The Irish brand has been a
winner for professional boxers from time immemorial. Irish heritage
clearly is a special badge of honor for fighters in the United States,
considering the likes of Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and Jim Braddock.
That affinity comes to mind again with the hit film, "The Fighter,"
narrating the improbable rise of former welterweight contender "Irish"
Micky Ward.
"Rapid" Johnny Rafuse, who resides and trains fighters
in Savage, Minn., is another example of a boxer as proud of his Irish
ancestry as of his accomplishments in the ring. The latter includes a
hard-fought loss to Ward. "I don't think I lost the fight," Rafuse
remembers. "I ain't gonna tell ya I beat him, but I don't think I
lost."
Rafuse is a German name, but Johnny Rafuse's maternal
grandparents are Cornelius Kelleher, from Macroom, Co. Cork, and
Catherine Mulvihill, from Williamstown, Co. Galway, Ireland. "Rafuse is
German, Canadian and Dutch," he says, but because of the maternal side,
"we always said we were Irish. Plus I trained in [heavily Irish] South
Boston."
'If I win, I'll know I
should continue. Otherwise, you know, I'm a Teamster . . .'
Rafuse fought out of Malden, Mass., a couple of towns over from Ward's
native Lowell. Rafuse lost a competitive eight-round fight by unanimous
decision to Ward at Lowell Memorial Auditorium on August 29, 1986,
providing Ward with the first big challenge of his career. Although not
depicted in "The Fighter," Rafuse is mentioned with admiration in the
biography on which it is based, "Irish Thunder," by Bob Halloran. ESPN
commentator Al Bernstein praised both fighters for their valiant
efforts in that fight.
"They are both going for the home-run ball," Bernstein
said from ringside. "They say Micky Ward is quite a prospect in the
junior welterweight division, and if he is, he will look back on this
one."
Halloran mentions that before the bout, Rafuse, who was
25 then, said this fight could determine whether he'd pursue a boxing
career.
"If I win, I'll know I should continue," he's quoted in
the book. "Otherwise, you know, I'm a Teamster, and maybe I'll have to
find other ways to make a living."
As Halloran wrote, "Rafuse had done himself proud. He
continued to throw hard punches right up until the final bell." Not
only that, but he fought another five years.
Johnny Rafuse and Mitch
Jackson, a mixed martial arts fighter to whom Rafuse teaches boxing
techniques.
Before switching to South Boston, Rafuse trained in the predominantly
Italian North End of Boston. In 1988, he sparred with his old nemesis,
Ward, to prep for his fight that September with Harold Brazier for the
North American Boxing Federation (NABF) Light Welterweight title.
Rafuse lost to Brazier by 12-round unanimous decision.
Rafuse sustained a competitive professional boxing
career for eight years, from 1983 to 1991, fighting a number of
top-level boxers, including World Lightweight Champion José Luis
Ramirez and Light Welterweight Champion Jake Rodriguez. Like "Irish"
Micky Ward, Rafuse has earned a place in Massachusetts' boxing history,
where solid, determined fighters of Irish descent are produced each
generation.
"I got all the respect in the world for the kid," Rafuse
says of Ward. "I really like Micky, and he stuck around long enough to
make some money, and God bless him." WGT
WGT Associate Editor Mark Connor, the editor of the
webzine BoxersAndWritersMagazine.com, resides in St. Paul,
Minnesota. He has been interested in Irish heritage and history all his
life and spent six months of 1998 in Ireland working at a homeless
shelter, traveling, and writing about the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Mark was Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion in 1987, at
age 17. He still trains with professional boxers and runs a personal
training business in Minnesota.
