The Angel of the ring has flown away for eternity. Donato Paduano died Tuesday of complications related to diabetes. He would have been 76 next Thursday.
Paduano had stayed away from the public eye for several years. His post-career was not a rose garden. His son Yannick, one of the three boys he had with his ex-partner Linda Ouimet, cousin of Danièle Ouimet, does not make it a secret.
“My father died in poverty,” he says.
“He is the classic model of boxers of his time. He was poorly surrounded.”
As seen in boxing, people took advantage of Donato. But he didn’t help himself either.
“He had a passion for the game, it’s known,” adds Yannick, who has a twin brother called Patrick.
Yannick doesn’t seem bitter on the phone. We feel relieved that his father has finished suffering. He is grateful to his older brother Danny, who looked after the clan leader until the end.
“The memories of his great career in boxing will remain,” he continues.
“He told us that he had reached the end of his talent, that he could not have done more and that he had no regrets.”
Paduano has had a storied career.
In 1967, at the age of 18, he won the Montreal Golden Gloves and Golden Gloves championship in New York, an unusual feat. The following year, he represented Canada at the Olympic Games in Mexico.
His professional record is made up of 55 victories, 10 defeats and two draws.
Endearing personality
In 1971, he won by unanimous decision against Frenchman Marcel Cerdan fils. This victory propelled him to third in the world in the welterweight category (between 140 and 147 pounds). This triumph was followed by two consecutive defeats, one of which came at the hands of Canadian Clyde Gray, which ended his hopes of securing a world championship fight.
For those who often saw him in action, Paduano was an outstanding technician, but did not have the strength to fight against the best in the world. His nickname The Angel of the Ring had come to him from a journalist from the early days of Quebec JournalClaude Robert.
Yannick Paduano thinks it was because of the affability his father showed with all the people he met on his path.
“My father was nice to journalists, he was nice to everyone,” his boy praises him.
I met Paduano in my early years in journalism, at the late Montreal-Morning. It was indeed a pleasant business. I was delegated to the press conference where he announced his first retirement from boxing, in 1975. The meeting took place in an office of the former O’Keefe Brewery, whose premises are today occupied by the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), corner of Peel and Notre-Dame.
He was accompanied by his charming Linda and Yvon Larrivee, his manager and corner man who meant everything to him in his career. He was going to work in the sales department at Pepsi.
It lasted a few years.
Donato was made to live in the world of boxing. Renowned for his fine technique, he would perhaps have made a very good coach.
Anthology fight against Fernand Marcotte
Upon learning of his death, late Tuesday evening, I found on YouTube the television broadcast of the second fight between him and Fernand Marcotte, on February 15, 1972, at the Forum.
The crowd was divided in the old enclosure on Rue Sainte-Catherine. On one side, there was the Italian-Montreal community who idolized Paduano. On the other, the Marcotte supporters who had gone to Montreal to encourage their famous fellow citizen of Quebec.
What a fight it was!
The two fighters engaged in a merciless duel lasting 10 rounds. From the start, Marcotte sent Paduano to the canvas with a solid right to the jaw. The latter had not slipped. He was indeed stunned.
For the remainder of the round, Marcotte, eager to finish off his shaken rival, used his entire arsenal to finish off Paduano. But nothing happened.
In the third round, Paduano fell again, this time for a count of three or four seconds. It was cut at the left brow bone.
This time, we thought it was the end, but no!
Paduano regained his senses and, from the fifth round, it was he who dominated. In this round he inflicted a nasty cut near Marcotte’s right eye.
Scholarship less than $20,000
The describer of the fight, Bob McDevitt, who was a commentator on the CBC in Montreal, recounted along the way that the revenue from the fight amounted to more than $91,000 and that each of the two pugilists would receive between $18,000 and 19 000$.
We might as well say peanuts!
Paduano was declared the winner by unanimous decision of the judges.
In their first fight, three months earlier at the Paul-Sauvé Center, Marcotte obtained the judges’ decision. But it didn’t stop there.
A few moments later, a person entered the Marcotte clan locker room to indicate that the result had been changed to a draw. The story goes that Fernand Marcotte Sr., also manager and cornerman of his foal, had thrown a tantrum.
The Paduano family will receive relatives and friends at the Magnus Poirier Funeral Complex located at 7388 boul. Viau, in Saint-Léonard, next Wednesday, November 27. Visiting hours will be 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The funeral will be celebrated at 5 p.m. in the chapel of the complex.
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