The Airborne Champion

Guest Post, History, Middleweights, Steve Corbo

By Steve Corbo

The young kid pictured above lied about his age to get into the military at the end of WW II. He used the birth certificate of a friend’s cousin to fool the recruiters and at the age of 16, entered the Army under a name other than his own. Born Carmine Orlando Tilelli, he would become known to the world as Joey Giardello.

He became a paratrooper. And although he entered the service too late to see combat in WW II, he served with the elite 82nd Airborne Division. Discharged from the Army in 1948, he kept his assumed name, and this super tough 18-year-old turned pro, launching a ring career which would span 19 years.

A master boxer known for his ability to take a punch, he “fought ‘em all”, racking up wins against some of the top contenders of the day including Ralph Tiger Jones, Bobby Boyd, Al Andrews, Holly Mims, and Del Flannigan. He even beat a past-his-prime Sugar Ray Robinson in a ten-round decision.  His majority decision win over contender Henry Hank was voted by Ring Magazine as “The Fight of The Year”! In what has been described as a foul-filled street fight, he got a shot at Middleweight Champ Gene Fullmer. With the World Championship on the line, they battled for 15 rounds to a split draw. 

Finally, after toiling in the game for 15 years, he climbed to the top of the mountain beating Dick Tiger on December 07, 1963, in Atlantic City, to capture the WBC Middleweight Championship of the World.

Continue reading The Airborne Champion →

Year in Review / The Best in Boxing 2025

David Martinez, Year in Review / The Best in Boxing

Annually, at the end of the year, I assemble the top awards in boxing. Here are my “personal” choices for the year 2025. Also listed (in order) are the Runner Up’s and a look back at the previous winners in each category since year 2020.

I sincerely respect and openly welcome all opinions of others – thank you!

David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

2025 / FIGHTER OF THE YEAR – Terence Crawford (42-0 / 31 by KO)

RUNNER UP’S

Naoya Inoue (32-0 / 27 by KO)

Jesse Rodriguez (23-0 / 16 by KO)

Oleksandr Usyk (24-0 / 15 by KO)

PAST WINNERS

Oleksandr Usyk – 2024

Naoya Inoue – 2023

Dmitry Bivol – 2022

Canelo Alvarez – 2021

Teofimo Lopez – 2020

2025 / FIGHT OF THE YEAR – Callum Smith vs. Joshua Buatsi (UD-12)

RUNNER UP’S

Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Coner Benn 1 (UD-12)

Dimitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 2 (MD-12)

Junto Nakatani vs. Sebastian Hernandez (UD-12)

Kenshiro Teraji vs. Seigo Yuri Akui (KO-12)

PAST WINNERS

Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Serhi Bohachuk – 2024

Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez – 2023

Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano – 2022

Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. Brandon Figueroa – 2021

Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk – 2020

Continue reading Year in Review / The Best in Boxing 2025 →

RING TRIVIA for December 2025 – The Correct Answers

David Martinez, Trivia

I have always been intrigued with boxing trivia. This actually began back when I was a young kid in 1961. I would pick the minds of the older generation and ask questions about their era to educate myself. It’s now my pleasure to bring the boxing trivia format to my website www.dmboxing.com for everyone to enjoy. On a quarterly basis I post five multiple choice questions – in March, June, September, and December – with the correct answers to follow by end of each posting month for your viewing.

David Martinez / Boxing Historian

1) Which world champion never had a fight at the Los Angles Olympic Auditorium?

A — Marvin Hagler 

B — Sonny Liston

C — Muhammad Ali

D — Leo Randolph / CORRECT ANSWER

2) What boxing family had a sibling who went into baseball, and eventually played six years in the Major Leagues?

A — The Ayala’s

B — The Zivic’s

C — The Balthazar’s

D — The Goossen’s / CORRECT ANSWER

Continue reading RING TRIVIA for December 2025 – The Correct Answers →

Joshua vs. Paul … and some personal history of my own!

History, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

I have a martial arts background and obtain a black belt plus orange belt in Judo (which was a requirement for a black belt as my sensi insisted his martial artist have a judo background as he noted that many fights end up on the ground.)  We had occasional kick boxing bouts in the do jo and my sensi himself fought kick boxing matches on ESPN when ESPN covered kickboxing matches in the 1980’s and early 90’s.

One weekend, I fought one of my best matches as I defeated a fellow black belt in a kick boxing matches in our dojo. My opponent was in my mid 40’s and I just turned 40. After the bout, the sensi invited me to fight some rounds with him so we went three rounds. He held back and simply wanted to get rounds in and I knew that if he wanted to send them to the canvas, he could. He connected any time he wanted and while I lasted three rounds, he allowed me to do so. I may have been wearing a black belt, but I was not a professional kickboxer and he had been one. There was a difference in skill levels between us and there was a difference between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua.

