Billy Backus

Billy Backus, (born March 5, 1943 in Canastota, New York) is a former World Welterweight Champion professional boxer.^[1] In the summer of 2006 Backus retired from his correctional facility job and moved to South Carolina.^[2]

Early boxing career[]

Backus, who is the nephew of boxing legend and former world champion Carmen Basilio, started his career by winning only 7 of his first 19 bouts. In 1964, things looked promising when he won four bouts in a row, but then he suffered a three fight losing streak. At this point of his career, he had a record of 8 wins, 7 losses and 3 draws and he retired from boxing. To make things worse, he had lost his last fight, against , on his twenty-second birthday.

Rise to prominence[]

Backus resumed his boxing career in 1966, but probably never in his wildest dreams could he have envisioned what happened next: in his comeback bout, he knocked out in the first round, and that marked his embarcation on a seven-fight winning streak that included avenging an earlier loss to Dick French. That streak was broken by a defeat at the hands of in New Orleans, but soon he started on another winning streak, eight in a row, including two over Pugh. Then, Pugh broke his winning streak once again, beating him in 15 rounds, once again at New Orleans. After splitting two fights with and drawing in four rounds with , Backus embarked on another winning streak, including an eight-round knockout over Ortiz in a rematch.

World Welterweight Title Bout[]

After that last streak, Backus was ranked among the top ten Welterweight challengers of the world at number 10. The year was 1970 and Mexico's José Nápoles had earned the right to make an optional defense of his world title (meaning he could pick any challenger among the top ten to defend against). His management, figuring they'd have an easy fight ahead of them, picked Backus as the challenger for this optional title bout. But Backus landed a punch that opened a cut over Nápoles' eye in round one, causing Nápoles to bleed profusely, and the fight was stopped in round four. Since the cut had been ruled to be caused by a punch, Backus was declared winner by a technical knockout, and he had realized a dream that many fans never thought he would: he had become the world's Welterweight champion. His uncle Basilio, watching from ringside, said: "Billy winning the world title is the best thing ever to happen in my life, even better than me winning the world title."

Billy won two non-title fights, including one over in Paris, and then had a rematch with Nápoles in Los Angeles. This time Nápoles returned the favor, knocking Backus out in the eighth round and regaining his title.

Career decline[]

He finished 1971 with a ten-round decision win over , and went 3–2 in 1972, losing two fifteen-round decisions to world title challenger Hedgemon Lewis. He lost 3 of 4 bouts in 1973, and went on a European tour in 1974, winning 2 and losing 2 in Paris and Berlin. In 1975, he went to Australia and lost by a knockout in five to Rocky Mattioli, and then he came back to the States, where he beat by a knockout in ten. This marked the start of another 9 fight winning streak, which led the WBA to make him their number one challenger. After drawing in twelve rounds with , he had a chance at regaining the world welterweight title when faced against world champion Pipino Cuevas of Mexico, once again in Los Angeles. After losing by a knockout in the first round, Backus then announced his retirement from boxing for good.

Although he isn't a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame (unlike his uncle Basilio, who is), in 1990, Ed Brophy and some Canastota businessmen came up with the idea to build the hall of fame in Canastota, to honor Canastota's two native world champions: Basilio and Backus.

In 2010, the award nominated "Title Town USA, Boxing in Upstate New York" by noted historian Mark Allen Baker was published by The History Press in 2010 and supports Canastota, New York as the epicenter of Upstate New York's rich boxing heritage. The book includes chapters on both Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus. The introduction was written by Edward P. Brophy, Executive Director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Backus had a final record of 48 wins, 20 losses and 5 draws, with 22 wins by knockout.

