Former light heavyweight world title challenger John Scully – who has recently been in the spotlight for his fundraising for former boxers – held his latest amateur boxing meeting at Diamante’s Bar on 8th Avenue on August 10.
Diamante’s, owned by ring announcer David Diamante, is located one block from the famous Madison Square Garden, also known as the “Most Famous Arena in the World.”
Scully holds his meetings at least once a year, although he sometimes organizes two or three meetings a year. The first was in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014, and earlier this year there was a meeting of boxers in Detroit, Michigan.
“I’ve got a guy here that I fought 40 years ago and I haven’t seen since,” Scully told a packed crowd at Diamante’s. “I see guys that I looked up to as a kid. I see guys that I fought with. I love it when guys see each other.”
He added: “Guys who haven’t seen each other for years but have fought each other. When you fight a guy in a tournament, you don’t even talk to him. You just fight and that’s it, but when you see each other 25, 40 years later, it’s like you’re best friends. It’s like you’re family. People would think you know each other. It’s like you haven’t spoken to him my whole life.”
At Diamante’s, several screens were showing a broadcast of an Olympic competition, but no one was paying attention because it was not Olympic boxing.
Rather, former opponents were sipping drinks or not and sharing memories of days gone by, while others were chatting with men they idolized early in their boxing careers. In one corner of the room, former welterweight contender Michael Olajide sat with a young man who seemed to be enjoying the stories of the charismatic and still very slim former boxer who once boxed with the legendary Thomas “Hitman” Hearns.
Others who made it to the meet, to name a few, included former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs; former WBA middleweight champion William Joppy; former three-weight world champion Iran Barkley; former welterweight challenger Larry Barnes; former world champion Junior Jones; former middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo; 1970s welterweight challenger Harold Weston, Jr.; former No. 1 lightweight challenger Israel “Pito” Cardona; former WBO middleweight king Lonnie Bradley; former Olympian Jerson Ravelo; popular former middleweight challenger “Ireland’s” John Duddy; former cruiserweight champion Al “Ice” Cole; Randy Gordon, former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission; and former welterweight champion Aaron “Superman” Davis.
Davis attended last year’s class reunion and came back to learn more.
“It feels good to be here,” he said.
Junior Jones had similar feelings.
“It’s great to see all these great people from the past and the future and just connect with everyone,” he said.
Father-son duo Alonzo Beckett Sr. and Alonzo Beckett Jr. of the New England Video Production and Ad Agency conducted interviews with dozens of boxers near the entrance to the second-floor bar to capture memories of their fighting careers for future generations.
Former New England Golden Gloves champion Shakha Moore (1995) came from Norwalk to Manhattan to watch it all. It was his first John Scully Amateur Boxers Reunion.
“What I love about it is that you get to meet old friends and see some of your old pro fighters again. I saw William Joppy and Al “Ice Cole”.
Milton K. Luban, who deals in boxing collectibles, had set up a table in one corner with pictures and gloves for fans to buy and have signed. Briggs, who was taller than anyone else at the gathering and had a personality to match his size, was one of the most sought after for autographs and photos.
Steve Nusser, who competed as an amateur against international opponents, including Russian and West German boxers, and lost in the semifinals of the 1982 Golden Gloves competition to future Olympic and world champion Mark Breland, said: “It is an honor to be here among all these legends.”
He added: “It gave me so much joy to watch them. They inspired me and hopefully I inspired someone who saw me.”
Larry Barnes, who lives in Mount Vernon, New York, and lost a welterweight title fight to the great Felix “Tito” Trinidad in 1995, is enjoying the reunion.
“It feels good to be with all these guys because we don’t see each other as much at fights as we used to, so when we get together it’s really special.”
Scully had reunion-themed T-shirts on sale at the last meeting and estimated he sold about $500 worth of them. The money raised will help fighters in need, cover general expenses and allow them to attend events such as the meetings and the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame’s annual gala.
“I’m raising money for these guys because I want them to be a part of it,” Scully said.
Former WBO middleweight champion Lonnie Bradley enjoyed his first reunion.
“This is my first time with the boxers,” he said. “I’m meeting all the faces that have inspired me, that have helped me progress in the sport and that have grown up with me in this sport.”
Bradley said he wasn’t hoping to meet anyone in particular, “just that older group of fighters from back in the day, I’d say the mid-1980s. So those are the guys I’ve been looking forward to meeting since I turned pro.”
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