By Eric Bottjer
SAL ALGIERI, 88, New York manager, died in November. A former pro from Mt. Vernon (strictly an opponent, was 1-6 from 1961-1965 as a bantamweight), Algieri gained his 15 minutes managing Cathy “Cat” Davis, a blonde fencer-turned-boxer who was the first woman on the cover of The Ring magazine and one of three females first licensed as pro boxers by the New York State Athletic Commission. Davis answered Algieri’s newspaper ad in 1975 searching for female boxing prospects. Davis, a lightweight, went 11-0 in two years. Only one of her opponents had ever won a fight. And most of those fights were fixed by her management. When Davis faded from view (after being bludgeoned in Atlanta against an opponent who would not take money to lose), Algieri worked as a sportswriter and tried to launch womens’ basketball and baseball leagues. He died weeks before Davis was inducted into the latest class of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Davis enters Canastota as an unbeaten pro. The loss in Atlanta? Algieri overturned it himself – he was president of the women’s organization which sanctioned the bout. And was Davis’s boyfriend to boot.
KAZUKI ANAGUCHI, 23, Japanese bantamweight, passed in February from injuries suffered on the Dec. 26, 2023 Naoya Inoue-Marlon Tapales unification match in Japan. Kazuki lost a competitive 10-round unanimous decision to fellow unbeaten Seiya Tsutsumi. Kazuki was down four times in the fight and taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a subdural hematoma. Anaguchi lingered for more than two months, never regaining consciousness.
GEORGE ANDERSON, 77, Minnesota lightweight, died in November in his sleep of heart failure. Anderson was 12-3-1 (6 KO’s) from 1974-1976, fighting exclusively in the Midwest. Recalled one sparring partner of the lanky 5-foot-11 Anderson, “He hit fucking hard.” Anderson won a pair of St. Paul Golden Gloves titles before turning pro (one report has him winning three of those titles). He was managed by Mary Skarta, then the only woman licensed boxing manager in the U.S. After boxing, Anderson worked for 24 years at Northwest Airlines as a baggage handler.
JOE ANTONACCI, 63, North Jersey ring announcer, passedsuddenly in April from a heart attack. Joe was part of the fabric of the New York boxing scene, ring announcing for various promoters of all levels. He was aptly nicknamed “Generous Joe,” as he donated his boxing earnings to charity.
AL ARTOLA, 82, New Jersey amateur boxing coach, passed in September. Artola was a staple for years in North Jersey/New York amateur scene and worked corners for local pros.
TOMMY AUCELLO, 90, Brooklyn welterweight, died in December at an Ohio nursing home. Aucello was 1-3 as a pro (his sole win came at the famed St. Nicholas Arena in 1952) before retiring to work for a wine and liquor distributer.
Aucellomoonlighted as an Elvis impersonator, where he was introduced as “Elvis Parsley” (to avoid lawsuits) before performing.
BOB BALDOCCHI, 92, Los Angeles light-heavyweight, passed in October. Baldocchi earned an MBA at Stanford in 1955 and fought for the school’s boxing team for two years, going unbeaten and winning the Pacific Coast collegiate title in 1953. Baldocchi worked in sales at a paper company for 20 years before moving to Southern California and taking a job at Coldwell Banker as a broker.
PAUL BAMBA, 35, New York boxer and influencer, died unexpectedly in Georgia, days after winning his last fight, a sixth-round stoppage over former contender Porky Medina. Bamba was in Georgia for the holidays at the time of his passing. No cause of death was announced. Bamba, a cruiserweight with a 19-3 record, was angling for a Jake Paul fight (he had a 2022 match with fellow influencer Tommy Fury cancelled over a weight issue).
RUSSELL BARNETT, 54, Louisville light-heavyweight, died in January in a head-on collision while driving home from work. Barnett was 1-1 as a pro, retiring after a KO loss in 1989. He was killed instantly shortly after leaving his job at a Louisville cemetery by a 26-year-old fleeing a traffic stop in a stolen car.
