate had in store for him huge satisfactions…
Stronger Than He Seems: From Victory to Victory to the Roof of Europe
Vito’s style was not one loved by purists. His punches followed unorthodox trajectories, his attacks appeared purely instinctive, but his effectiveness in consistently closing the distance and exerting exhausting pressure forced even the most critical to change their minds as the Italian climbed the rankings. In reality, Antuofermo had not only courage but also technical skills that were not flashy but fundamental for his boxing: extremely skilled in moving his head to avoid barrages of punches, he also had excellent timing in “diving in,” systematically catching his opponent off guard. His qualities allowed him to reach the super welterweight European title, snatched from the German Ekhard Dagge thanks to a majestic performance in Germany, with an almost immaculate record and not devoid of important scalps, from prospect John L Sullivan to experienced former champion Emile Griffith. His Achilles’ heel, however, emerged already in this first phase: Vito would be cut with disarming ease by his opponents and often had to deal with copious bleeding.
World Glory Awaits Antuofermo, but in the Middleweight Division!
Vito’s arrival at the top of the old continent created great expectations, and his first defense against the British Maurice Hope, at the time little known, was considered within his reach. However, a more insidious opponent than the southpaw challenger was about to play a dirty trick on our boxer: the scales. Antuofermo struggled to make the 154 pounds, and his physical resistance could only suffer. Leading at the end of the thirteenth round, Vito burst in the final stages, suffering two standing counts and being stopped by the referee a few seconds before the end. But when one door closes, often another opens: moving into the noble category of middleweights, Vito regained all his vigor, defeating, among others, the famous puncher Bennie Briscoe and candidating himself for the world title challenge for the WBA and WBC belts against the Argentine Hugo Pastor Corro. The latter was mobile, fast, and astute and dominated the early part of the fight, but pressed by the Italian’s pace, he faded in the distance, being overpowered in the final rounds and losing by a narrow margin: Vito was the world champion!
Sweet and Bitter Las Vegas: the Draw against Hagler and the Setback against Minter
Awaiting the new champion was not just any challenger, but the legendary Marvin Hagler. The feat for Vito seemed prohibitive, and to make it even more difficult, the flu struck the Italian a few days before the battle. Numb in the muscles, Antuofermo struggled to enter the fight and quickly lost ground to the Marvelous One. The gladiator from Palo del Colle, however, put his heart into it, did not take a step back, received about seventy stitches but in the end secured an unexpected draw, retaining the titles. Truth be told, the majority opinion, shared by the Italian journalists present ringside, was that Hagler deserved the verdict, but if Las Vegas had been generous with our standard-bearer, it was much less so four months later, when the Englishman Alan Minter dethroned him with a questionable Split Decision. The scandal was mainly stirred by the 12-point lead that the British judge Roland Dakin gave to his compatriot: a shameful margin for a very balanced fight in which Vito had done slightly more.
Squeezed to the Bone: The Body Presents the Bill
A generous fighter, whose fights almost always end in exhausting battles, must be protected so that he can continue to express himself in the best possible way over the years. Unfortunately, this was not the case for Antuofermo: in less than nine months, the warrior from Puglia had fought no less than three knife-edge battles lasting fifteen rounds each, and as if that were not enough, three months after the tough challenge with Minter, he was sent to England for the rematch. His body did not withstand such stress: his reflexes suddenly appeared slower, his famous timing absent. The skin on his face, always fragile, also presented him with the bill for the many blows he had received in his career, making his face a mask of blood and preventing him from going beyond the eighth round. Equally fruitless was the rematch with the Marvelous: Hagler’s punches, combined with some clashes between the boxers’ heads, made Vito bleed like a fountain again, prompting his corner to stop him after the fourth round. The world-level career of our indomitable puncher effectively ended that night. Although he never sought the spotlight for himself, Antuofermo managed to be noticed even after hanging up his gloves for good. Among the various jobs that our courageous standard-bearer carried out over the years, his appearances in films deserve particular mention, which even led him to get a part in the third chapter of Francis Ford Coppola’s immortal Godfather saga. Still residing in the United States, Vito has never forgotten our country, just as we will never forget his thrilling battles!