Latest news and stories about boxing in Portugal for expats and residents.
A person who previously lived in Lourinhã has been selected to compete for Portugal at the U-19 World Boxing Championships.
Few boxing matches in Portugal were as heavily promoted as this one, held in February 1986 at the Alvalade pavilion. Eddy Mello was born in São Miguel and emigrated to Canada with his family at the age of six, growing up in Toronto's Little Portugal neighbourhood. He insisted on entering the Alvalade ring carrying a Portuguese flag. American Dwayne Cooper takes one of the blows from the 'Hurricane', known for his 'powerful left'. Eddy Mello died in 2001; he had been associated with criminal activities for several years and was shot to death. Eddy Mello was featured in the DN on February 8, 1986. Facing each other were American Dwayne Cooper and the star of the night, the Portuguese-Canadian Eddy Mello, a native of the Azores known in the boxing world as 'Hurricane' due to his impressive rise in the sport in 1978, which led him to become the Canadian middleweight champion the following year. Expectations were high, but the fight did not last long. Mello won by KO in the very first round, 'amply confirming his fighting spirit and above all his powerful left', as described by the DN.
From Ajuda to Parque Mayer, from titles to ruin in casinos, from the shots he took at night to the glory days in the ring. The struggle is portrayed in “Punch by Punch”, a documentary by Diogo Varela Silva.