JIM BARR, 67, Iowa referee and judge, passed in February “peacefully” at his Cedar Rapids home. Barr had four pro wins as a welterweight in 1983, but retired to become a carpenter. He worked sporadically from 1992-2017 in Iowa as a judge and referee.
DOMINGO BARRERA, 81, light-welterweight from Spain, passed in October. Barrera was born in the Canary Islands and represented Spain in the 1964 Olympics, winning a bronze medal as a lightweight. He went 40-10 with 20 KO’s from 1966-1973, and was in The Ring magazine’s top 10 in 1968 and 1969, peaking at #5. In April 1971, Barrera lost a split 15-round decision to WBA super-lightweight champion Nicolino Loccheat Luna Park. The defensive wizard Locche fought one-handed for most of the match, after tendons in his left arm were damaged in the second round. Six months later in Italy, Barrera again was denied a world title when he collapsed in the 10thround in a very close fight with WBC champion Bruno Arcari. The Italian crowd pelted Barrera with coins throughout the match and in a bizarre scene, Barrera collapsed halfway through the 10th without a punch being landed. Barrera claimed a coin had hit his right knee and he could not continue (the referee could not confirm Barrera’s claim, as he was literally picking up coins off the canvas at the time Barrera went down).
MARTIN BARRIOS, 84, Mexican bantamweight, passed in June. Barrios was 35-8-5 (7 KO’s) from 1958-1969. He was rated in The Ring magazine’s top 10 from 1966 until the end of his career.
BUD BECKER, 71, Delaware middleweight, died in April. Becker fought for the Marines (Leon Spinks was a teammate)and he turned pro in 1979 on the Sugar Ray Leonard-Johnny Gant undercard. Becker went 3-4-1 (1 KO) before retiring to work as a truck driving, transporting race-horses along the East Coast.
FRED BERNS, 84, legendary Indianapolis promoter, died in September surrounded by his wife of 58 years and his three daughters. Berns, a Chicago native, gave up a career as a police officer in his hometown and moved to Indianapolis at age 27 and began promoting fights. He WAS Midwest boxing for 44 years, organizing more than 500 shows before shutting down his “F & F Berns” company in 2009 (the second “F” was his beloved wife Freeda). Berns’ boxing career was a labor of love – he made most of his money in property rentals, where he wrote he “tried to collect some rent, fixed damage left by deadbeat tenants and prayed for lightning.” Of boxing, Fred said, “I would waste those years again.”
MYLIK BIRDSONG, 31, California welterweight, was shot and killed in south Los Angeles in a drive-by shooting in September. Birdsong, an active fighter with a 15-1 record, had arrived with his girlfriend at his Mom’s home to eat Sunday dinner when another vehicle pulled up and at least one of that car’s occupants began firing into the car. Birdsong fled his car and ran towards the house, but two gunmen chased him and shot him multiple times before he reached the house, standing over him at the end and literally executing him. Birdsong, hit seven times in the chest, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
GERALD BOIS, 70, French heavyweight, died in April. Bois was 20-4-1 (11 KO’s) from 1975-1979, but rarely ventured outside his hometown of Sedan and lost his only shot at the French title one fight before retiring. Bois was a member of the French national team before turning pro.
WALLACE BOODHOO, 93, London featherweight, died in July in Maryland. The Guyana native was 2-4-1 (1 KO) as a pro during a 4-month stretch in 1957. Boodhoo worked various job after boxing, including as a cab driver and train conductor.
HONORIO BORQUEZ, 77, Chilean Olympian, died in November at his home in Modelo. Borquez lost his opening welterweight match at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics before turning pro, going 4-8-2 (1 KO) in five years. As an amateur, Borquez was Chilean national champion three straight years and beat a young Victor Galindez in an international match.
