Paul Ross Spadafora (born September 5, 1975) is an American retired
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
. He is the former
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
champion of the world, and has challenged once for a
light welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
world title.
Personal background
Known as "The Pittsburgh Kid", Spadafora is from
McKees Rocks, a borough outside of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. His childhood was poverty-stricken: his father died of a drug overdose when he was nine, and he was homeless for several weeks as a teenager. He started boxing when he was eleven, and left school in 9th grade to focus on it.
Amateur career
Spadafora had a fruitful amateur career, winning 75 of 80 bouts.
Professional career
Paul Spadafora was trained by Tom Yankello. On October 18, 1995, Spadafora made his professional debut, winning a four-round
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
of
Steve Maddux. He won a total of four fights in his initial year.
In 1996, he fought eight times, winning all, six by knockout. In 1997, he fought six times, but his percentage of knockout wins dropped considerably when he only won two of those six bouts by knockout.
In 1998, he continued his winning ways throughout the year, winning all six bouts, three by knockout. One of the KO's took place on the exhibition bout card, featuring long-retired veteran Dan Maloney and Tim Witherspoon.
He began 1999 by raising his quality of opposition, facing the veteran
Rocky Martinez. He won that fight by a unanimous decision, and after one more win he and
Israel Cardona
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
met in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
for the I.B.F.'s vacant world crown on August 20. An underdog in the betting lines, Spadafora nevertheless became world champion, defeating Cardona in a 12-round decision. Then he retained the title with an 11-round knockout of
Renato Cornett
Renato Cornett (born 12 June 1965) is an Australian boxer. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) wer ...
to finish the year.
He opened 2000 with a 12-round decision over
Victoriano Sosa
Victoriano Damián Sosa (born April 17, 1974 in La Vega, Dominican Republic) is a boxer.
Personal
Sosa is second cousin of Major League Baseball player Sammy Sosa.
Amateur career
Member of the 1992 Dominican Olympic Team as a Featherweight. ...
to retain the title, and subsequently defended his title again by knockout over Mike Griffith in round 11, and beat
Billy Irwin in a 12-round decision to close the year.
By 2001, Spadafora was already a regular on the ''
HBO Boxing
''HBO World Championship Boxing'' (in later years stylized in its title card as ''HBO Boxing – World Championship'') was an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973 with a fight that s ...
'' television show. He retained the title with a 12-round decision over
Joel Perez
Joel Perez is an American actor, singer, and dancer known for his work in several theatrical performances and television appearances.
Early life
Perez was born in Boston, and grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His father is a Pentecostal min ...
and won one non-title fight that year.
He began 2002 by retaining his title over
Angel Manfredy
Angel Manfredy (born October 30, 1974) is a Puerto Rican-American former professional boxer. Angel Manfredy was a popular fighter in the late 1990s.
Personal
Manfredy, nicknamed ''El Diablo'' (''The Devil'') because of his reckless lifestyl ...
with a 12-round decision. His only other bout that year was a 12-round decision win over
Dennis Holbaek
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...
, also with his world title on the line.
Fight for unification
In 2003, Spadafora and
WBA world champion
Leonard Dorin
Leonard Dorin Doroftei (, also known as ''Leonard Dorin''; born 10 April 1970) is a Romanian
former boxer, the WBA Lightweight World Champion from 5 January 2002 to 24 October 2003.
Amateur highlights
Doroftei took up boxing at the age of 14 ...
from
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
decided to meet to try to unify their world titles. They met on May 18, but the fight was declared a draw, both boxers remaining as world champions in their respective organizations.
On June 27 of the same year, Spadafora announced he was relinquishing the IBF World Lightweight title to move to the Jr. Welterweight division because he was having trouble making weight in the Lightweight division.
Spadafora next fought on July 17, 2004, knocking out
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
's
Francisco Campos
Francisco Machado Campos (born August 12, 1972) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He is a 15-time Mexican League All-Star and played with the Campeche Pirates for more than 20 seasons. He was born in Guaymas, Sonora.
Career
...
in ten rounds.
Troubles outside the ring
Spadafora was an alcoholic from a young age and at one point also abused drugs.
[ He pleaded guilty to ]aggravated assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
for shooting his girlfriend Nadine Russo in the chest in October 2003 after a night of drinking, and in February 2005 was sentenced to six months in a bootcamp-style rehabilitation center.[ He had by then become engaged to Russo and she had borne his second child.][ He ultimately went to prison for the crime.]
In September and October 2011, Spadafora was twice arrested on DUI
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
charges. The following September he pleaded guilty.[
On September 23, 2012, his manager filed suit against him in Allegheny County court for breach of contract.][
]
Comeback
Despite his troubles outside the ring, Spadafora repeatedly expressed his intention to return to the ring. In November 2006 he returned after a 32-month layoff to stop Jesus Francisco Zepeda in round five at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
.
On April 25, 2008, again in Erie, Spadafora returned to the ring to fight Shad Howard. Spadafora repeatedly connected with sharp jabs and combinations en route to an 80–72 unanimous decision.
In 2010 he defeated Italian boxer Ivan Fiorletta by knock out. In August 2012 he defeated Humberto Toledo
Humberto Toledo Valverde (born August 10, 1979) is an Ecuadorian professional boxer. He's the former WBC Latino Super Featherweight and is the current WBC FECARBOX Lightweight champion.
Professional career
In February 2007, Toledo lost to futur ...
.[
One April 6, 2013, Spadafora defeated Robert Franckel for the NABF Super Lightweight Championship.
]
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
Official Website
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spadafora, Paul
Boxers from Pennsylvania
1975 births
Living people
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Sportspeople from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
International Boxing Federation champions
People of Calabrian descent
American people of Italian descent
American male boxers
Lightweight boxers