On This Day In Boxing History!

1905: Young Corbett III Was Born!      

Young Corbett III   

Birth Name: Raffaele Capabianca Giordano

Born: May 27th, 1905

Birth Place: Potenza, Basilicata, Italy

Residence: Fresno, California

Pro-Debut: September 28th, 1919

Division: Welterweight

Stance: Southpaw

Height: 5′ 5½″  

Reach: 67″  

Bouts: 155

Rounds: 1067

Ko’s: 21%

Record: 122-12-21, 32Ko’s

Died: Age 88, July 15th, 1993

Inducted International Boxing Hall of Fame: Class of 2004 - Old Timer Category

Young Corbett III born Raffaele Capabianca Giordano in Potenza, Campania, Italy, 1905, was the world welterweight boxing champion. Corbett began boxing in 1919 as Young Corbett III while still a 14-year-old "newsboy."

A tough southpaw, Corbett fought many great fighters of his era. For example, he engaged in s four-fight series with future welterweight champion Young Jack Thompson, winning three and drawing once. He also scored wins over Jack Zivic, Sgt. Sammy Baker, and welterweight champion Jackie Fields and future middleweight king Ceferino Garcia.

On February 22, 1933, Corbett captured the welterweight championship of the world by decisioning Jackie Fields over 10 rounds. Three months later, he was dethroned by Hall of Famer Jimmy McLarnin via a one round knockout.

Corbett then moved up to the middleweight division. He scored wins over future light heavy champ Gus Lesnevich (TKO 5), as well as Hall of Famers Mickey Walker, Billy Conn and Fred Apostoli. On November 18, 1938, he challenged Apostoli for the middleweight crown, but was stopped in 8 rounds. Corbett boxed until 1940, when he retired with a 123-11-17 (33KOs) record. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2004.

He is the great-grandfather of Atlanta Falcons safety Matt Giordano.

1951: John Conteh Was Born!

John Conteh

Born: May 27th, 1951

Residence: Kirkby, Merseyside, United Kingdom

Birth Place: Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom

Amateur Record: 2-1, 1Ko

Pro-Debut: October 18th, 1971

Division: Light Heavyweight

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 6′ 0″  

Reach: 76″  

Career: 1971-1980

Bouts: 39

Rounds: 287

Ko’s: 61.54%

Record: 34-4-1, 24Ko’s

WBC Light Heavyweight Champion

1974 Oct 1 – 1977 May 21

1951- John Conteh (born in Toxteth, Liverpool, England)

Former British boxer who was world light-heavyweight boxing champion.

Conteh is one of Britain's most successful boxing champions. At his peak in the mid to late 1970s he was considered good enough that he was touted as a possible opponent of Muhammad Ali. He enjoyed great fame in Britain and was often on the front as well as the back pages of the leading dailies due to his love of partying and women. Conteh said that his excessive lifestyle brought about a premature decline in his talents. He started boxing at age 10 at the Kirkby club that was a training ground for some of the best amateur boxers, Joey Singleton, Tucker Hethering and Stuart Morton were only a few. At 19, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. He won the WBC Light Heavyweight crown in October 1974 and held the title until 1978 when he was stripped for not going through with a mandated defense. He was the loser on points over fifteen rounds to the Croatian fighter Mate Parlov in an attempt to regain the title. Conteh appeared to have done enough to regain his title, and the loss was controversial. He failed twice in further efforts to win back his old crown in 1979 and then again seven months later in 1980 - both against the American Matthew Saad Muhammad.

He retired from professional boxing in 1980. His professional record is 34 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses.

In 1973, Conteh was one of the celebrities featured dressed in prison gear on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run.

Conteh also has the distinction of being British Superstars competition champion in 1974, the second year of the televised sporting event. Conteh is now an after-dinner speaker and speaks at venues all across the country.

Conteh appeared on the BBC television program Sporting Legends which was presented by Eamonn Holmes. On the show Conteh spoke at length at how he started out in the fight game and how Ali persuaded him to fight at Light-Heavyweight instead of Heavyweight as Ali believed that Conteh was too small to be a heavyweight, and how his lifestyle led to alcoholism and a charge of assault, he stated that at the time he appeared on Sporting Legends he had been dry for nine years. Conteh also made a starring appearance in the television show Boon in 1989, as a washed-up boxer. He more recently appeared on a special episode of The Weakest Link in 2009, where he came in third place.

2012: Johnny Tapia Passes!

Johnny Tapia

Birth Name: John Lee Tapia

Born: February 13th, 1967

Birth Place: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Residence: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Amateur Record: 101-21, 65Ko’s

1983: National Golden Gloves Light Flyweight Champion

1984: United States Olympic Western Trials Light Flyweight Finalist.

