By Eric Bottjer
JOHNNY CHESHIRE, 77, Scottish featherweight, passed in early 2024. Cheshire represented England in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, losing to American Al Robinson, the eventual silver medalist.
JASMINE CLARKSON, 29, Texas lightweight, died in May. Clarkson was 4-14 from 2014-2021 – none of her wins were over fighters with a losing record. No cause of death was given. She left a partner and three children.
KEVIN COOK, 60, Indiana heavyweight, died in October at a New Castle rehabilitation center after a lengthy illness. Cook was 15-3-1 (12 KO’s) from 1994-2000, amassing most of his wins on Fred Berns’ shows in Indiana. A one-round KO loss to Brian Nielson in Denmark in 2000 ended his boxing career.
JOHNNY COOKE, 89, British welterweight, passed in June. Cooke was 52-34-7 (5 KO’s) from 1960-1971, peaking in 1967 when he won the British welterweight title. Cooke turned pro at age 25, an unheard of (old) age to turn pro back then. He had 368 amateur matches, so it was obviously time. Most of his losses were late in his career and outside of England.
FRANCISCO CORONADO, 77, Nicaraguan featherweight, died in May. Coronado turned pro in 1967 and was 20-10 (14 KO’s) in a 10-year career. In 1977 he challenged WBA champion Rafael Ortega in Ortega’s home country of Panama. Coronado lost a 15-round decision by three points on two cards and a single point on the third. He fought twice more that year – winning both, before retiring.
ADONIS CRUZ, 54, Nicaraguan bantamweight, died in September at a sister’s home in Guatemala City. He battled multiple health issues after he retired from boxing in 1999. Cruz, an excellent technician who lacked power, went 31-6-2 (18 KO’s) in an 8-year career, losing two world title shots (to Johnny Tapia in 1996 and Jorge Julio in 1998).
FRANK DAVILA, 80, Massachusetts welterweight, passed in September. Davila, born in Puerto Rico, was an oft-used opponent for up-and-coming names from 1962-1977, tangling with (and losing to) Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Davey Hilton, Sugar Ray Seales, Ronnie Harris and Andy Price. He went 10-37-4, but was only stopped seven times. He spent his entire adult life in Springfield, Massachusetts, earning a degree in bible studies and spending time with his nine children.
HARRY DAVIS, 97, Canadian judge and referee, died in March. A former amateur boxer who claimed a 15-5 record, Davis refereed pro fights from 1952-2001 because concentrating on judging, which he did until 2018, retiring at 92. Davis was third man in the ring for the “Foreman vs. 5” fiasco in Toronto, George’s first ring appearance after his loss to Muhammad Ali. Davis worked three of the five 3-round bouts, but after Terry Daniels attacked Foreman after Davis stopped his match, another referee handled the final two bouts (which also ended in chaos).
YAWE DAVIS, 61, Ugandan light-heavyweight, died in January. Davis turned pro in 1981 and went 45-11-3 (24 KO’s) in a 21-year career. Davis moved to Italy as a youth and had a superior amateur career. He had a checkered start as a pro, going 5-4-2 before reeling off 20 wins in 21 contests, earning him a shot at the Commonwealth light-heavyweight championship against Australian Guy Waters in 1990. Davis lost by one point on all three scorecards in Water’s home of Sydney. He then won three straight (including a KO win over a young Carl Thompson) before losing close decisions to Henry Maske (majority) and Frank Tate (split). In 1992, Davis challenged for the vacant European light-heavyweight title in Italy against Crawford Ashley, which resulted in a draw that both fighters disputed. In 1995 Davis won the Italian title and added a WBC International title. A 2001 decision loss to Clinton Woods in England in a WBC world eliminator ended Davis’s dreams of a world title shot.
ROCCO DeFILIPPIS, 96, Wisconsin bantamweight, died in January. Rocco was 4-3 (2 KO’s) from 1947-1950 (he was a fine amateur, winning the Wisconsin Golden Gloves bantamweight title in 1944). His unremarkable career had a remarkable moment: on Jan. 6, 1948, DeFilippis won a 4-round decision in Chicago over an 18-year-old Berry Gordy, who founded Motown Records one decade later. DeFilippis drove a truck for a pharmaceutical company for 40 years and ran an amateur boxing club in Milwaukee.
