Peter Manfredo, Jr.

115
Peter Manfredo, Jr. bigraphy, stories - American boxer

Peter Manfredo, Jr. : biography

November 26, 1980 –

Peter Manfredo Jr. (born November 26, 1980, Providence, Rhode Island) is a professional boxer. He was the IBO Middleweight champion. He held the NABO Light Middleweight IBU Light Middleweight EBA Light Middleweight, and unsuccessfully challenged for the WBO super middleweight and WBC middleweight titles. Although he regularly wears the Italian flag on his trunks to show his heritage, he is a representative of the U.S.

Pro career

Manfredo Jr. eventually turned professional at the age of 19 and in his debut, he won a four-round decision over Steve Garrett. Less than two years later, he captured the EBA Light Middleweight Championship with an eighth-round TKO over Mike McFail. He successfully defended his EBA belt two months later, winning a unanimous ten-round decision over Charles Clark. In October 2002, in front of a packed arena of fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center in his hometown of Providence, Manfredo Jr. stepped up in weight class and won a seventh-round TKO over former WBC and WBA Light Welterweight champion Frankie “The Surgeon” Randall. Manfredo Jr.’s nineteenth consecutive victory came at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia with a sixth-round TKO over Leonard Townsend. In January 2004, he went on to win the NABO Junior Middleweight title in a sixth-round fight against the previously undefeated Sherwin Davis in an ESPN2 co-feature at Foxwoods Casino.

The Contender

In 2005, he entered reality tv show The Contender, and was placed on the East Coast Team. He was challenged to fight Alfonso Gomez in the first fight, and lost—much to everyone’s surprise. But when Jeff Fraza was withdrawn with chickenpox, he was brought back in—by "fate" he said. He beat Miguel Espino in his second chance at the first round, and went on to face Joey Gilbert in the second round. Here, an accidental headbutt stopped the fight, and Manfredo was given a win on points. He then was re-matched up with Gomez, whom he beat, in the semi-final. In the final fight he was defeated by Sergio Mora in a seven round unanimous decision for him to become the Contender champion. Manfredo fought a second bout scheduled with Sergio Mora on October 15, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He defeated Manfredo by a split decision in a rematch. Many ringside observers felt Manfredo won the fight convincingly, but Mora won by a controversial split decision.http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2190144

After The Contender

Manfredo fought Scott Pemberton on February 2, 2006 to a sold out crowd in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island on ESPN. It was his first fight at Super Middleweight, as he won by a dramatic 3rd round knockout. On October 14, 2006 Manfredo defeated Joey Spina with an impressive 3rd round TKO also at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

WBO Super Middleweight Title

On April 7, 2007, Manfredo fought Welsh undefeated Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe in Calzaghe’s 20th title defense. The fight was originally scheduled for March 3, but had to be re-arranged for the later date. The show, from the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff was aired on HBO in the United States. Manfredo lost the fight when the referee stopped the contest in the third round, with Manfredo appearing unable to reply to Calzaghe’s unending barrage of shots. Manfredo claimed his plan was to have Calzaghe (then 34) "run out of gas". Manfredo himself believed that the fight was stopped prematurely. One month later Manfredo easily defeated Ted Muller in a ninth round stoppage at Twin River Casino in Lincoln Rhode Island.

Manfredo’s next fight was June 20, 2007 just one month after his previous victory over Muller, at Foxwoods Hotel and Casino, against tough veteran (14-1) David Banks, who was featured on season 3 of the Contender. Manfredo got the relatively easy decision 97-93 on all the judges’ cards. Manfredo then signed to fight former World Champion Jeff Lacy on December 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, as the final bout on the undercard to the Floyd Mayweather vs Ricky Hatton main event. Manfredo lasted the distance against Lacy, but lost by unanimous decision.