Tony Martin, 52, ex-welterweight champ
HE WAS the happy, smiling guy with the gold tooth. But in the boxing ring, Tony Martin was all business. Over a 12-year professional career as a welterweight, Martin fought some of the best boxers of his era, winning even when he was the supposed underdog through sheer tenacity and toughness.
HE WAS the happy, smiling guy with the gold tooth.
But in the boxing ring, Tony Martin was all business. Over a 12-year professional career as a welterweight, Martin fought some of the best boxers of his era, winning even when he was the supposed underdog through sheer tenacity and toughness.
"He was from St. Louis, but he was a true Philadelphia fighter," said retired Daily News boxing writer Bernard Fernandez. "He would fight anybody and he always gave a good account of himself."
Martin, who compiled a record of 34 wins, 12 by knockout, six losses and one draw while working full time as a clerk for the Postal Service, was shot to death Friday in an altercation at a rental property he owned in Hunting Park. He was 52 and lived in Germantown.
Family members told police Martin had gone to the property on Butler Street near 13th to collect rent and got into a dispute with someone in the house. He was shot in the head. The shooter fled.
His family said Martin owned several rental properties and was always good to his tenants.
People who knew Martin ran out of adjectives in trying to describe what a nice guy he was: a true gentleman who loved life and looked like he never had a bad day, with that gold tooth shining in his smile.
"I have fond memories of Tony," Fernandez said. "He was not only a skilled and courageous boxer, he was a quality individual, a fine person.
"He was very popular at the Blue Horizon. He had a nice following. He was a sharp guy. I always enjoyed interviewing him because he was a very thoughtful person. He understood his craft and how to convey it."
"He fought contenders," said longtime boxing promoter Eddie Woods. "He fought guys nobody else wanted to fight."
It was Woods who brought Martin to Philly in the mid-'80s after a trainer friend told him about this likely prospect in St. Louis. Woods convinced Martin that if he wanted a career in boxing, Philly was the place to be.
It was also Woods who got Martin a job with the Postal Service, where he was a clerk in the Southwest Philadelphia office.
"I loved him like a son," Woods said. "He was a good-living guy, a true gentleman."
Don Elbaum, another longtime Philly boxing promoter, met Martin when Elbaum was arranging fights at the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City.
In 1985, he had a Golden Gloves prospect named Albert Quinones whom he wanted to promote and he needed an opponent. He got in touch with Martin and brought him in to fight Quinones.
"Tony kicked the hell out of him in a six-rounder," Elbaum said. "Later, I got to know Tony. He was a hell of a nice guy. If he was around today, he'd be one of the top fighters in the world."
Elbaum said Tony had a "great chin," meaning he could take punishment while dishing it out. "He was only on the floor once or twice. He was a tough kid."
"I remember him as a nice guy," said longtime boxing promoter J. Russell Peltz. "I never heard anyone say anything bad about him. He always had a smile on his face."
"He was always happy-go-lucky," said Brian Raditz, known as the "punching psychologist," a boxer with a Ph.D. in psychology. "He had a strong work ethic in the gym. He was always smiling and he liked kidding around, doing practical jokes, but he was serious in the ring."
Martin won two welterweight titles in his career, through the North American Boxing Federation and the U.S. Boxing Association.
One notable victory was over Micky Ward, who was portrayed by actor Mark Wahlberg in the 2010 film "The Fighter." Martin beat him in a unanimous decision at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in May 1991.
Another important victory was a unanimous decision over Livingstone Bramble, a boxer from St. Kitts and Nevis who liked to enter the ring with a snake around his neck, but who later became the WBS world lightweight champion. The fight was in December 1990 at Resorts International in Atlantic City.
Martin's last fight was against Julio Cesar Chavez in Las Vegas in March 1997. Martin lost a unanimous decision, but was proud of the fact that the hard-punching Chavez couldn't knock him out.
Martin is survived by his wife, Donna; three sons, Tearran and Cory Peete, and Antonio Henderson, and eight grandchildren.
Services: Were being arranged.