Joshua connected 48 punches over the six rounds but 31 of them were in the fifth and sixth round. He only landed 17 over the first four rounds and it was if Joshua didn’t want to end the fight early and carried Paul for the first four rounds before letting loose in the fifth and sixth round, in which he landed the perfect one two, left jab followed by a right hand that send Paul down and broke Paul jaws.

Paul is a decent fighter who takes his craft seriously, but his victories were over fighters beyond the prime like Mike Tyson who was nearly 60 years old. Paul could beat most fighters ranked lower but against elites fighters, he is not in their class. Joshua is a former champion who was not that far beyond his prime. Paul began as youtuber and had a built-in audience when he began his boxing career and his fights brought in millions. Many fans simply watched his fight simply for his entertainment value and while many boxing purist never felt comfortable with Paul, it can’t be denied He attracted fans.

Continue reading Joshua vs. Paul … and some personal history of my own! →

FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez

David Martinez, FROM THE DESK OF:, hats

(Winter 2025 Edition)

The Winter season is officially upon us and as I respectfully do on a quarterly basis, I continue to say thank you to a small team of people that truly help make dmboxing.com the success that it has been since the first publication on July 15, 2007. I would like to acknowledge these people, who are: Bob Quackenbush (Proof Reader / Photo Editing); Tom Donelson (Member Boxing Writers Association of America / BWAA); Kathy Kraft / Proof Reader – retired); and Steve Corbo (Boxing Writer / Guest Posts).

There are three other people who are no longer with us (R.I.P.) who were very instrumental in their contributions to the website, and I will never forget them. They are: Rusty Rubin (In Rusty’s Corner / Glove2Glove); Harold Lederman (HBO World Championship Boxing / Hey Harold!); and Jim Amato (Senior Boxing Writer / Boxing Historian).

As viewed in this edition, my official website hat is displayed. It is blue in color with embroidered logo on front, and website address on back. It has an adjustable Velcro strap to fit all sizes. Purchasing this attractive product can be done by sending $25.00 to: David Martinez Boxing, 810 Coronel Street, Santa Barbara, California 93109 – AND – the price includes FREE shipping to all USA mailing zones.

A huge shout out to my friend Steve Corbo, from Chicago, who has recently submitted many of the Ring Trivia questions currently listed on my website. His trivia is outstanding and although I know 95% of the answers without cheating by looking them up, one that I missed was “Which world champion never had a fight at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium?”

A – Marvin Hagler

B – Sonny Liston

C – Muhammad Ali

D – Leo Randolph

My answer was “A – Marvin Hagler” … but the correct answer was “D – Leo Randolph”.

I thank Steve for his interest and contributing, as he is the second person to do so – the late Don Fraser (R.I.P.) also sent me many boxing related trivia items to post.

Continue reading FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez →

Jimmy Barry / The Little Tiger

David Martinez, FLASHBACK, History

*** FLASHBACK *** This article was originally published for viewing on www.dmboxing.com on August 15, 2017

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

There is a boxer that nobody ever talks about these days. A boxer who seems to have been lost in the fog of time, but whom I rate as one of the finest to ever come out of Chicago! His name is Jimmy Barry. He was known as “Little Tiger” and this 5-feet-2 Irish kid was as good as they come.

Born on March 7, 1870 he started his professional boxing career in 1891, winning 27 straight without a loss, with 18 of those wins coming by knockout.  On December 5, 1893 he knocked out Jack Levy in 17 rounds to win the “100 pound Championship of America”.

On September 15, 1894 Barry knocked out Casper Leon in the 28th round to win the bantamweight championship. They would fight in a rematch in May 1895. The bout was ruled a draw when police stepped in to halt the bout in the middle of the 14th round. He and Leon would eventually fight each other four times, with three of the fights being a draw and the other ruled a six round no-contest decision.

On December 6, 1897, at National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Barry defeated Walter Croot in the 20th round to gain undisputed recognition as Bantamweight Champion of the World. Croot died after the fight, due to injuries he received when he was dramatically knocked out cold with a tremendous right hand to the jaw. An autopsy ruled his death resulted from being hit with such force that his skull was fractured when striking the mat.

Continue reading Jimmy Barry / The Little Tiger →

RING TRIVIA for December 2025

David Martinez, Trivia

I have always been intrigued with boxing trivia. This actually began back when I was a young kid in 1961. I would pick the minds of the older generation and ask questions about their era to educate myself. It’s now my pleasure to bring the boxing trivia format to my website www.dmboxing.com for everyone to enjoy. On a quarterly basis I post five multiple choice questions – in March, June, September, and December – with the correct answers to follow by end of each posting month for your viewing.

David Martinez / Boxing Historian

1) Which world champion never had a fight at the Los Angles Olympic Auditorium?

A — Marvin Hagler 

B — Sonny Liston

C — Muhammad Ali

D — Leo Randolph

2) What boxing family had a sibling who went into baseball, and eventually played six years in the Major Leagues?

A — The Ayala’s

B — The Zivic’s

C — The Balthazar’s

D — The Goossen’s

Continue reading RING TRIVIA for December 2025 →