On This Day In Boxing History!

1962: Vinny Pazienza Was Born!

Vinny Pazienza

Born: December 16th, 1962

Birth Name: Vincenzo Pazienza

Birth Place: Cranston, Rhode Island

Residence: Cranston, Rhode Island

Pro-Debut: May 26th, 1983

Division: Super Middleweight

Alias: Pazmanian Devil

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 5′ 7½″  

Reach: 70½″  

Bouts: 60

Rounds: 460

Record: 50-10, 30Ko’s       

Ko’s: 50%

Career: 1983-2004

*Pazienza started boxing when he was 14.

*After losing to WBO junior welterweight champion Hector Camacho and WBA junior welterweight champion Loreto Garza in 1990, many boxing experts thought *Pazienza was finished.

*Pazienza moved up in weight and knocked out the undefeated Gilbert Dele to win the WBA junior middleweight championship on October 1, 1991.

Pazienza received The Ring Comeback of the Year Award for 1991.

*Six weeks after the Dele fight, Pazienza fractured his neck in a car accident. He had to wear a head and neck brace that included a metal "halo" to keep his head stationary. Many believed his boxing career was over, but Pazienza returned to the ring in December 1992 and won nine straight fights before losing to IBF super middleweight champion Roy Jones Jr.

*Pazienza legally changed his last name to Paz in 2000.

*Vinny Paz was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

IBF Lightweight Champion

1987 Jun 7 – 1988 Feb 6  

WBA Light Middleweight Champion

1991 Oct 1 – 1992

December 16th

1918: Jack Dempsey KO1 Carl Morris

1927: Tod Morgan WF14 Joe Glick

Corp. Izzy Schwartz W15 Newsboy Brown

1940: Joe Louis KO6 Al McCoy

1941: Jackie Wilson W12 Richie Lemos

1953: Ezzard Charles KO10 Coley Wallace

1960: Éder Jofre KO2 Billy Peacock

1962: Vinny Pazienza was born in Cranston, Rhode Island

Vicente Saldívar KO5 Jorge Salazar

1966: Dick Tiger W15 Jose Torres

1971: Bob Foster KO3 Brian Kelly

1972: Jose Legra KO10 Clemente Sanchez

1979: Chan Hee Park KO2 Guty Espadas

1980: Hozumi Hasegawa is born in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo, Japan.

1981: Katsuo Tokashiki W15 Hwan Jin Kim

1989: Julio Cesar Chavez KO3 Alberto Cortes

1990: Lindell Holmes W12 Sugar Boy Malinga

1991: Hiroki Ioka W12 Myung Woo Yuh

1992: Lawrence Okolie is born in Hackney, London England

1993: Zack Padilla W12 Ray Olivera

1994: Frankie Liles W12 Michael Nunn

Bernard Hopkins D12 Segundo Mercado

1995: Mike Tyson KO3 Buster Mathis Jr

Terry Norris W12 Paul Vaden

Julio Cesar Vasquez KO11 Carl Daniels

Henry Akinwande W10 Tony Tucker
John David Jackson W10 Guy Stanford
Keith Holmes W6 Kevin Tillman
Oba Carr TKO3 Ramon Sanchez
Tim Austin KO1 Jose Luis Velarde
Rodney Moore TKO1 Robert Hightower

Christy Martin TKO1 Erica Schmidlin

1998: Joseph Agbeko age 19 debuts KO1 Agaitor Yao

2000: Acelino Freitas TKO1 Daniel Alicea

Dariusz Michalczewski TKO7 Ka-Dy King

Joe Calzaghe TKO10 Richie Woodhall

Juan Carlos Gomez KO10 Jorge Castro

Sven Ottke W12 Silvio Branco

Paul Spadafora W12 Billy Irwin

Mbulelo Botile KO12 Paul Ingle

Felix Machado KO3 William de Souza

2003: Mahyar Monshipour KO7 Jairo Tagliaferro

2004: Vic Darchinyan KO11 Irene Pacheco

2005: Jorge Arce TKO10 Adonis Rivas

2007: Danny Green W12 Stripe Drews

2008: Gennady Golovkin KO3 Nilson Julio Tapia

Erica Anabella Farias W10 Melissa Hernandez

2010: Gennady Golovkin KO3 Nilson Julio Tapia

2016: Marcela Acuna KO10 Yesica Marcos

2020: Amanda Serrano TKO1 Dahiana Santana