BOB DUFFY, 74, New York boxing commissioner and longtime president of the New York veteran boxers group Ring 8, passed in January. Duffy was a former Army vet and New York City police detective and a beloved member of the New York boxing community. He spearheaded many fundraisers for Ring 8 to help indigent boxers and helped create the New York Boxing Hall of Fame.
CAMERON DUNKIN, 67, longtime boxing manager, died of cancer on January 2 in Las Vegas after many years of battling the disease. Dunkin worked with many world champions, but unlike some modern-day managers, he had an eye for talent. He directed Kelly Pavlik’s entire pro career, and did the same with Jaron “Boots” Ennis (along with former partner Chris Middendorf). Ennis was still with Cameron at the time of his death. While Dunkin worked with multiple boxers, his most fruitful ventures were with Top Rank. Among the boxers he worked with at various times in their careers were Danny Romero, Bones Adams and Tim Bradley.
BERNARD DYLBAYTIS, 71, French light-middleweight, died in January. He was 6-0-1 from 1975-1979, but was best known for his role in a 1971 French film where he played a youth boxer in a mining town. Dylbaytis had one comeback fight in 1986, which he lost.
VLADIMIR ERESHCHENKO, 61, Russian amateur welterweight, passed in May. Vladimir fought internationally from 1988-1991, beating Kenny Gould, Patrick Byrd and Pepe Reilly and losing to Raul Marquez.
IGNACIO ESPINAL, 75, Dominican flyweight, passed away in February at his home in Ensanche Bolivar. Espinal, known as “Nacho,” was 33-14-4 (25 KOs) from 1969-1981, a record that did not reflect the fact that Espinal was one of his country’s greatest boxers ever. He was a 1968 Olympian – the first Dominican boxer to fight in the Olympics (and, oddly, he never competed, as he inexplicably missed the weigh-in). Espinal beat the terrific Betulio Gonzalez as a pro and fought a draw with a prime Miguel Canto. In his only world title shot, Espinal lost a decision to Canto in 1975.
ISMAEL QUINONES FALU, 81, referee of the Muhammad Ali-Jean Pierre Coopman fight in 1976, died in May. Falu was relatively inexperienced at age 33 when he drew the Ali-Coopman assignment in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He impressed enough to continue another 45 years, officiating Alfredo Escalera, Wilfred Benitez, Michael Dokes, Miguel Cotto and Wilfredo Gomez among others. Falu fought amateur, logging 25 bouts before beginning his career as an official in 1965.
LIONE FATU, 60, coach of a 2024 Samoan Olympic heavyweight boxer, died of a heart attack at the Paris Olympics at his room in the Olympic village. No cause of death was revealed.
LAVELL FINGER, 55, St. Louis middleweight, died in March in Belleville, Illinois. No cause of death was given and a Go-Fund me page raised $2,000 to have Finger’s remains shipped back to his hometown of St. Louis for burial. Finger was a class amateur, winning the 1986 Golden Gloves as a lightweight. He qualified for the 1988 Olympic trials, but was tossed from the tournament after testing positive for cocaine. He turned pro in 1989 with his twin brother Terrell (who died in 2019), fighting for promoter Butch Lewis. Finger went 20-0 his first nine years, but never had a meaningful match, mixing mostly on club shows in 4 and 6-round matches. He lost his unbeaten record in 1998 by KO to an unknown Ray Collins (18-9). The loss seemed to inspire Finger, who scored quality wins over Kippy Diggs and Santos Cardona. But after the 2000 Cardona fight, Finger vanished for six years, returning for three more fights, winning none.
BOBBY FISHER, 85, Scottish featherweight, died in September of sepsis. Fisher came from a family of boxers – his brother Billy won a bronze medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Fisher went 21-14-1 (10 KO’s) from 1961-1970, including a KO win over former (and fading) British Olympic gold medalist Terry Spinks in 1962. Fisher ran a pub after retiring from boxing.
ED FITZGERALD, 93, Massachusetts referee, passed in January “peacefully” surrounded by family. He was a detective and tax examiner outside the ring, but Fitzgerald was a boxing lifer – a good welterweight amateur, later a coach and finally a referee, a career that began in 1968 and lasted 40 years.
JOHN ROGER FLAVIN, 64, New York cruiserweight opponent, died “suddenly” in May at a hospital in Troy. Flavin trained with Bob Miller and sparred (occasionally) with a young Mike Tyson. Flavin was 1-9 from 1981-1983. He made his living as a truck driver.
