Vito Antuofermo (; born February 9, 1953) is an Italian American actor and retired professional boxer. He competed from 1971 to 1985 and held the undisputed world middleweight championship from 1979 to 1980, winning the WBA, WBC and The Ring titles by defeating Hugo Corro in Monte Carlo.

Background Antuofermo was born in Italy, in the town of Palo del Colle, about inland from the city of Bari. His family moved to the United States when he was 17 years old. Antuofermo learned how to fight in the tough areas of New York City. By his teens, he had made up his mind that he wanted to be a professional boxer.

He has lived in Howard Beach, Queens.

Amateur career Antuofermo won the 1970 New York Golden Gloves Championship, defeating Thomas Chestnut in the finals. In 1971, Antuofermo was defeated by future Light Heavyweight Champion Eddie Gregory in the finals of the Open division. Antuofermo trained at the Police Athletic Leagues Sweeney Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Professional career Antuofermo had a propensity to cut easily, especially around the eyebrows. In between rounds in his fights, as much attention (if not more) was given to Vito patching up cuts on his face as it was giving him advice and instructions.

In 1979, Antuofermo became World Middleweight Champion by beating defending champion Hugo Corro by a decision in 15 rounds at Monte Carlo. According to an article in The Ring, Howard Cosell, who was working on that fight's live broadcast to the US, was telling viewers that Corro was, in his opinion, way ahead on the judges' cards. When someone on the American television crew found out it was Antuofermo who was actually leading on the cards, Cosell then began to say he had Antuofermo ahead. All three judges' scorecards were very close, each showing a tight, one-point margin: 143–142, 146–145 in Antuofermo's favor, and 146–145 in Corro's favor.

On the morning after winning the title, Antuofermo and his crew were driving to a small vacation in Italy, when he saw a car fly off a bridge under which they were passing. The car landed right in front of him, but luckily the accident did not injure any occupants in Antuofermo's car. He was so shocked that he kept driving and never found out what happened to the occupants of that car. He came back to his senses about 20 minutes later.

On November 30, 1979, Antuofermo defended his title against Marvelous Marvin Hagler in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fight resulting in a controversial 15-round draw. Judge Duane Ford scored the bout in Hagler's favor, 145–141. Judge Dalby Shirley scored it for Antuofermo, 144–142. Judge Hal Miller had it even at 143–143. The draw enabled Antuofermo to retain his title. In his next defense, against Alan Minter, also in Las Vegas, he lost the title by a 15-round split decision. The bout featured a wild disparity in scoring with a Venezuelan judge scoring the fight for Antuofermo while a British judge had Minter winning 13 of the 15 rounds. They had a rematch in London on June 28, 1980. Minter retained the crown by a TKO (on cuts) in eight rounds.

Antuofermo kept fighting and winning and, after Hagler won the title from Minter in 1980, Antuofermo was given another chance to regain the World Middleweight Championship. In front of an HBO Boxing audience and a full house at Hagler's native Boston's Boston Garden, Antuofermo this time lost by a TKO on cuts in the fourth round.

After several attempts at becoming a top middleweight again, Antuofermo retired from boxing in 1985.

Apart from Corro, other boxers he beat included world champions Eckhard Dagge, Denny Moyer and Emile Griffith.

In 1992, Michael Franzese, a caporegime of the Colombo crime family, testified that Antoufermo had been under the control of mobsters including Andy Russo. Franzese stated that the outcome of many of Antuofermo's fights was pre-determined so that organized crime figures could safely bet, but that the fights with Marvelous Marvin Hagler were not fixed.

Life after boxing After retirement, Antuofermo began to pursue an acting career. In 1990, he landed a small role in The Godfather Part III as the chief bodyguard of gangster Joey Zasa. He has landed several small speaking roles in movies and television shows since, including the critically acclaimed television show The Sopranos as a mobster. He has also done many theater plays.

Antuofermo also made television commercials for Old Spice deodorant.

Antuofermo's record reads 50 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, with 21 wins by knockout. Vito Antuofermo's second oldest son, Pasquale Antuofermo, boxed as an amateur, but never turned pro. He now owns a successful landscaping company that operates in Long Island, New York.

