Arturo ``Thunder'' Gatti: Born April 15, 1972, in Calabria,
Italy, and raised in Montreal. ... Turned pro in 1991 and relocated to
Jersey City, N.J. ... Captured USBA junior lightweight title in 1994
before defeating Tracy Harris Patterson for the IBF 130-pound belt in
1992. Stopped Wilson Rodriguez in the sixth round in his first title
defense, won a decision over Patterson in a rematch, and knocked out
Gabriel Ruelas in the fifth round in 1997. ... Relinquished his belt in
1997 to fight as a lightweight. ... Was knocked out by Angel Manfredy in
1998, lost two 10-round bouts against Ivan Robinson. ... After
suffering a knockout in the fifth round to Oscar De La Hoya in a
welterweight fight, moved to the 140-pound division and fought three
memorable bouts (2002-03) with ``Irish'' Micky Ward, winning two of
them. ... Captured the vacant WBC junior welterweight crown with a
12-round decision over Gianluca Branco in 2004 and defended with a
second-round knockout of Leonard Dorin and a fifth-round knockout of
``Jesse'' James Leija. ... After a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., fought
three more times. ... Retired in 2007 with a record of 40-9 with 31
knockouts. ... Died July 11, 2009, in Brazil.
___
Virgil ``Quicksilver'' Hill: Born Jan. 18, 1964, in Clinton, Mo.,
and grew up in Grand Forks and Williston, N.D. ... Compiled a 288-11
record as an amateur. ... Won middleweight silver medal at the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics. ... Turned pro at Madison Square Garden in 1984 and in
his 19th bout in 1987 defeated WBA light heavyweight champ Leslie
Stewart on a fourth-round knockout. ... Defended his title 10 times,
including a 12-round decision over Bobby Czyz, a first-round knockout of
James Kinchen, and a 12-round decision over Tyrone Frazier before
losing the crown to Thomas Hearns in a 12-round decision in 1991. ...
Won the vacant WBA title with a 12-round decision over Frank Tate and
won 10 more in a row. ... Lost a unification bout in 1997 with WBO
champion Dariusz Michalczewski in a 12-round decision. ... Scored a
first-round knockout over Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA cruiserweight title
to become a two-division champion. ... Lost the title to Jean Marc
Mormeck on a ninth-round knockout and won a 12-round decision in 2006
over Valery Brudov for the vacant WBA belt. ... Retired in 2007 with a
pro record of 50-7 with 23 knockouts.
___
Myung-Woo Yuh: Born Jan. 10, 1964, in Seoul, South Korea. ...
Turned pro in 1982 at age 18 after going 4-1 as an amateur. ... Won 36
straight fights over a nine-year span, taking the vacant OPBF light
flyweight crown with a third-round knockout of Edgar Inocencio in 1984.
... Won the WBA light flyweight crown with a 15-round decision over Joey
Olivo in 1985. ... Over the next six years defended his title a
record-setting 17 times. ... Lost the WBA title in 1991 to Hiroki Ioka
on a 12-round decision. ... Reclaimed the crown in 1992 with a 12-round
decision over Ioka. ... Scored a 12-round decision over Yuichi Hosono in
1993 to retain the title, then retired at age 29 with a 38-1 record
with 14 knockouts as a pro.
___
Wesley Ramey: Born Sept. 17, 1909, in Everett, Mich. ... Turned
pro in 1929 after a brief amateur career and became one of the star
lightweights of the 1930s. ... In 1932 defeated former featherweight and
junior lightweight champion Benny Bass and in 1933 scored wins over
future junior welterweight king Battling Shaw, former junior
welterweight champ Johnny Jadick and a 10-round win over lightweight
champion Tony Canzoneri in a non-title bout. ... Became known as the
``Uncrowned Lightweight Champion'' as a title bout eluded him and
registered wins in Australia, South Africa and England. ... Retired in
1941 with a record of 158-26-11 with nine knockouts. ... Trained amateur
and professional fighters in Grand Rapids before dying in 1997.
___
Jeff Smith: Born Jerome Vincent Jeffords on April 23, 1891, in
New York City. ... Fighting as Jeff Smith, turned pro in 1910. ... One
of the most traveled fighters in history, ``The Bayonne Globetrotter''
boxed in France, Australia, England, Canada and Mexico. It is estimated
he traveled nearly 500,000 miles during his 17-year career. ... An
outstanding defensive fighter with an effective left hook, while in
Australia he bested Eddie McGoorty and Jimmy Clabby in 20-round
decisions in 1914 before splitting two fights with Less Darcy the next
year. ... Unable to secure a title fight, earned recognition as the
``Uncrowned Middleweight Champion'' and frequently fought light
heavyweights and heavyweights, including Hall of Famers Georges
Carpentier, Tommy Loughran and Gene Tunney before retiring in 1927. ...
Official record stands at 149-31-5 with 52 knockouts. ... Served as a
physical education instructor and taught boxing at a YMCA before his
death in 1962 in Levittown, N.J.
___
Joe Coburn: Born July 20, 1835, in Ireland. ... Emigrated to the
United States at an early age and settled in New York City. ... Became
an apprentice bricklayer and during his spare time studied boxing and
began sparring. ... Turned pro in 1856 and in his first fight battled
Ned Price for 3 hours and 20 minutes in Boston, winning a decision after
160 rounds. ... Remained undefeated throughout his career, defeating
Mike McCoole in 67 rounds in 1863 and twice drawing with Jem Mace in
1871. ... Retired after the second fight with Mace and more than a
decade later participated in exhibition bouts with John L. Sullivan in
New York and Boston. ... Died Dec. 6, 1890, in New York City.
___
Arturo ``Cuyo'' Hernandez: Born Nov. 2, 1911, in Juanacatlan,
Mexico. ... Widely regarded as one of the greatest managers in Mexican
boxing history. ... Guided bantamweight champion Carlos Zarate,
strawweight king Ricardo ``Finito'' Lopez and bantamweight and
featherweight champion Ruben ``El Puas'' Olivares. ... Also worked with
Lupe Pintor, Rafael ``Bazooka'' Limon, Baby Casanova, Alfonso Zamora,
Rodolfo Martinez, Gabriel Bemal, Ricardo Arredondo and Alexis Arguello.
... In total, worked with 12 world champions and 37 Mexican national
champions. ... Died in November 1990 at age 79.
___
Mills Lane: Born Nov. 12, 1937, in Savannah, Ga. ... Took up
boxing in the U.S. Marine Corps and after an honorable discharge
enrolled at the University of Nevada-Reno and won an NCAA boxing title
in 1960. ... Graduated in 1963 with a law degree and turned pro,
compiling a 10-1 record before turning his attention to refereeing in
1964. ... Quickly earned a reputation as a no-nonsense referee respected
for his fairness, judgment and professionalism. ... In late 1970s
coined his trademark pre-fight phrase, ``Let's get it on,'' and became a
fan favorite. ... Retired in 1998 with more than 100 title bouts to his
credit.
___
Jimmy Lennon Jr.: Born Aug. 5, 1958, in Santa Monica, Calif. ...
Graduated from UCLA with a psychology degree in 1981 and began teaching
at a private school. ... At the urging of his father, famed ring
announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr., announced his first fight in 1981 at The
Forum in Inglewood, Calif. ... Widely hailed for his finesse, class and
flawless pronunciation of difficult names, Lennon often introduces
foreign fighters in their native tongue. ... Since 1991 has been the
ring announcer for Showtime's Championship Boxing.
___
Ted Carroll: Born July 6, 1904, in New York City and grew up in
Greenwich Village. ... Graduated from the High School of Commerce and
served four years in the Army. ... Known as a master boxing cartoonist,
his artwork graced the pages of The Ring for more than 50 years and he
was also a frequent writer for the magazine, providing insight of the
top fighters and fights and authoring a series on the history of
African-American fighters. ... Died in 1973.
___
Colin Hart: Born April 6, 1935, in England. ... Developed a
passion for boxing at a young age and began his journalism career at the
Daily Herald in 1958 as a news reporter. ... Joined the sports
department in 1962 and began covering boxing two years later. ... After
the Herald folded, he was boxing correspondent for The Sun newspaper.
... His first assignment for the paper in the United States was the
first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square
Garden in 1971. ... Covered George Foreman-Ken Norton, Ali-Foreman,
Ali-Frazier III, Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns I, and bouts involving
Lennox Lewis, Ken Buchanan, Joe Calzaghe, and Ricky Hatton. ... Retired
in 2000 but returned to serve as The Sun's boxing columnist. ... First
British writer to win the Nat Fleischer Award for excellence in boxing
journalism (2011).
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