LUCILLE FLETCHER, 88, Philadelphia amateur boxing judge and Mom to Frank ‘The Animal” Fletcher and Frank’s brothers Tony and Troy, passed in May. Fletcher was a presence at her son’s fights, loudly extorting them from ringside, becoming well known when Frank had matches on national TV. Fletcher judged amateur boxing in Pennsylvania beginning in her early 40s. Lucille was active as a “block captain” in her West Philadelphia neighborhood, sitting on her porch during the days, greeting fellow neighbors, workers, students and out-of-towners.
MICHEL FONTAINE, 88, French middleweight, died in March. Fontaine is currently credited with five pro fights in the early 1960s (all losses), but as his second match went 10 rounds, it’s likely he had more fights.
DICK FRENCH, 84, Rhode Island welterweight, passed in August. French was 42-22-3 (17 KO’s) from 1962-1970, the highlight being a win over future welterweight champion Billy Backus in 1963. French fought out of Providence and stayed there after retiring, working as a shipping clerk.
MAX GARCIA, 73, California trainer, passed in October in his native Salinas. Garcia built a gym at his home 20 years ago and began working with pros, with his wife Kathy managing the fighters he trained (including contenders Jose Celaya and Ruben Villa). Garcia served in the army and was a teacher before chasing his dream of training a world boxing champion. Although that goal was not realized, his wife Kathy noted, “Max WAS the world champion.”
ALEISA GRAF, 43, German female boxing pioneer, passed in March. Graf, born in Belarus, turned pro in 2004 and fought until 2019, going 16-7 (8 KO’s) and winning WBF and WIBF titles at super-flyweight. Promoted by Universum Boxing, Graf was a training partner for the better-known Regina Halmich. Graf had moved to Germany in 1999 to prepare for college, but changed her life direction when she began boxing as an amateur in 2001. No cause of death was revealed, although reports stated Graf’s death was “unexpected.”
CONSTANTIN GRUIESCU,79, Romanian Olympian, died in July. Gruiescu, a flyweight, was eliminated in the third round of both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics (American Leo Randolph did the trick in 1976). In 1971, Gruiescu was one of six boxers who had positive drug tests thrown out (on a technicality) during the European championships. The Montreal Olympics was Gruiescu’s last go-around. Romania was part of the Soviet Eastern European union, none of those countries allowed athletes to go pro.
DOYLE HALL, 91, Oregon featherweight, died in April. Hall had six pro fights (going 3-3) from 1953-1954, the highlight of which was fighting on a Bobo Olson undercard at San Francisco’s Winterland Arena. Hall held various jobs, including wrestling, rodeo (as a clown) and country music singer. He published a book in 2008, “You Can’t Lose if You Don’t Quit.” He was most successful as a designer of veneer tools.
UBAYD HAIDER, 35, Fiji jr. lightweight, died in November, 15 days after suffering a brain injury in a 10-round fight in Naji, Fiji. Haider (born Nathaniel Singh) was stopped in the ninth round of this match and underwent brain surgery hours after the loss. Haider came from a boxing family. He began training with his father at age 6 and his brother Sebastian is a pro cruiserweight (Sebastian fought on the same bill that resulted in Ubayd’s death). Haider is survived by his wife of five years and their two young sons.
JOE HAND, 87, pioneer of boxing broadcast distribution, died in August of COVID. Hand, a former Philadelphia policemen, was an original member of Cloverlay, the management group formed to fund Joe Frazier’s early career. Hand was a lifelong Philly guy, following his Dad into a law enforcement career. While a detective, Hand invested $500 for a minor share of Cloverlay (seems a small amount, but this was 1967 – Joe had to borrow the money). Frazier and Hand grew close and Joe was a quick study of the boxing business. He started his company – Joe Hand Promotions – in the basement of his rowhouse. He dived into the burgeoning technology of the early 1970s that allowed worldwide broadcast of combat sports. Hand’s business now distributes boxing, MMA, golf and soccer – if you watch a boxing event at a bar, it’s distributed by Hand’s company. Hand opened a boxing gym in 1995, which still runs today – it’s part of his company’s 25,000 square-foot office in the Philadelphia suburb of Feasterville. No boxing hall of fame is legitimate without Joe Hand as a member.