JOHNNY BOUDREAUX, 72, briefly a 1970s heavyweight prospect from Texas, died in October. Boudreaux patterned himself after Muhammad Ali and Don King signed him, entering Boudreaux into the 1977 U.S. Championship series on ABC. Boudreaux fought Scott LeDoux, and seemed a clear loser before getting a shocking unanimous decision win. LeDoux had a meltdown and literally kicked at Howard Cosell at ringside, dislodging Cosell’s toupee. LeDoux claimed he was screwed because he refused to sign with King. He was surely correct – the tournament shut down after four months when it was discovered King bribed The Ring magazine to fabricate records and fix ratings. Boudreaux didn’t capitalize on his brush with fame – he lost four of his next five fights before retiring just 17 months after the LeDoux match (ironically, LeDoux signed with King and got a world title shot). Boudreaux, a Louisiana native, settled in Houston after boxing and became a pastor.
OMAR BRITO, 36, New Jersey lightweight, died unexpectedly in November in Vineland. Brito, a native of Puerto Rico, was 3-2 as a pro. His last fight was in 2016.
CHARLES BRITT, 70, Upstate New York welterweight, died in July. Britt, born in Buffalo, fought out of Syracuse and had four of his five pro fights in Rochester (he went 3-1-1 from 1981-1983).
ANTHONY BURGIN, 32, Philadelphia lightweight, died in July in a motorcycle accident. Burgin was 10-4 (2 KO’s) from 2012-2017, fighting his one main event against fellow Philly club fighter Avery Sparrow. Burgin left a wife and four children.
ALONZO BUTLER, 44, Tennessee heavyweight, died in October at a Knoxville hospital, his daughter by his side. No cause of death was revealed, but Butler battled high blood pressure for years. Butler started boxing at age 17 and was soon discovered by Ace Miller, manager of Big John Tate. Butler turned pro in 2000 and went unbeaten in 10 years – but against opposition that never got him in the ratings. When Butler stepped up in 2011, he lost a split decision to Travis Walker. Then he disappeared for 30 months. Butler would fight just eight more times over an 8-year period, losing just once, but beating nobody.
MOISES CALLEROS, 34, Mexican flyweight, died in March at his Juarez home of a heart attack while training for a fight. The 16-year pro was 37-11-1 (20 KO’s) and coming off a knockout win 10 weeks before his death. In April 2023, Calleroswas stopped by rising British star Gal Yafai and tested positive for cocaine after the fight. The United Kingdom Anti Dopinggroup (UKAD) suspended Calleros for four years, but didn’t announce the suspension until three months after Calleros’sdeath.
EDDIE CAMINERO, 44, Massachusetts, died in June. Camiero was 7-9 from 2007-2015, but all his wins were by KOand he stopped Joe Smith Jr. and Chris Traietti. Camineropassed away “suddenly” of natural causes.
CARMEN CAPUTA, 92, Wisconsin lightweight, passed in April in his hometown of Milwaukee of natural causes. Caputa, trained at one point by Sammy Angott, was a good amateur and turned pro in 1950, winning five straight before dropped three decisions and retiring in 1953. He worked for 50 years at the Pabst brewery in maintenance.
RUBEN CARBALLO, 61, Argentinian Olympic flyweight, died in October. Carballo lost his opening match at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
JOHNNY CARTER, 68, Philadelphia bantamweight, passed in September. “Dancing Machine” aptly described Carter’s style, which brought him to a world title chance against fellow Philadelphian (and former schoolmate) Jeff Chandler. WBA champ Chandler employed the classic Philly style (aggression) to grind Carter down and out in six rounds. Carter was 33-8 (21 KO’s) from 1977-1989.
SANTO CASTANEDA, 85, Mexican welterweight, died in July in San Jose, California. Castaneda was 3-5-1 (3 KO’s) from 1960-1963.
CHELSY CHAPMAN, 35, Arkansas pro boxer who lost both her pro fights – one in 2008, the other in 2009 – passed in January in her hometown of Ft. Smith, Arkansas. She worked as a human resource manager at the time of her death.