Tony Fulilangi

Last updated
Tony Fulilangi
Born
Sonatane Fulilangi

(1960-03-25) March 25, 1960 (age 64)
Tonga
NationalityTongan
Other namesTongan Torpedo
Statistics
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights42
Wins36
Wins by KO33
Losses4
Draws2

Tony Fulilangi (born March 25, 1960) is a former heavyweight boxer from Tonga. He has fought Bert Cooper, and Jimmy Young. He also once fought George Foreman. He is also a boxing coach and has coached Paea Wolfgramm.

Contents

Background

Fulilangi was born Sonatane Fulilangi in Tonga. [1]

Prior to his career Fulilangi attended Brigham Young University in Hawaii where he had been offered a track and field scholarship. He dropped out and didn't do much of anything for a couple of years until he decided to go to Phoenix to visit his brother. He went to a boxing gym there and punched the coach. After that he went to Al Fenn's gym and had a bit of similar trouble there when sparring with a former Golden Glove champion. His first amateur fights were all won by knockout before the second round had finished. Fulilangi's change from an amateur boxer to pro came about when he went to Hawaii to visit his sister. He had a fight in a Honolulu gym with the best heavyweight in Hawaii. He beat him and was offered a pro fight. On his first fight he beat his opponent by knocking him out in the first round. The following six pro fight saw Fulilangi knocking his opponent out before the second round was up. Fenn would play a part in straightening out the young Fulilangi somewhat. [2]

Career

By the age of 24, Fulilangi was based in Arizona and managed by Al Fenn. [3]

1981 to 1984

In 1981, Fulilangi had eight fights and won all of them. On June 17, he fought Marcellus Pake Dudoit in Honolulu and knocked him out in the first round. On August 3, he fought Memo Soto and knocked him out in the third. The next two fights he had were against Tim Lampkin and Brady Wills. He won both of them by TKO. He beat Charles Smith in the first round in a fight that took place in Phoenix on October 13. He fought Tim Lampkin again in Phoenix on November 17. he knocked him out in the first round. The last two fights he had that year were against Larry Ware and J D Hall. Fulilangi won both of the fights by knockout. [4]

In 1983, Fulilangi was set to fight Jimmy Young on July 31 at the Phoenix Civic Plaza. The fight was rescheduled. Fulilangi at the time had a record of 22-0-1 with 21 knockouts. His last fight had been with state heavyweight champion Tony Perea on May 16, and the fight was a draw. [5] Young had health issues and Vince Giorno, the manager for Young asked for the fight to be postponed. Because he had previously asked for a postponement, National Sports Concepts promoter Tom Donato decided to cancel the fight. [6] On September 22 that year, Fulilangi suffered his first loss as a professional when Monte Masters beat him in the tenth round. The fight was stopped by referee Lew Eskin after Masters had Fulilangi pinned against the ropes and was landing punches for nearly a minute. [7] Fulilangi was referred to by The Los Angeles Times as the Mike Tyson of Masters's day. [8]

1985 to 1988

On November 1, 1985, Fulilangi went up against Jimmy Young at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The fight lasted ten rounds and Fulilangi won by narrow decision. [9]

In late 1986, having had 41 fights with 39 of them wins, he fought and won against Dean Waters in Sydney, Australia, and picked up the South Pacific heavyweight title. [10] [11]

He fought George Foreman in 1988 and Foreman beat him by TKO in the second round. [12] [13] Fulilangi said that he took a dive in the fight. This was his own decision. After being floored by Foreman twice, he was jabbed at by Foreman and then went under his swinging right hand and sat down. Foreman commented on what Fulilangi had said and mentioned fighters getting a whipping and deciding if they want to continue. [14] After his fight with Foreman, Fulilangi retired. [15]

Coaching

In 1996, he was Paea Wolframm's coach. [16] In 2011, he was the coach for Viliami Latu who at the time was rated #17 in the AIBA top 20. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Cooney</span> American boxer (born 1956)

Gerald Arthur Cooney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1990. He challenged twice for world heavyweight titles in 1982 and 1987. He is widely regarded as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history.He beat Ken Norton and S. T. Gordon and Ron Lyle and Jimmy Young late in their careers. He boasts an impressive 85.7% knockout to win percentage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Foreman</span> American boxer (born 1949)

George Edward Foreman is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997 and was nicknamed "Big George". He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archie Moore</span> American professional boxer (1913–1998)

Archie Moore was an American catch wrestler and professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time. He had one of the longest professional careers in the history of the sport, competing from 1935 to 1963. Nicknamed "The Mongoose", and then "The Old Mongoose" in the latter half of his career, Moore was a highly strategic and defensive boxer. As of December 2020, BoxRec ranks Moore as the third greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time. He also ranks fourth on The Ring's list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". Moore was also a trainer for a short time after retirement, training Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Bob Foster, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Earnie Shavers and James Tillis.

