Billy Costello (boxer)

Billy Costello (born William Donald Castiglioni; April 10, 1956 – June 29, 2011) was a professional boxer in the United States.

Early life

Costello was born in Kingston, New York, on April 10, 1956, to a Sicilian father and a mother of Native American, Italian and African American descent, as one of nine children. Costello was active in the Boy Scouts. He played third base on the Kingston High School baseball team and had originally hoped for a career as a professional baseball player.

Amateur career

Billy Costello won the 1978 135 pound New York Golden Gloves Open Championship. Costello stopped Raymond Johnson of the United Block Association in the second round to win the Championship. Costello began boxing in the Police Athletic League program in Kingston, and later trained at the Castle Hill Athletic Club in the Bronx, New York.

Professional career

Template:Main During his career, he was managed by Mike Jones, who was also famous for managing Gerry Cooney and Wilford Scypion. Costello fought a lot of his early professional bouts around the Hudson Valley-NYC area, after a successful amateur career that culminated in a Golden Gloves award. The Kew Gardens section of Queens, New York eventually became his home, at least while he was champion. But before winning a title, he put together an early undefeated streak, which included a 10-round decision over Willie Rodriguez on CBS television in November 1982. He and his management then became closely associated with the CBS network, which aired several of his fights.

The one and only title he held in his career, the WBC junior welterweight title, was won by knocking out Bruce Curry in the 10th round in January 1984 in front of a pro-Curry crowd in Beaumont, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He would then make three defenses of the belt, all in Kingston, and all by 12-round unanimous decision. His first foe as champion was Ronnie Shields, with whom he traded first-round knockdowns before eventually securing the points win. Next was former WBC 140-lb. champion and veteran Saoul Mamby, who replaced Leroy Haley, another former possessor of Costello's belt, on five days notice. Costello defeated ex-champion Mamby by unanimous decision.

His next fight was finally against Leroy Haley. The result was a unanimous win over 12 rounds for Costello. Next, a Denver, Colorado fighter named Lonnie 'Lightning' Smith defeated him, knocking down and cutting the defending champion en route to an eighth-round stoppage in New York City to claim the title in August 1985. Smith recovered from a first-round knockdown himself and dropped Costello five times before the fight was over.

Billy kept coming back, next fighting three-time champion Alexis Argüello in February 1986. Arguello, behind on points, stopped Costello in Round 4 after knocking him down. Costello then took some time off from the ring, fighting on a sporadic 'here-and-there' basis until the early 1990s. In his last bout in 1999, he defeated former world champion Juan Laporte by ten round decision in a Pay Per View fight, avenging a 1986 loss to LaPorte by his brother Vinnie. All in all, Costello's professional career had lasted an astounding 20 years, from 1979 to 1999, and ended with a win over a former world champion. His respectable career had only two losses, both to world champions.

Costello is perhaps best remembered for his stoppage loss to Alexis Arguello.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
42	Template:Yes2Win	40–2	Juan Laporte	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	39–2	Marvin Ladson	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	38–2	Tim Scott	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	37–2	Jeff Passero	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	36–2	Bobby Elkins	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	35–2	Robert Hightower	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–2	Bernard Boisvert	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–2	Juan Carlos Romero	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–2	Marvin Ladson	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:No2Loss	31–2	Alexis Argüello	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	31–1	Rick Kaiser	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:No2Loss	30–1	Lonnie Smith	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	30–0	Leroy Haley	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Saoul Mamby	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Ronnie Shields	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Bruce Curry	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Mike Essett	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Clemente Rojas	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	Carl Crowley	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Willie Rodriguez	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Dominic Fox	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Felix Favella	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Bob Harvey	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Raul Hernandez	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Chico Rosa	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Rosendo Ramirez	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Trevor Evelyn	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Marvin Jenkins	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Charles Thomas	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Orlando Montalvo	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Jose Green	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Paul Moore	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Rick Stinnie	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Richie Garland	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Kato Ali	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Kato Ali	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Marvin Edwards	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	George Casher	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	John Jones	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Dave Bolden	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Jose Gonzalez	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Angel Ortiz	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small

Life After Boxing

In retirement, Costello worked as a home contractor, active in building and road construction. Costello also served as the volunteer director of the Kingston PAL Boxing Club in Kingston, New York. On evenings and weekends, Costello remained active in pro boxing as a professional boxing judge and referee in New York State at many sanctioned events. There is a Billy Costello Boxing Gym in Kingston, and Costello was involved in boxing shows in the area.

Book

Billy Costello's championship run was the subject of Thomas Hauser's "The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing." One of the most widely heralded books ever written on boxing, Hauser appeared in the Costello training camp during last minute negotiations for a televised bout with substitute challenger Saoul Mamby, was given access to the contractual negotiations, and painted a literary portrait of the inside wheels of boxing as it affected Costello.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Costello lived most of his life in Kingston, New York. He also lived in Kew Gardens (Queens), New York during much of his reign as champion. He then retired from boxing & moved to New Paltz, New York, a small village in Ulster County, New York near Costello's hometown of Kingston, New York. Costello eventually settled back in his hometown of Kingston, New York where he lived until his death. He was married and divorced, and had a son and a daughter, who survive him. He was close with his younger brother Mario 'Vinnie' Costello, a noted professional super featherweight boxer from 1981 to 1990 with a pro record of 20-2-2 but who never fought for a title, who trained with his brother under the late Victor Vallee, who also trained Gerry Cooney.

Death

According to his mother, Dolores, Costello died of lung cancer at a hospital in his native Kingston on June 29, 2011. He was 55. He was survived by: his parents, Dolores and Billy Costello Sr.; a daughter, Christine Costello, and a son, Brandon, from his marriage to his wife, Jane, which ended in divorce; four living brothers, Stephen, Mario 'Vinnie' Costello, Anthony, and Glenn; and two sisters, Vicky Costello and Tammy Moody.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of world light-welterweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec