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Tony DeMarco (born January 14, 1932) is a boxer and world welterweight champion. He was born in Boston and grew up in that city's North End community. Tony DeMarco's actual birth name is Leonardo Liotta. Tony’s father Vincent and mother Giacomina (Jacqueline) came from Sicily.
To box in the league, the minimum age was 18. Liotta had to use the birth certificate of Tony DeMarco so that he could compete. DeMarco had his first professional fight when he was sixteen years old. On October 21, 1948, he knocked out Mestor Jones in one round.
DeMarco fought the top fighters in his division during the 1950s and defeated top contenders and champions like Paddy DeMarco, Teddy "Red Top" Davis, Chico Vejar and Don Jordan. The highlight of his career came on April 1, 1955, when he scored a technical knock out (TKO) over Johnny Saxton in the 14th round of their title bout to capture the world’s welterweight title.
Tony DeMarco, despite winning many bouts to become champion, is best remembered for his two championship matches with hall of famer Carmen Basilio in 1955. Both fights were toe to toe slugfests with several ebbs and flows that kept the fans at the edges of their seats. Both fights ended in the 12th round with DeMarco suffering a TKO. In their first bout, DeMarco was the defending champion. He risked his title by taking on Basilio, who was the top ranked contender. Although Basilio prevailed, the fight was so exciting that the pair were rematched. The second fight was almost a carbon copy of the first with Basilio wearing down DeMarco, but not before a wicked DeMarco left hook had Basilio out on his feet. DeMarco was unable to capitalize on this advantage and lost the match on a 12 round TKO.
DeMarco's legacy is an undying part of Boston's history. Training under Boston greats such as Frankie Waters, DeMarco was able to sell out the Boston Garden, breaking attendance records. Mayor Thomas Menino even honored DeMarco with a street, named after him, in Boston's famous North End. The street, which is perpendicular to Atlantic Ave, is named "Tony DeMarco Way".
DeMarco has received many honors, including an induction in the Official National Italian American Hall of Fame in Chicago. Looing back on his career, DeMarco remarked "Mainly I consider myself a slugger." DeMarco once fought on the undercard to Rocky Marciano. [1] In his last bout, DeMarco won a ten round decision over Stefan Redl in Boston on February 6, 1962. [2]
[edit] References
- Career record on Tony DeMarco on Cyber Boxing Zone [3]
[edit] References
[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
| Preceded by Johnny Saxton |
World Welterweight Champion 1 April 1955– 10 June 1955 |
Succeeded by Carmen Basilio |
