By Eric Bottjer
JOE MAFFIA, 66, former controller for Don King Productions, died at his Manhattan home in August. His death was not expected, but reports state he passed “peacefully.” Maffia worked for King from 1986-1991 and was a key witness in King’s fraud trial, where the promoter was charged with insurance fraud and financial misconduct. A judge declared a mistrial because of a dead-locked jury and King was never re-charged. Maffia, a New Yorker, was a lifelong accountant who also lectured at Mercer College and Hunter College.
CASIMIRO MARTINEZ, 79, Spanish heavyweight, died in June. Martinez, fighting out of Santander, won his country’s heavyweight title in 1972, just one year after turning pro. Martinez defended that belt a year later, avenging a previous loss. But his in-ring celebration quickly ended when his father, who had entered the ring to celebrate with his son, collapsed from heart failure. He died that night, an episode that affected Martinez greatly. When he lost the Spanish belt to rising KO puncher Jose Urtain, Martinez retired. He was just 30 years old, but it was his third straight loss.
NICK MARTINEZ, 50, California middleweight, died in July after falling from a freeway overpass in Baldwin Park. There was no evidence if foul play. Martinez was 16-2 (7 KOs) from 1996-2001. Martinez began boxing at age 17 in an attempt to curtail his own gang activities.
VANES MARTIROSYAN, 39, Armenian welterweight who fought on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, died in November in a Los Angeles hospital after a two-year battle with melanoma. Martirosyan was 36-4-1 (21 KOs) over a 13-year career, losing three title shots, including his last match where he took on middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin on a few days notice. Martirosyan was born in Armenia, but made his home in Glendale, California (his family moved there when Vanes was 4 years old). Martirosyan leaves a wife and two children.
TSUNESHI MARUO, 101, Hawaiian bantamweight, died in July. Mauro was a national amateur champion in 1946, turning pro that year and going 15-4-2 (6 KOs) in a four-year career. Marou spent his post-boxing career as a crane operator, a firefighter and barber.
JOEL MAYO, 53, Chilean welterweight, died in July when he was stabbed to death while arguing with a neighbor in Villarrica. Mayo was 41-13 (25 KOs) from 1997-2008, debuting as a featherweight and finishing a middleweight. He won his country’s welterweight title in 2004. Mayo was working as a security guard at the time of his death.
MIKE McCALLUM, 68, legendary multi-weight champion who was avoided by many of boxing’s major stars, died in May in Las Vegas, where he had resided for decades. McCallum was a master boxer-puncher, known as “The Body Snatcher” for his lethal inside game and touted as Jamaica’s greatest ever boxer. McCallum won titles at light-middleweight (in 1984), middleweight (1988) and light-heavyweight, an era known for the dominance of “The Four Kings:” Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran. None of the kings fought McCallum, who established himself as the top light-middleweight in 1987 with his one-punch knockout over Donald Curry and later staked his claim as No. 1 middleweight with wins over Sumba Kalambay and Michael Watson. His 1991 draw with James Toney was a classic – the pair rematched in 1992 and Toney won a disputed decision. McCallum was high-risk and low-reward for the era’s top fighters – the Body Snatcher was not a ticket seller or pay-per-view magnet, so his fellow greats had no incentive to fight him. McCallum didn’t help his efforts to meet the best by avoiding signing long-term agreements with top promoters and managers. McCallum was 49-5-1 (36 KOs) from 1981-1997, with three of his losses coming in his final four fights. He trained pros in Vegas for much of his retirement.
ALDOLPHOUS “Doc” McCLENDON, 76, New Jersey lightweight, died in August in Wayne after a five-year battle with Parkinsons and dementia. McClendon claimed two New Jersey Golden Gloves titles in the 1960s and was 13-22-2 (5 KOs) in a pro career spanning from 1968-1982. The record is deceptive – he lost a split decision to Roberto Duran in a 10-round non-title fight in 1973 during Duran’s lightweight title reign. McClendon also dropped decisions to Esteban DeJesus and Saoul Mamby. In retirement, McClendon was a driver for the Diocese of Paterson.
RICHARD McTAGGERT, 89, Scottish Olympic gold medal winner, died in March. McTaggert was one of 18 children. He dropped out of school at age 14 and began boxing in the military. McTaggert won his gold in 1956, as well as the Val Barker Trophy for the Melbourne games for being that Olympic’s most outstanding boxer. McTaggert claimed an incredible 634 amateur fights. He never turned pro, retiring in 1965 after winning a bronze in the 1960 Olympics and coming up short in the Tokyo Games in 1964. He is considered by many the greatest amateur fighter ever from the United Kingdom. A French opponent described him as a “ballet dancer with dynamite in his fists.” McTaggert coached boxing after his own rin career ended and he worked a variety of jobs, including “rodent exterminator,” a pressman at a local newspaper and a Rolls Royce repairman.
BRUCE McTAVISH, 84, longtime referee for WBC Asian title fights, died in July at his home in The Philippines. McTavish, a New Zealander, was a resident of Angeles City for many years and became a Filipino citizen in 2018. McTavish was a referee from 1989-2019, and also supervised WBO regional title fights and worked as a judge a well. McTavish refereed six early Manny Pacquiao fights, all in the Philippines.
WALBERSON MELENDEZ, 29, Dominican super-featherweight, died in a motorcycle accident in June in the Dominican Republic. An 11-year-old boy riding with Melendez survived the crash. Melendez was 15-0 (14 KOs) when he passed (only one of his opponents had a winning record).
