Angel Manfredy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angel Manfredy (born October 30, 1974 in Gary, Indiana) was a American-Puerto Rican boxer of Italian origin who has fought in the Junior Welterweight, Lightweight and Junior Lightweight divisions. Angel Manfredy was a popular late 1990s fighter.
Contents |
[edit] Personal
Manfredy, nicknamed El Diablo (The Devil) because of a once reckless lifestyle and of his boxing style [1], converted to Christianity after a career threatening motorcycle accident.
He wears a tattoo of the Puerto Rican Flag on his shoulder.
[edit] Professional career
During his career, Manfredy has defeated Arturo Gatti (by technical knockout) and Julio Diaz (by a split decision). He has also fought such notables as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Paul Spadafora. A frequent contender, Manfredy never won a major world title, losing in each of four attempts. Manfredy currently sports a lifetime record of 42-8-1 (31 knockouts).
Manfredy lost two out of his first five fights, but then won an impressive 23 in a row, including wins over former champions such as Calvin Grove, and Jorge Paez, and top contenders such as Wilson Rodriguez, before landing his first major fight against Gatti, in the latter's hometown of Atlantic City. Manfredy was a big underdog but dominated the fight, knocking Gatti down in round 3, and eventually stopping him on cuts in round 8.
Following this fight Manfredy fought some C-level opponents, before fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a major HBO television event. Manfredy was stopped in the second round after a barrage of punches. Some called the stoppage premature.
Following this fight Manfredy won a fight against Ivan Robinson in what had been HBO's Boxing After Dark's highest-rated show of 1999. Manfredy then received another world title shot against Stevie Johnston in 1999, but was thoroughly outboxed. After this Manfredy has boxed some opponents here-and-there with little success. Spadafora beat Manfredy in a close decision in early 2002. Manfredy hasn't fought since 2004.
