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Paul Spadafora hopes for Mayweather shot
Since returning from a seven-month stay at Transitions Recovery Program in Florida last summer after nearly overdosing on heroin, Spadafora has been on the fast-track to resuscitate his once luminous boxing career. After severing ties with long-time manager Al McCauley and promoter Michael Acri in July to rejoin ex-trainer Yankello, new manager Robert Ortense, advisor Joe Horn and Troy Ridgley of TNT Promotions (a company advised by Roy Jones Jr.), the former IBF lightweight champion has scored unanimous decisions over Humberto Toledo and Solomon Egberime to remain undefeated (47-0-1, 19 KOs).
Spadafora can't help but agree. Many of the tattoos that stretch across his sinewy frame reveal an ominous timeline of tragedy and pain. The most significant artwork covers the space on his left forearm. It serves as a permanent reminder of the only opponents to hand him losses, the only adversaries to push him toward multiple arrests and the near-shooting death of a past girlfriend. "Right there is the word 'Truth,' and it's surrounded by an ecstasy pill, crack pipe, needle and [heroin] stamp bag, and a gun," he says, tracing over the images with his finger. "All of these things nearly ruined my life."
Spadafora grew up the second oldest of three boys,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], outside of Pittsburgh, in an area aptly called The Bottoms, a hardened, blue-collar McKees Rocks neighborhood that hugs the banks of the Ohio River. His earliest childhood memory includes the sound of a bullet piercing through the family room window as he took a bath. When Spadafora was 9, his father,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Silvio, died of a drug overdose. Following the funeral, Spadafora temporarily lived with his stepmom before returning to his biological mother, Annie, who had substance abuse problems of her own. His older brother, Harry, took over as the surrogate parent.
Through it all, sports were an escape from his chaotic home life. Spadafora excelled at youth football and basketball. Since it was rare for a relative to attend any of his games, he was initially happy when another adult -- a coach -- began to take an interest in him. The man bought Spadafora shoes,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], gave him rides around town and paid to have braces put on his teeth. These were unaffordable luxuries that eventually enticed Spadafora to move in with the coach just before he entered the seventh grade.
As Spadafora gained direction in the ring, his life unraveled on the streets. On the night of Dec. 24, 1994, Spadafora was a passenger in a car that crashed into a telephone pole after a failed attempt to outrun police. Both he and the driver were inebriated. An officer approached and accidentally discharged his gun,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], lodging a bullet into Spadafora's left leg. Olympic Boxing Team. "Paul has always had issues to deal with," Yankello says. "Everything in his [personal] life had been so scattered, but when he got into the gym he was completely focused. He always trained like a madman."
After nine months of intensive therapy following the shooting, that's exactly what Spadafora did. He returned to Pecora, shook off the rust and made his professional debut on Oct. 18, 1995, gutting out a four-round unanimous decision over Steve Maddux. With his first victory in hand, Spadafora surged up the IBF lightweight ladder,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], winning his next 14 fights, with eight knockouts. "I was always on the undercard in the beginning, and when I looked out I wouldn't see or hear too many people," he says. "I always knew that if I wanted to fight in front of fans, I needed to be the main event."
Spadafora would eventually get his chance, but he'd have to do it without the guidance of his greatest influence. Pecora passed away from a stroke in July 1997, a death that cost him a sage mentor and a father figure. But with his next fight only weeks away, Spadafora had little time to mourn the loss, so he pushed forward with Yankello. had always said Paul was really good and would be a great pro," Yankello says. "I always knew he had it -- the ingredients and potential to go really far, to be a champion."
Spadafora strung together a few more victories before getting past the biggest challenge of his career -- veteran Rocky Martinez. In spite of Spadafora winning via unanimous decision, a relatively lackluster performance prompted ESPN2 Friday Night Fights commentator Max Kellerman to call him "a B-level fighter." The criticism made Spadafora hungry. "I was overweight before the bout and had to lose it, and it was a depressing fight," he says. "[Kellerman] was right that night, but what he said put a fire in my belly and drove me to another level."
That level was experienced by Israel Cardona on Aug. 20, 1999 for the IBF's vacant lightweight crown. Spadafora emphatically manhandled the 5-to-1 favorite en route to winning a 12-round unanimous decision and a world championship. The belt was his finish line, a culmination of the blood, sweat and tears he had shed throughout a childhood he almost didn't survive. "I remember round-by-round winning every second of that fight,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," he says. "Boom, Boom, Boom . here he comes! Bap, Bap, Bap! For all of the struggle and everything I went through growing up, it was to be there in that moment."
Spadafora retained his title with a TKO victory over Renato Cornett. He continued to roll the next two years with wins over Victoriano Sosa, Mike Griffith, Billy Irwin, Angel Manfredy and Dennis Holbaek Pedersen to capture the IBC lightweight title. Spadafora regularly was called "The Pittsburgh Kid," a nickname once shared by Pecora and Billy Conn, the city's last champion from more than a half-century earlier. He was even dubbed Pittsburgh's fourth franchise behind the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins.
But he wasn't scared enough to quit. Spadafora started using cocaine without his girlfriend and even stepped up the habit with ecstasy and crack. After a while, he even began taking drugs while training for big fights, making his blood-soaked unification bout draw against WBA champion Leonard Dorin even more unbelievable. "Paul was pissing blood the week leading to the fight," Yankello says. "I found out later on that he was doing drugs during training camp. I used to think it was just the alcohol, but I noticed he started doing other drugs. If he would have been clean, he would have destroyed [Dorin]."
Spadafora relinquished his IBF and IBC lightweight belts in June 2003 and moved to the more manageable 140-pound junior welterweight division. Acri hoped to put together a rematch against Dorin or a monster matchup with Mayweather or Arturo Gatti. The next month, under the advisement of management, Spadafora replaced Yankello and co-trainer Jesse Reid -- two close people in his inner circle -- with legendary trainer Emanuel Steward. "Paul was so strong-armed, manipulated and influenced by the rest of his team that he made that decision based on stuff he didn't know," Yankello says. "It was upsetting, but I truly don't blame him for some of the pressure he was going through."
That pressure eventually led to the most traumatic moment of his life. In the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2003, after a night of heavy drinking, Russo drove Spadafora's Hummer over a median strip while pulling into a McKees Rock's gas station, slashing two tires. According to newspaper reports, Russo would later testify that they engaged in a heated argument. Panicked, she pulled Spadafora's .38 revolver from her purse and aimed it at him. A tussle ensued for control and the gun accidentally went off, sending a bullet into Russo, an inch below her right breast. The footage was captured on a gas station surveillance video.
While awaiting trial in September 2004, Spadafora was charged with public drunkenness, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct in Mercer County. He spent two months behind bars before his February 2005 court date for the Russo shooting. Due to sparse evidence and Russo's refusal to testify against Spadafora, he pleaded guilty only to second degree assault. Judge Jeffrey Manning sentenced him to seven months at Camp Hill Penitentiary and an additional six months at Quehanna Boot Camp in Karthaus,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Pa. "I remember looking out into the yard thinking 'This is ridiculous,'" he says. "I was a world champion. I was on HBO only months earlier."
Spadafora set his sights on making a comeback after his release from prison. However, after nearly destroying his career, he would have to start from ground zero. Following a 32-month layoff, Spadafora returned to the ring on Nov. 22, 2006, to face Frankie Zepeda in the ballroom at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, Pa. Spadafora won by TKO in five rounds. "My promoter [Acri] told me we were gonna take a [purse] cut and fight in this ballroom, and I didn't understand why I wasn't back on TV," he says. "These other fighters went to jail and they'd get back on TV quickly, and I was like 'Why am I in a ballroom?'"
Over the next three years, Spadafora handily beat six more journeymen to remain undefeated. Nevertheless,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], time continued to tick away and he felt increasingly frustrated that he wasn't getting the big-money bouts he thought he deserved. He was no longer living the lavish lifestyle of a world boxing champion and was forced to sell his home and Hummer. "I started having trouble looking in the mirror,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],'" Spadafora says. "I was always depressed, never had any money and was never fighting nobody. I didn't have any hope."
It wasn't until January 2011 that he felt a renewed sense of optimism upon learning that his name was being shopped around as a potential opponent for Mayweather. "[Floyd Jr.] would love to do that with Spadafora," he said. "As a matter of fact, Spadafora is trying to get the money right now. That's what he needs. If he needs the money, he can get it. If he needs a whupping, he can get it and a whupping he's going to get."
Spadafora sank into a deep depression that fall and was arrested twice in two months for driving under the influence of alcohol. Months behind on child support payments, he squatted in an abandoned apartment that lacked heat,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], running water and electricity. Each day he'd cry, snort cocaine, smoke crack and then cry some more as he pondered the desultory path of his career and the systematic deterioration of his life. He'd rest an AK-47 assault rifle on his lap and gaze at it for hours. He was a lot like the gun -- loaded and dangerous. "I was ready to rob and kill a drug dealer," he says. "I had it justified in my mind."
Following a heroin binge that nearly killed him, Spadafora had a moment of clarity. He needed help, and fast. Desperate, he reached out to a friend with connections at the local chapter of the Pittsburgh Boilermaker's Union. Through the Union's financial backing, Spadafora was offered a paid sponsorship at Transitions Recovery Program. The plush North Miami Beach rehabilitation center served a clientele that included Hollywood celebs and professional athletes. Without hesitation, he boarded a plane for Florida the next morning.
Spadafora no longer lives life at Formula One speed. As he prepares for Frankel, he spars, runs, eats, sleeps and then wakes up to repeat the entire cycle. Yankello's younger brother, TNT Chief Operations Officer Mark Yankello, is looking forward to Saturday's fight. "Paul realizes he doesn't have room for error," he says. "Frankel has nothing to lose and has wanted this fight forever but, like fine wine, Paul has gotten better over time. He certainly looks like he can beat the best fighters in the world right now."
Spadafora has no designs to circumvent the gorier details of his past as long as his mistakes can be used as a teaching tool. "I will talk about all of this stuff because there are guys like me in this world who are [messed] up," he says. "They have no mother, no father, but they have something like a boxing gym. I'm gonna to be real -- I was a criminal! I was arrested for the first time when I was 12 years old, and what did I do? I headed to the boxing gym. Anything I can do to help another person would be great."
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