Joe Antonacci (ring announcer) (born August 9, 1960 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is a noted boxing ring announcer and emcee famous for his televised boxing ring appearances in a tuxedo on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, HBO, Showtime, and GoFightLive.TV. [1] [2] Nicknamed 'Generous Joe', he donates all of his ring earnings to assist injured and retired amateur and professional boxers in need, to overcome their disabilities incurred as a result of bouts in the ring, and to amateur boxing organizations. [3] Antonacci also serves as a ring announcer for mixed martial arts fights. [4]
Antonacci has worked for all of the major promoters in boxing, including Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, Don King’s Don King Productions and North Jersey’s Main Events, headed by Kathy Duva. His adventures as a ring announcer have taken him from Madison Square Garden to Macau, China, where Antonacci announced the first ever professional fight card in that venue, from The Venetian Macao. [5] In March 2012, Antonacci was elected as a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, [6] [7] headed by boxing historian Henry Hascup. Antonacci was also nominated in 2012 for a 'Good Guy Award' from the Boxing Writer's Association of America.
Antonacci is also an award-winning comedian based in Chicago who has played the top comedy clubs in Chicago and New York City. He was a finalist in The Clean Comedy Challenge in Pasadena, California. Joe’s brand of humor appeals to audiences of all ages. Joe has appeared in over a dozen television series, films and music videos.
Antonacci is a graduate of William Paterson University with a B.A. degree in English. He resided with his wife Diane and two children in Ridgewood, New Jersey for many years before moving to Lombard, Illinois.
Ring announcer Joe Antonacci has appeared as himself in four motion pictures:
Antonacci owns the trademark to and has recreated Joe Palooka, an American comic book, formerly about a heavyweight boxing champion that debuted in 1930 and ran until the 1980s. A brand new comic book version of the character is currently being offered for sale online, created by Antonacci and his creative team. Palooka is reborn as a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter. Antonacci's team has also created a sister series of MMA-themed comic books entitled 'Legion of Combat. [11]
Joe Palooka is an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993.
James Nathaniel Toney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1993, the IBF super middleweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the IBF cruiserweight title in 2003. Toney also challenged twice for a world heavyweight title in 2005 and 2006, and was victorious the first time but was later stripped due to a failed drug test. Overall, he competed in fifteen world title fights across four weight classes.
2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named XPW Arena, New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center, New Alhambra Arena, Alhambra Arena, The Arena and Asylum Arena. It was known unofficially as ECW Arena when it was home to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 to 2001.
Bruce Anthony Buffer is an American professional mixed martial arts ring announcer and the official octagon announcer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events, introduced on broadcasts as the "Veteran Voice of the Octagon". Buffer's catchphrase is "It's time!", which he announces before the main event of a UFC card. He is the half brother of boxing and professional wrestling ring announcer Michael Buffer, and is the President and CEO of their company, The Buffer Partnership. Buffer holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do and has fought as a kickboxer.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States, on November 12, 1993. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view and later released on home video.
Rico Robles is a disc jockey and a former housemate of Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition. He has been a disc jockey for Monster Radio RX 93.1, a popular FM station, since 2001-PRESENT. He is also a registered nurse (2004).
Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009. He also held the IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011. BoxRec ranks Adamek as the third greatest Polish boxer of all time, pound for pound. He is the first Polish boxer to win The Ring title.
Frederick Steven Roach is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Roach is widely regarded as one of the best boxing trainers of all time. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, five-time and four-division world champion Miguel Cotto, former WBC middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr., three-time world champion James Toney, former UFC middleweight and two-time welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, as well as top prospects Jose Benavidez, Peter Quillin, and Vanes Martirosyan. Roach was the trainer of two-time women's world champion Lucia Rijker. He has also trained former light welterweight champion Amir Khan.
Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai or Yodsanan Sityodtong a.k.a. Yodsanan 3-K Battery is a Thai professional boxer in the super featherweight division. Yodsanan is a former WBA super featherweight champion, a title he held from 2002 to 2005.
Travis Jon Fulton was an American mixed martial artist and a professional boxer in the heavyweight division of both sports. Known as a longtime veteran in mixed martial arts, he competed in over 300 sanctioned bouts and while he was perhaps best known for competing in smaller US-based promotions, he also competed in the UFC, the USWF, the WEC, Pancrase, M-1 Global, the Chicago Red Bears of the IFL, King of the Cage, RINGS, and Oktagon MMA. He also holds the record for the most sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts, with 320 bouts; in addition to that, he also holds the most wins in mixed martial arts history (255).
A ring announcer is an in-ring employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience.
In combat sports such as boxing and MMA, an orthodox stance, also known as a northpaw stance, is one in which the fighter places their left foot in front, thus placing their left side closer to the opponent. Because it places the right side in the rear, the orthodox stance can allow for more rotation and distance to accelerate right sided strikes, in turn generating more power. This makes it the most common stance in boxing, as well as MMA, and primarily used by right-handed fighters.
Eric David Scott Esch, better known by his nickname "Butterbean", is an American retired professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler who competed in the heavyweight division. Overall, he is a four time World Champion. He is also a television personality. Esch became a professional boxer in 1994 after a successful stint on the Toughman Contest scene and went on to capture the World Athletic Association (WAA) heavyweight and IBA super heavyweight championships. From 2003, he regularly fought as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist, notably in K-1 and the Pride Fighting Championships. Esch's combined fight record is 97–24–5 with 65 knockouts and 9 submissions.
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Bret "Hollywood" Freeman is an American/British MMA ring announcer. He works for many major Boxing and MMA promotions across Europe and the Middle East including Goodwin Promotions, Matchroom, Cage Rage UK's Ultimate Challenge, Cage Warriors, Cage Contender, IFPA and others. He is known for his flamboyant dress and his trademark catch phrase "It's Go Time". He has been seen on live and pre-recorded televised MMA events in more than 70 countries.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners. It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.
Joe Palooka in the Big Fight is a 1949 comedy film directed by Cy Endfield, based on the comic strip by Ham Fisher. It is an entry in Monogram's Joe Palooka series.
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