Boxer admits to how he altered gloves

Gygax · 04-04-2008, 01:36 PM

Here's a kick in the teeth to the sweet science. Granted, this is over 25 years old, but its a sad story nonetheless. Neither fighter, Luis Resto or Billy Collins Jr, ever fought again. This fight was on the undercard of the Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore at Madison Square Garden on ABC Sports. I vaguely remember some of the aftermath of this. Resto's trainer was very talented, but had multiple accusations tossed at him, including that he used an illegal drink to revive Aaron Pryor in his title fight against Alexis Arguello and this incident which lead to his lifetime ban from the sport in the US.

Quote:

Former welterweight Luis Resto has acknowledged that the beating he gave the late Billy Collins Jr. in 1983 -- in which, over 10 rounds, he pounded Collins with tampered gloves that each had two inches of padding removed -- was even worse than previously believed.

Resto, at a news conference on Thursday in New York, acknowledged that the tape used to wrap his hands in that fight had been soaked in plaster of Paris, giving him a pair of hardened casts underneath his unpadded gloves.

Collins suffered from blurred vision and depression after the June 16, 1983 fight. He died in a car accident about nine months later.

The admission, which Resto made to Collins' widow, Andrea Collins-Nile, last year during the filming of a documentary about the scandal, has led to a motion to re-open a civil suit against the State of New York over its failure to prevent the beating. The legal filing was also announced Thursday.

Eric Drath, who directed "Cornered," the documentary about the fight and its tragic aftermath, said it was a "heinous and tragic crime" that needed to be retold, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean.

"It happened in a much more brutal way" than had previously believed, Drath said. "Worse than bare knuckles, it was plaster."

Resto and his trainer, Panama Lewis, were convicted of assault and conspiracy and served jail time after a jury found they had tampered with the gloves. Both men were banned from boxing.

But a civil trial over the state boxing commission's failure to prevent the beating resulted in a hung jury and was dismissed by a federal claims court judge. Collins-Nile's motion at U.S. District Court in Albany seeks to re-open the case.

"Ultimately I'm not Resto's judge," Collins-Nile said, according to the New York Daily News. "The boxing commission was negligent. They were there to protect my ex-husband and they did not."

Mark Thompson, the lawyer representing Collins-Nile in the case, said he is hopeful Resto's confession will convince a judge to re-open the case, according to the Daily News. The wraps were never confiscated after the fight, but Drath believes that Resto might still have them.

Last summer, during a visit to Nashville in conjunction with the filming of "Cornered," Resto confessed to Collins' widow that the wraps had been doctored. He said he could no longer live with the secret.

"I should have said something. I lived with it for 24 years. I had to let it go. I'm sorry I kept my mouth shut," Resto said, according to The Tennessean. "I went to see Collins' ex-wife. She accepted my apology. I went to the cemetery, too, to show my respect to Billy Collins. I told Billy, 'I'm sorry for what I did to you.' "

Collins-Nile said Resto's appearance and confession came as a surprise.

"Resto was kinda sprung on me when [Drath] came down to do his interviews. I didn't even know he was here," she said, according to The Tennessean. "Resto was pretty much crying and said he didn't murder Billy.

"During the fight, Billy told [his father and trainer Billy Collins Sr.] it felt like he was getting hit with rocks," she added. "Now we know he really was getting hit with rocks. It was that much worse."

It was Collins' father who, during a post-fight handshake, discovered that Resto's gloves had been tampered with and alerted a state boxing commissioner. He is not planning to watch the documentary about his late son, which will premiere on April 20 at a Nashville theater.

"My boy would have been world champion. He would have been great," he said, according to The Tennessean. "I fought it for 20 years and couldn't beat the system. I just gave up on it. It shoulda been an open and shut case, but there was no justice. It's still hounding me."

T-Bone · 04-04-2008, 01:43 PM

Damn...how did Colllins not know he was being beat with two casts?

Crashsti · 04-04-2008, 01:45 PM

Wow....and to think some of us are in an uproar about a fighter faking a touch of gloves to throw a kick. This is seriously screwed up. PLASTER PARIS on the hand wraps minus padding, not cool.

Gygax · 04-04-2008, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bone

Damn...how did Colllins not know he was being beat with two casts?

He just thought the guy hit like a brick, figuritively not literally!

Like I said, I vaguely remember the fight as I would rarely miss boxing on ABC's Wide World of Sports. And with Duran fighting, I was definitely watching this. Duran fought Hagler and Hearns in his next two fights. The broadcasts back then were excellent.

T-Bone · 04-04-2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gygax

He just thought the guy hit like a brick, figuritively not literally!

Like I said, I vaguely remember the fight as I would rarely miss boxing on ABC's Wide World of Sports. And with Duran fighting, I was definitely watching this. Duran fought Hagler and Hearns in his next two fights. The broadcasts back then were excellent.

But ya gotta believe he had to suspect something, no?

Speaking of boxing from yesteryear, a guy I know mentioned the Ron Lyle v. Earnie Shavers fight (from 1975) the other day. I wasn't quite old enough to enjoy that one but that's where youtube comes in to play. Have you ever seen that slugfest?

Embedding disabled...Resto v. Collins (part 1 of 5)
YouTube - Billy Collins vs. Luis Resto 1/5

twigz · 04-04-2008, 02:51 PM

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Originally Posted by T-Bone

Damn...how did Colllins not know he was being beat with two casts?

He did.

Quote:

"During the fight, Billy told [his father and trainer Billy Collins Sr.] it felt like he was getting hit with rocks," she added. "Now we know he really was getting hit with rocks. It was that much worse."

It was Collins' father who, during a post-fight handshake, discovered that Resto's gloves had been tampered with and alerted a state boxing commissioner. He is not planning to watch the documentary about his late son, which will premiere on April 20 at a Nashville theater.

That is one messed up story!

T-Bone · 04-04-2008, 02:56 PM

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Originally Posted by twigz

He did.

That is one messed up story!

Yeah, that is really messed up.

I meant suspect it to the point that it was definitive (or near so) and would be looked into...before he took all that punishment. Poor bastard!

theEmpiric · 04-04-2008, 03:23 PM

Wow that is a horrible story.

Reminds me of a CSI crime where someone injected some sort of metal into their gloves, and killed a guy with the added power.

T-Bone · 04-04-2008, 03:29 PM

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Originally Posted by theEmpiric

Wow that is a horrible story.

Reminds me of a CSI crime where someone injected some sort of metal into their gloves, and killed a guy with the added power.

Or on Oz when Ryan O'Reilly drugged up the water bottle of Pancamo so his brother Cyril, the big underdog, could win.

Crashsti · 04-04-2008, 03:33 PM

i wonder how he got away with it? Did they not have an athletic commision overseeing the tapping of the hands of inspecting the gloves? I can't imagine that being something that people could get away with now. At least not at the highest level.

RampageMcKellar · 04-05-2008, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bone

Or on Oz when Ryan O'Reilly drugged up the water bottle of Pancamo so his brother Cyril, the big underdog, could win.

Oz is a sweet show Cyril had a mean punch. This story is sad, gotta feel for the guy that took the beating.

FatCat · 04-05-2008, 02:21 PM

Maaan, I can't even watch that fight. That's horrible.