Filmography 1990: Goodfellas – Prizefighter 1990: The Godfather Part III – Anthony 'The Ant' Squigliaro 1991: Loser – Homeless Man 1993: New York Undercover – Jimmy 1996: The Mouse – Trainer 1998: Hell's Kitchen – Boyle's Thug 1999: La bomba – Pippo Messina 2000: The Boys Behind the Desk

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes59LossMatthew HiltonRTD4 (10), Oct 20, 1985 58Win50–6–2Larry McCallUD10May 25, 198557Win49–6–2Mark AllmanTKO3 (10), Mar 8, 198556Win48–6–2Marcus StarksTKO4 (10), Dec 14, 1984 55Win47–6–2Ricard BeranekTD5 (10)Sep 13, 198454Loss46–6–2Marvin HaglerRTD4 (15)Jun 13, 198153Win46–5–2Mauricio AldanaUD10Apr 2, 198152Loss45–5–2Alan MinterTKO8 (15)Jun 28, 198051Loss45–4–2Alan MinterSD15Mar 16, 198050Draw45–3–2Marvin HaglerSD15Nov 30, 197949Win45–3–1Hugo CorroSD15Jun 30, 197948Win44–3–1Mike HallacyUD10Nov 11, 1978 47Win43–3–1Willie ClassenUD10Aug 25, 1978 46Win42–3–1Willie WarrenUD10Jun 22, 197845Win41–3–1Bennie BriscoeUD10Feb 4, 1978 44Win40–3–1Mike NixonTKO4 (10), Oct 27, 197743Win39–3–1Ramon BerasKO6 (10), Aug 30, 1977 42Win38–3–1Eugene HartKO5 (10)Mar 11, 1977 41Win37–3–1Pablo RodriguezKO4 (10)Dec 2, 1976 40Loss36–3–1Maurice HopeTKO15 (15), Oct 1, 197639Loss36–2–1Frank WissenbachPTS8Jun 18, 197638Win36–1–1Jean-Claude WarusfelTKO14 (15)Mar 26, 197637Win35–1–1Eckhard DaggePTS15Jan 16, 197636Win34–1–1Bruce CantrellPTS10Nov 28, 197535Win33–1–1Ricky OrtizTKO6 (10)Oct 23, 1975 34Win32–1–1Vinnie CurtoUD10Aug 8, 197533Win31–1–1Antonio CastelliniTKO5 (10)Jun 27, 197532Win30–1–1Reinaldo Oliveira Jr.TKO6 (10)Jun 6, 1975 31Win29–1–1Dave HuckabyUD10Mar 20, 1975 30Win28–1–1Ramón MendezPTS10Jan 24, 1975 29Win27–1–1Emile GriffithUD10Nov 22, 1974 28Win26–1–1Paul OsborneTKO3 (10)Oct 18, 1974 27Win25–1–1Denny MoyerUD10Sep 9, 1974 26Win24–1–1Melvin DennisPTS10Jun 7, 1974 25Win23–1–1 Joey DurelleKO1 (10)May 3, 1974 24Win22–1–1John L. SullivanUD10Mar 8, 197423Win21–1–1Chucho GarcíaUD10Jan 14, 1974 22Win20–1–1Buddy BoggsTKO6 (10)Dec 5, 197321Win19–1–1Tony Kid DurangoUD10Oct 8, 1973 20Win18–1–1Danny McAloonUD10Aug 25, 1973 19Loss17–1–1Harold WestonTKO5 (10), Jul 9, 1973 18Win17–0–1Tony Kid DurangoTKO2 (10)Jun 18, 1973 17Win16–0–1Art KettlesSD10Apr 30, 1973 16Win15–0–1Luis RiveraPTS8Apr 13, 1973 15Win14–0–1Ray VillanuevaTKO4 (10)Mar 9, 1973 14Win13–0–1Skip YeatonKO2 (10)Jan 31, 1973 13Win12–0–1Al SewellKO7 (8)Dec 15, 197212Win11–0–1Carlos NovotnyKO3 (8)Nov 22, 197211Win10–0–1Oreste LebronPTS8Oct 10, 1972 10Win9–0–1Charles HaywardPTS6Sep 11, 1972 9Win8–0–1Gabe BowensPTS4Aug 28, 1972 8Win7–0–1Jerry CaballeroTKO4 (6)Jul 21, 19727Win6–0–1Don SaulsPTS6Jun 30, 1972 6Win5–0–1Lenny CarterKO2 (?)May 26, 19725Win4–0–1John PresleyKO1 (?)Apr 11, 1972 4Win3–0–1Ivelaw EastmanPTS4Mar 1, 1972 3Draw2–0–1Charles HaywardPTS6Feb 17, 1972 2Win2–0Juan RiveraPTS6Jan 17, 19721Win1–0Ivelaw EastmanPTS4Nov 30, 1971

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA middleweight champion (160 lbs) WBC middleweight champion (160 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs)

Regional/International titles European light middleweight champion (154 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed middleweight champion

See also List of world middleweight boxing champions

References

External links

Vito Antuofermo - CBZ Profile