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
74	Loss	49–20–5	Pipino Cuevas	TKO	2 (15)	May 20, 1978	Forum, Inglewood	For WBA welterweight title
73	Draw	49–19–5	Everaldo Costa Azevedo	SD	12	Nov 19, 1977	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
72	Win	49–19–4	Joe Grier	UD	10	Aug 25, 1977	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
71	Win	48–19–4	Rafael Rodriguez	UD	12	Jun 3, 1977	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
70	Win	47–19–4	Roy Barrientos	UD	10	Apr 8, 1977	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
69	Win	46–19–4	Justice Ortiz	UD	10	Jan 27, 1977	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
68	Win	45–19–4	Tony Lopes	TKO	9 (10)	Nov 20, 1976	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
67	Win	44–19–4	Pablo Rodriguez	UD	10	Sep 11, 1976	Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica
66	Win	43–19–4	Jose Papo Melendez	UD	10	May 28, 1976	Colonie Coliseum, Latham
65	Win	42–19–4	Angel Robinson Garcia	UD	10	Apr 3, 1976	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
64	Win	41–19–4	Pablo Rodriguez	UD	10	Jan 24, 1976	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
63	Win	40–19–4	Marc Gervais	KO	10 (10)	Aug 23, 1975	Broome County Arena, Binghamton
62	Loss	39–19–4	Rocky Mattioli	TKO	5 (10)	Apr 11, 1975	Festival Hall, Melbourne
61	Loss	39–18–4	Eckhard Dagge	TKO	3 (10)	Jun 20, 1974	Germany
60	Win	39–17–4	Jacques Kechichian	RTD	5 (10)	Apr 30, 1974	Paris
59	Loss	38–17–4	Roger Menetrey	PTS	12	Mar 18, 1974	Palais des Sports, Paris
58	Win	38–16–4	Roger Zami	TKO	9 (10)	Jan 21, 1974	Palais des Sports, Paris
57	Loss	37–16–4	Zovek Barajas	TKO	3 (10)	Dec 6, 1973	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
56	Win	37–15–4	Al Romano	KO	3 (10)	Aug 4, 1973	Three Rivers Inn, Syracuse
55	Loss	36–15–4	Miguel Barreto	MD	12	Aug 4, 1973	Felt Forum, New York
54	Loss	36–14–4	Jack Tillman	UD	12	Feb 13, 1973	Civic Center, Baltimore	For WBA North American welterweight title
53	Loss	36–13–4	Hedgemon Lewis	UD	15	Dec 8, 1972	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica	For NYSAC welterweight title
52	Win	36–12–4	Dorman Crawford	TKO	8 (10)	Sep 23, 1972	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
51	Loss	35–12–4	Hedgemon Lewis	UD	15	Jun 6, 1972	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica	For vacant NYSAC welterweight title
50	Win	35–11–4	Danny McAloon	UD	12	Apr 14, 1972	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
49	Win	34–11–4	Irish Pat Murphy	TKO	7 (10)	Feb 12, 1972	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
48	Win	33–11–4	Jose Gabino	UD	10	Dec 10, 1971	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
47	Loss	32–11–4	José Nápoles	TKO	8 (15)	Jun 4, 1971	Forum, Inglewood	Lost WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles
46	Win	32–10–4	Robert Gallois	MD	10	Mar 15, 1971	Palais des Sports, Paris
45	Win	31–10–4	Bobby Williams	UD	12	Jan 23, 1971	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
44	Win	30–10–4	José Nápoles	TKO	4 (15)	Dec 3, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse	Won WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles
43	Win	29–10–4	Denny Stiletto	KO	8 (10)	Oct 3, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
42	Win	28–10–4	Manuel Gonzalez	UD	10	Jul 22, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
41	Win	27–10–4	Frank Steele	UD	10	Jun 15, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
40	Win	26–10–4	Manuel Burgo	UD	10	Mar 24, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
39	Win	25–10–4	Ricky Ortiz	TKO	8 (10)	Jan 30, 1970	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
