Respected cutman Joe Souza died at his home in San Antonio on Monday after losing his battle with prostate cancer at the age of 77.
Souza, who was also an amateur coach in San Antonio, successfully worked the corners of boxing greats such as the late Arturo Gatti and Jesse James Leija.
Souza is credited with helping Gatti become one of the most exciting and most popular fighters of the last 20 yearss
During his first world title defence against Wilson Rodriguez in 1996, Gatti was badly cut and his right eye was badly swollen. If Souza had not worked a minor miracle in stopping the bleeding and reducing the swelling of Gatti’s eye, the fight would have been stopped. Instead Gatti was allowed to continue and knocked Rodriguez out in the sixth round, a victory that that birthed Gatti’s reputation as a Rocky type warrior and future boxing legend.
November 16, 2011
|
Subscribe to feed
