Vito Antuofermo, undisputed middleweight world champion, defended his titles against Alan Minter
Date: March 16, 1980
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Anuofermo stance: orthodox
Minter stance: southpaw
Antuofermo was making the second defence of his world titles, with his first defence ending in a draw against Marvin Hagler. Minter was seeking to become the first British fighter to win a world title in America since Ted Kid Lewis beat Jack Britton for the welterweight title in 1917 (as Lewis was the only British boxer at the time of Minter's challenge to have beaten an American boxer in America to win a world title, this puts the task in perspective). Both boxers were notorious for getting fight-ending cuts around the eyes, and Minter suffered a small cut during the final stages of his training.
Vito Antuofermo was quite a small middleweight, at just 5'7½", with a fairly short reach, and his style revolved around brawling and in-fighting. He liked to keep it close, and to knock his opponent off his stride. Alan Minter was slightly taller, and had a small reach advantage. He was usually a disciplined boxer, who kept the fighting at long range. In this fight, the challenger had a slightly higher knockout ratio, but had also lost more fights due to cuts.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Alan Minter - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/11467
Vito Antuofermo - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/11417