Jimmy Young was an American heavyweight professional boxer. Young was known for his awkward, defensive style and counterpunching. He was one of the top contenders of the 1970s, losing a controversial unanimous decision against Muhammad Ali in 1976 and earning a victory over George Foreman in 1977. Young fought many other significant fighters of his era, including twice outpointing Ron Lyle and losing only by a split decision to then-number one contender Ken Norton in a title eliminator in late 1977. Fellow boxerBobby Watts was his cousin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Moorer</span> American boxer

Michael Lee Moorer is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to 1991; compiling 22 straight KOs in 22 fights and the WBO heavyweight title from 1992 to 1993; the unified WBA, IBF and lineal heavyweight titles in 1994; and regained the IBF heavyweight title again from 1996 to 1997 becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earnie Shavers</span> American boxer (1944–2022)

Earnie Dee Shaver, best known as Earnie Shavers, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1969 and 1995. A two-time world heavyweight championship challenger, he is known as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight boxing history. He scored 70 knockout wins, including 23 in the first round, for a 76.7% overall knockout rate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Lyle</span> American boxer (1941–2011)

Ronald David Lyle was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Known for his punching power, crowd-pleasing fighting style, and his courage and determination in the ring, Lyle defeated Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Vicente Rondón, Earnie Shavers, Joe Bugner, Gregorio Peralta and Scott LeDoux, but is best known for his fight against George Foreman in 1976, which was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Saddler</span> American boxer (1926–2001)

Joseph "Sandy" Saddler was an American professional boxer. He was a two-time featherweight world champion, having also held the super featherweight title. Over his twelve-year career (1944–56), Saddler scored 104 knockouts and was stopped only once himself, in his second professional fight, by Jock Leslie. Considered to be one of the hardest hitting featherweights, Saddler was ranked number five on The Ring magazine's list of "100 Greatest Punchers of All Time". His nephew is Grandmaster Flash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Briggs</span> American boxer and actor

Shannon Briggs is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1992 and 2016. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title from 2006 to 2007. Briggs was known for his formidable punching power and aggression, possessing an 88.3% knockout-to-win percentage with 37 knockout wins in the first round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Savarese</span> American boxer (born 1965)

Lou Savarese is an American former professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed 1989 to 2013. He is from Greenwood Lake, New York. In January 1996, Savrese won IBF USBA Heavyweight title by knocking out former contender Buster Mathis Jr. in seven rounds. On April 26, 1997, he challenged for the Lineal Heavyweight Championship, and lost by a controversial split decision to the Lineal World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman. A year later on June 25, 1998, Savarese won the IBA World Heavyweight title against former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Buster Douglas by way of a first-round knockout. On June 24, 2000, he lost by a first-round technical knockout to former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson. On September 22, 2002, Savarese won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title, by way of a fifth-round TKO against former two-time World Heavyweight Champion Tim Witherspoon. On June 30, 2007, Savarese fought former four-time World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield. He fought with great heart but lost by unanimous decision to a sharp looking Holyfield. Savarese announced after the fight that he had given it his all but it wasn't good enough, and this would be his last bout.

Tony Tubbs is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2006, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1985 to 1986.

Ray Anderson was a boxer in the light heavyweight division who fought from 1965 to 1977. Anderson became the first challenger to last fifteen rounds against Bob Foster for the world Light Heavyweight title, but he lost what was his only world title try by decision. Anderson currently lives in Anniston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paea Wolfgramm</span> Tongan boxer

Paea Wolfgramm is a Tongan retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Tongan Warrior", Wolfgramm earned the Super Heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making him the first and only athlete from Tonga to win an Olympic medal.

Benjamin "BJ" Flores is an American former professional boxer and a current boxing trainer. He challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight world title in 2016, and twice for interim world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.

Doug Jones was an American heavyweight boxer. He was the number-one contender in early 1964 and beat top contenders Zora Folley, Light Heavyweight Champion Bob Foster, Middleweight World Champion Bobo Olson and World Heavyweight title challengers Pete Rademacher and Tom McNeeley in his career. He was best known for his 1963 fight with Cassius Clay which he lost by Unanimous decision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kid Norfolk</span> American boxer (1893–1968)

Kid Norfolk was an American professional boxer who fought as a Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight from 1910 through 1926, holding wins over many notable boxers of his day including Joe Jeanette, Billy Miske, Jack Blackburn, Harry Greb, Tiger Flowers, Battling Siki, and Gunboat Smith. Norfolk was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.

Pierre Coetzer is a former heavyweight boxer from Pretoria, South Africa. Coetzer's most notable fights include those against Johnny du Plooy, Riddick Bowe, Frank Bruno, and George Foreman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman</span> 1994 professional boxing match

Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, billed as One for the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on November 5, 1994 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Foreman vs. Gerry Cooney</span> Boxing competition

George Foreman vs. Gerry Cooney, billed as The Preacher and the Puncher, was a professional boxing match contested on January 15, 1990.

Al Fenn was a boxing promoter and trainer from Phoenix, Arizona. He was also the president of the Arizona Golden Gloves Association. He served as a mentor and father figure to Tongan boxer Tony Fulilangi who once fought George Foreman.

References