Tony DeMarco (January 14, 1932 – October 11, 2021), born Leonardo Liotta, was an American boxer and Undisputed World Welterweight Champion. Born to Sicilian immigrants from Sciacca (AG), Vincent and Giacomina, DeMarco grew up in the North End neighborhood of Boston.

DeMarco was also, for a short time, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, where he was a business owner and where he suffered the death of his young son by way of a car-bicycle collision.

Career Due to the minimum age of eighteen, in order to box professionally, Liotta used the baptismal 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.

Despite winning many bouts to become champion, he 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.

Legacy

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 Avenue, is named "Tony DeMarco Way".

DeMarco received many honors, including an induction in the Official National Italian American Hall of Fame in Chicago. Looking back on his career, DeMarco remarked "Mainly I consider myself a slugger." DeMarco once fought on the undercard to Rocky Marciano. Boxing, Boston and Tony DeMarco In his last bout, DeMarco won a ten-round decision over Stefan Redl in Boston on February 6, 1962.

A statue of DeMarco unveiled on October 20, 2012, at the corners of Hanover and Cross Streets in Boston's historic North End was designed by sculptor Harry Weber, and a full-length documentary by filmmaker Marino Amoruso based on DeMarco's autobiography Nardo: Memoirs of a Boxing Champion is in the works. DeMarco was also featured in "The Flame and Fury of Fleet Street," a segment of the documentary, Boston's North End: An Italian American Story.

DeMarco was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2019.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes71Win Stefan RedlUD10Feb 6, 1962 70Win57–12–1 Don JordanKO2 (10)Dec 19, 1961 69Loss56–12–1 Denny MoyerTKO2 (10)Feb 10, 1960 68Win56–11–1 Edward G. ConnorsUD10Apr 20, 1959 67Win55–11–1 George MonroeTKO8 (10)Mar 11, 1959 66Loss54–11–1 Virgil AkinsTKO12 (15)Jan 21, 1958 65Loss54–10–1 Virgil AkinsKO14 (15)Oct 29, 1957 64Win54–9–1 Walter ByarsMD10May 25, 1957 63Win53–9–1 Larry BoardmanUD10Mar 30, 1957 62Win52–9–1 Gaspar OrtegaUD10Feb 9, 1957 61Loss51–9–1 Gaspar OrtegaSD10Dec 21, 1956 60Loss51–8–1 Gaspar OrtegaSD10Nov 23, 1956 59Win51–7–1 Kid GavilánUD10Oct 13, 1956 58Win50–7–1 Vince MartinezUD10Jun 16, 1956 57Win49–7–1 Arthur PersleyUD10Apr 28, 1956 56Win48–7–1 Wallace Bud SmithTKO9 (10)Mar 5, 1956 55Loss47–7–1 Carmen BasilioTKO12 (15)Nov 30, 1955 54Win47–6–1 Chico VejarTKO1 (10)Sep 14, 1955 53Loss46–6–1 Carmen BasilioTKO12 (15)Jun 10, 1955 52Win46–5–1 Johnny SaxtonTKO14 (15)Apr 1, 1955 51Draw45–5–1 Jimmy CarterPTS10Feb 11, 1955 50Win45–5 Pat ManziTKO1 (10)Nov 6, 1954 49Win44–5 Chris ChristensenTKO6 (10)Sep 25, 1954 48Win43–5 George AraujoTKO5 (10)Jul 12, 1954 47Win42–5 Johnny CesarioUD10May 22, 1954 46Win41–5 Carlos ChavezUD10Apr 24, 1954 45Win40–5 Wilbur WilsonKO2 (10)Mar 15, 1954 44Win39–5 Wilbur WilsonUD10Jan 18, 1954 43Win38–5 Teddy DavisUD10Dec 12, 1953 42Win37–5 Paddy DeMarcoSD10Oct 10, 1953 41Win36–5 Chick BoucherTKO6 (10)Sep 19, 1953 40Win35–5 Bertie ConnTKO1 (10)Sep 10, 1953 39Win34–5 Terry YoungTKO5 (10)Aug 3, 1953 38Win33–5 Pat DemersTKO6 (10)Jul 18, 1953 37Win32–5 Jimmy ReddingKO2 (8)Jun 25, 1953 36Win31–5 Ken ParsleyKO6 (8)Jun 13, 1953 35Loss30–5 Gene PoirierPTS8May 15, 1952 34Loss30–4 Brian KellyUD8May 1, 1952 33Win30–3 Puggy BrownKO5 (6)Mar 6, 1952 32Win29–3 Jackie O'BrienSD8Mar 1, 1952 31Win28–3 Abdoul AliKO2 (4)Feb 26, 1952 30Win27–3 Freeman KingSD8Feb 18, 1952 29Win26–3 Julio ColonKO3 (6)Jan 26, 1952 28Win25–3 Llewellyn RichardsonPTS6Jan 15, 1952 27Win24–3 Manny SantosTKO2 (6)Dec 17, 1951 26Win23–3 Joe TorrensPTS4Dec 7, 1951 25Win22–3 Stanley HilliardKO4 (6)Nov 27, 1951 24Win21–3 Freeman KingSD6Oct 1, 1951 23Loss20–3 Chick BoucherTKO4 (4)Mar 12, 1951 22Win20–2 Reggie MartinaKO1 (4)Feb 19, 1951 21Win19–2 Larry GriffinUD8Jan 18, 1951 20Win18–2 Ken MurrayKO2 (8)Jan 11, 1951 19Win17–2 Ken MurrayUD6Dec 11, 1950 18Win16–2 Joe WrightUD6Oct 30, 1950 17Win15–2 Des ShanleyUD4Oct 9, 1950 16Win14–2 Bobby WeaverTKO3 (4)Sep 25, 1950 15Win13–2 Ricky FerreiraPTS6Sep 19, 1950 14Win12–2 Roger RinguetteTKO1 (4)Jul 10, 1950 13Win11–2 Bobby VealKO2 (6)Feb 20, 1950 12Loss10–2 Art SuffolettaRTD5 (6)Jan 9, 1950 11Win10–1 Frankie SteeleTKO3 (4)Dec 19, 1949 10Win9–1 Frankie SteeleSD4Nov 14, 1949 9Win8–1 Vic YoungTKO1 (6)Oct 21, 1949 8Loss7–1 Jay WhitePTS6Oct 7, 1949 7Win7–0 Roger LessardKO5 (6)Sep 12, 1949 6Win6–0 Ray DulmaineRTD1 (6)Feb 17, 1949 5Win5–0 Joe PalazaTKO2 (6)Jan 14, 1949 4Win4–0 George SilvaPTS6Dec 14, 1948 3Win3–0 Billy SheaTKO3 (4)Dec 10, 1948 2Win2–0 Meteor JonesKO2 (4)Nov 16, 1948 1Win1–0 Meteor JonesKO1 (6)Oct 21, 1948

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC welterweight champion (147 lbs) NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed welterweight champion

See also List of welterweight boxing champions

References

External links