38	Draw	24–10–4	Ricky Ortiz	MD	10	Oct 31, 1969	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
37	Win	24–10–3	Jerry Pellegrini	UD	10	Sep 19, 1969	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
36	Loss	23–10–3	Jerry Pellegrini	UD	10	Jul 21, 1969	Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans
35	Loss	23–9–3	Percy Pugh	UD	15	Jun 16, 1969	Rivergate Exhibition Hall, New Orleans
34	Win	23–8–3	Percy Pugh	UD	12	Apr 25, 1969	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
33	Win	22–8–3	CL Lewis	TKO	7 (10)	Mar 17, 1969	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
32	Win	21–8–3	Percy Pugh	SD	12	Jan 24, 1969	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
31	Win	20–8–3	Freddie Cobb	TKO	5 (10)	Dec 14, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
30	Win	19–8–3	Vince Shomo	TKO	8 (10)	Nov 16, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
29	Win	18–8–3	Johnny Brooks	UD	10	Oct 7, 1968	Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans
28	Win	17–8–3	Curtis Phillips	TKO	7 (10)	Sep 14, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
27	Win	16–8–3	Jerry Pellegrini	SD	10	Jul 29, 1968	Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans
26	Loss	15–8–3	Percy Pugh	UD	10	Jun 3, 1968	Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans
25	Win	15–7–3	Dick French	TKO	6 (10)	May 19, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
24	Win	14–7–3	Danny Andrews	UD	10	Apr 6, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
23	Win	13–7–3	Juan Ramos	UD	10	Feb 10, 1968	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
22	Win	12–7–3	Gene Herrick	TKO	6 (10)	Nov 30, 1967	Portland
21	Win	11–7–3	Curtis Phillips	TKO	6 (10)	Nov 24, 1967	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
20	Win	10–7–3	Ernie Robbins	KO	3 (6)	Oct 23, 1967	Mechanics Hall, Worcester
19	Win	9–7–3	Tod Purtell	KO	1 (?)	Oct 16, 1967	Worcester
18	Loss	8–7–3	Rudy Richardson	UD	8	May 5, 1965	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
17	Loss	8–6–3	Billy Anderson	PTS	10	Oct 30, 1964	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
16	Loss	8–5–3	Genaro Soto	PTS	6	Jul 17, 1964	Madison Square Garden, New York
15	Win	8–4–3	Colin Fraser	UD	10	May 19, 1964	War Memorial Auditorium, Utica
14	Win	7–4–3	Lew Anderson	TKO	5 (8)	Apr 18, 1964	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
13	Win	6–4–3	Dave Hilton	KO	7 (8)	Feb 29, 1964	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
12	Win	5–4–3	Colin Fraser	RTD	5 (8)	Feb 1, 1964	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse
11	Loss	4–4–3	Billy Anderson	UD	8	Dec 19, 1963	Mechanics Hall, Worcester
10	Loss	4–3–3	Fernand Chretien	UD	10	Aug 2, 1963	Saint Anthony's Club, New Castle (Shawtown)
9	Loss	4–2–3	Dick French	UD	8	Feb 28, 1963	Mechanics Hall, Worcester
8	Draw	4–1–3	Marcel Bizien	PTS	8	Jan 23, 1963	Plaza Ballroom, Paterson
7	Draw	4–1–2	Mike Cortez	PTS	4	Dec 22, 1962	Madison Square Garden, New York
6	Loss	4–1–1	Luis Aponte Ortiz	PTS	4	Nov 24, 1962	Gladiators' Arena, Totowa
5	Win	4–0–1	Barney Barnez	PTS	4	Jun 22, 1962	Totowa
4	Win	3–0–1	Steve Gessler	PTS	6	Jun 6, 1962	Saint-Jerome
3	Draw	2–0–1	Sugar Lawson	PTS	4	Apr 27, 1962	Gladiators' Arena, Totowa
2	Win	2–0	Randy Sanders	PTS	4	Mar 9, 1962	Gladiators' Arena, Totowa
1	Win	1–0	Ike Anthony	TKO	2 (4)	Sep 16, 1961	War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse

See also[]

• List of welterweight boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions

References[]

External links[]

• Boxing record for Billy Backus from BoxRec