BRYAN MEMBREY, 91, Australian lightweight, passed in August “peacefully in his sleep.” Membrey, from Melbourne, went 16-4 (2 KOs) in a 20-month career that began in February 1953. Membrey lost to George Bracken on cuts for the Australian lightweight title in June 1955, and when cuts derailed a comeback fight seven months later, he called it a career. He worked for decades as a local boxing judge and also was a fine painter.
PACO MENDEZ, 87, Spanish super-welterweight, died in March. Mendez was 17-3-5 (5 KOs) from 1958-1964, retiring after failing to unseat Spanish super-welterweight champion Cesareo Barrera in his final two fights (the first being a draw; the second a 12-round decision).
MARK MEYER, 77, beloved Nebraska ringside physician, died in August in a plane crash. Meyer founded and ran his own clinic for 40 years in Kearney, Nebraska.
ALBERT MILLS, 67, New Jersey light-middleweight, passed in February. “Steel” Mills went 14-2 (10 KO’s) in a 21-month career that began in January 1981. Albert retired on a 6-fight win streak to work in Plainfield public schools as a security officer. In 2001 he began a community group designed the discourage youth from owning handguns after his sone was murdered. He retired from the Plainfield school system in 2013 and moved to Georgia with his son, Albert Jr.
DON MINER, 87, Nevada welterweight, died in August in Utah. Miner, a Philadelphia native who settled in Nevada during his pro career, was 21-12 (9 KOs) from 1961-1965. Miner looked on the cusp of moving into the world ratings in 1965 when he beat unbeaten Ernie Lopez (brother of Danny “Little Red” Lopez) in Las Vegas over 12 rounds for a regional title. But he was stopped in his next fight by an “opponent” and he never fought again. Miner worked for Clark County as a truant officer after boxing.
VICTOR MIROSHNICHENKO, 66, Ukrainian Olympian, died in December. Miroshnichenko won the flyweight silver medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A Ukrainian boxing federation announced the death and noted Miroshnichenko had been undergoing treatments for an unnamed disease. He had a reported amateur mark of 360-56. He never turned pro.
DAVE MOONEY, 93, Scottish light-heavyweight, died in October at home, five weeks after he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Mooney was 12-4 (8 KOs) from 1956-1958, retiring after failed attempts in his final two fights to win British and European titles. Mooney was his country’s amateur champion when he turned pro in 1956. Mooney worked as a “door man” in retirement (in the U.S., he would have been a “bouncer”), and also trained amateurs for many years.
MATTHEW MOORE, 25, Dallas amateur, was killed four days before Christmas when he was shot to death in the afternoon at a stairwell near an apartment complex. Reports indicated no suspect, nor did it state if Moore resided at the complex where he was found. Family members emphasized that Moore was unarmed at the time of his murder.
STEVE MORMINO, 68, St. Louis heavyweight, died in May at his Pontoon Beach, Illinois, home. Mormino was 13-17-2 (7 KOs) from 1979-1990. Mormino began boxing in the Navy, where he had four amateur bouts. He turned pro after leaving the service. Mormino went the distance with future world champions Glenn McCrory and Lee Roy Murphy.
STEVE MORROW, 70, California judge, died in November from cancer. Morrow was a top WBC judge based out of California. A former Gilroy police officer, Morrow climbed the ranks from the bottom up, working in California’s amateur system for years before being tabbed to work pro undercards. In less than two years after his first pro show in 2001, Morrow was doing a world title fight. He worked until October of this year, judging a WBC female flyweight title fight in Texas, just three weeks before he passed.
JANKS MORTON, 85, Maryland trainer, passed away in November after battling dementia. Morton was best-known as an assistant trainer for Sugar Ray Leonard and he also worked with Larry Donald and Razor Ruddock. Morton was a superior athlete, playing football at Truman State University (where he sparred with fellow Bulldog Ken Norton, who also played football there). The University inducted Morton into its sports hall of fame in 1989. Morton played semipro football before settling in his hometown of Cincinnati to sell insurance. He moved to Maryland in the 1970s, where he met Leonard as an amateur and introduced him to Mike Trainer, who managed Ray as a pro.
MOSES MTHEMBU, 88, South African lightweight, died in October after a lengthy illness. Mthembu was 34-26-5 (8 KOs) from 1967-1982, going 5-5-3 his first three years. Mthembu then went unbeaten in 13 fights and challenged for his country’s “non-white” lightweight championships (mixed-raced bouts were banned in South Africa during this time), losing by 11th round stoppage. He won the title in 1974 on this third attempt and in 1981, when boxers were allowed to fight freely regardless of race, won his country’s lightweight belt. Known as “Easter Monday,” after a victory he garnered early in his career on that day, Mthembu competed during a golden era in South African boxing and his passing was noted in the country’s national news.
JOHN MUNDUGA, 64, Ugandan welterweight, passed in September. Munduga was 25-5 (18 KOs) from 1981-1989, but any thought of being a contender was scuttled by losses to Mark Breland and Darrin Van Horn. Munduga and Breland were unbeaten when they met on national TV in 1986 in Atlantic City. Breland dominated the match. Munduga came back after a “tune-up” to meet another unbeaten American on TV, but the then 35-0 Van Horn stopped Munduga and ended his flirtation with a world rating. Munduga moved to Germany, lost three more times within one year (all by stoppage) and retired. Munduga fought in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and was turned pro by English boxing legend Micky Duff, who had also signed Munduga’s Ugandan Olympic teammate, John Mugabi. Munduga worked as an amateur trainer after retirement, which one report described Munduga’s later years as “challenging.”