1985: National Golden Gloves Flyweight Champion

Pro-Debut: March 28th, 1988

Alias: "Mi Vida Loca"

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 5’6″ 

Reach: 65″ 

Division: Super Flyweight

Bouts: 66

Rounds: 473

Ko’s: 45.45%

Career: 1988-2011

Died: Age 45, May 27th, 2012

WBO Super Flyweight Champion

1994 Oct 12 – 1998 Dec 5

IBF Super Flyweight Champion

1997 Jul 8 – 1998 Dec 5

WBA Bantamweight Champion

1998 Dec 5 – 1999

WBO Bantamweight Champion

2000 Jan 8 – 2000 Sep

IBF Featherweight Champion

2002 Apr 27 – 2002 Sep 30

Died: May 27th, 2012

Inducted International Boxing Hall of Fame: 2017

Notes

*Jerry Padilla, Tapia's father, vanished before he was born. Tapia thought he was dead, but he turned up in 2010 after being released from a federal penitentiary. DNA tests confirmed his paternity.

*Virginia Tapia, Johnny's mother, was murdered when he was eight years old.

*Tapia's uncles made him fight older boys in matches. They would bet on him to win and beat him if he lost.

*Tapia was raised by his maternal grandparents.

*Miguel Tapia, Johnny's grandfather, was an amateur boxing champion and taught him how to box.

*Tapia struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years. He was declared clinically dead five times as a result of drug overdoses.

*Tapia attempted suicide several times.

*Johnny and Teresa Tapia were married in 1994. They had three children.

*HBO aired a documentary about his life and career, simply called Tapia, in 2013. It included interviews with Johnny and Teresa and rare footage of his rise to stardom.

*On May 27, 2013, Tapia was found dead inside his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The autopsy report stated that Tapia's death was the result of heart problems and the onset of Hepatitis C, likely from the many tattoos he had. Teresa Tapia shared the autopsy report with reporters at a press conference on August 21, 2013, and said she was doing it to dispel the myth that her husband died after using illegal drugs. "This shows that he did not die of a drug overdose," she said. "It doesn't make the pain go away, but I felt I needed to say that." Investigators found one Hydrocodone tablet, a painkiller, on the floor beside his body. They said there were no indications of an overdose or alcohol use, but that the 45-year-old former fighter likely developed medical complications from past illegal drug use. Teresa Tapia said her husband was taking medication for his bipolar disorder and for his high blood pressure.

*At the beginning of his 2006 autobiography, Mi Vida Loca: The Crazy Life of Johnny Tapia, Tapia wrote: "My name is Johnny Lee Tapia. I was born on Friday the 13th. A Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don't know if that makes me lucky or unlucky. When I was eight I saw my mother murdered. I never knew my father. He was murdered before I was born. I was raised as a pit bull. Raised to fight to the death. Four times I was declared dead. Four times they wanted to pull life support. And many more times I came close to dying. But I have lived and had it all. I have been wealthy and lost it all. I have been famous and infamous. Five times I was world champion. You tell me. Am I lucky or unlucky?"

May 27th

1905: Young Corbett III born

1929: Andre Routis KO3 Buster Brown

1931: Jimmy McLarnin W10 Billy Petrolle

1951: John Conteh was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, England

1955: Ray Famechon W15 Billy Spider Kelly

1956: Cornelius Boza Edwards was born in Kampala, Uganda)

1960: Benny Paret W15 Don Jordan

1966: Jerry Quarry vs Tony Alongi Rematch Draw

1978: Carlos Palomino W15 Armando Muniz

1983: Marvin Hagler KO4 Wilford Scypion

1984: Eusebio Pedroza W15 Angel Levy Mayor

John Mugabi TKO2 Wilbert Johnson

1987: Terry Norris TKO3 Nathan Dryer

1989: Virgil Hill KO7 Joe Lasisi

1993: Darrell Flint W10 Matthew Hilton

1994: Roy Jones Jr. KO2 Thomas Tate

Rafael Ruelas KO3 Mike Evgen

Oscar De La Hoya KO3 Giorgio Campanella

1995: Henry Maske W12 Graciano Rocchigiani

Frankie Liles KO6 Frederic Seillier

Jorge Castro KO12 Anthony Andrews

Eloy Rojas W12 Kyun-Yung Park

Daorung MP Petroleum D12 Lakhin CP Gym

Chris Eubank TKO1 Bruno Ruben Godoy

1999: Donovan Ruddock TKO1 Derek Amos

2003: David Walker KO2 John Humphrey

Herbie Hide KO1 Joseph Chingangu

2004: Mahyar Monshipour KO8 Salim Medjkkoune

2006: Jhonny Gonzalez WSD12 Fernando Montiel                 

Serhiy Dzinziruk W12 Sebastian Andres Lujan

Daniel Ponce De Leon KO2 Gerson Guerrero

Terri Blair TKO9 Sumya Anani

2009: Anthony Mundine WSD12 Daniel Geale 

2011: Christina Hammer W10Maria Lindberg

2013: Johnny Tapia Passes!

2017: Errol Spence Jr KO11 Kell Brook  

George Groves TKO6 Fedor Chudinov

Hanna Gabriels W10 Natasha Spence

Jose Argumedo TKO8 Gabriel Mendoza

Kenia Enriquez TKO3 Maria Salinas