Luis Resto

Luis Resto (born June 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican former boxer based in The Bronx, New York, who was convicted of assault and conspiracy for his part in a cheating scandal.

A journeyman boxer all his career, Resto was convicted in 1986 and jailed for two and a half years, for assault, criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy. Both a state boxing commission investigation and a criminal investigation found that Resto's cornermen had illegally altered Resto's gloves by removing the padding and soaking his hand wraps in plaster in a 1983 boxing match against Billy Collins Jr.. In the ensuing fight, Collins suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision, ending his career. Collins later died in a car crash on March 6, 1984.

Early life Luis Resto was born in Juncos, Puerto Rico, and moved to the Bronx when he was nine years old. Late in his eighth grade year, he elbowed his math teacher in the face, and spent six months in a rehabilitation center for the mentally disturbed. Not long after getting out, an uncle signed him up for boxing lessons in a Bronx gym.

A two-time New York Golden Gloves amateur state champion in the welterweight division, Resto trained at the Police Athletic Leagues Lynch Center. He won both the 1975 and 1976 147 lb Golden Gloves Open Championships. Resto defeated Miguel Hernandez in the finals of the 1976 147 lb Open Championship.

Professional career

Early career Resto made his professional boxing debut on February 4, 1977, with a points defeat of Julio Chevalier. He scored his first professional knockout in his third professional fight, against Mike Lytell in May of the same year. Resto remained unbeaten with a 7–0 record until his eighth bout, a knockout loss to Bruce Curry in March 1978.

Through 29 fights Resto had compiled a record of 20–8–1, but with only eight wins by knockout, which made him appear to be a light-punching, high-level journeyman. Although he was ranked 10th in the world, he was practically unknown outside the New York area. Collins's eyes were swollen shut by the end of the 10th round, and the rest of his face was so badly swollen that it was impossible to believe a light puncher could have inflicted such damage.

After a month's investigation, the New York State Boxing Commission determined that Resto's trainer, Panama Lewis, had removed the padding from Resto's gloves. It also determined that Resto should have known the gloves were illegal. The commission suspended Resto's boxing license for at least a year. Since most state boxing commissions honor sanctions from other states, this effectively banned Resto from boxing in the United States for the duration of the ban. The commission subsequently changed its rules to prevent anything like what happened to Collins from ever happening again.

For almost a quarter-century, Resto publicly denied knowing that Lewis had tampered with the gloves. However, in 2007, Resto apologized to Collins's widow, Andrea Collins-Nile, who attempted to sue the state of New York for not protecting her late husband. Resto also told Collins-Nile that in addition to removing padding from the gloves, Lewis soaked his hand wraps in plaster of Paris. This caused the wraps to harden into plaster casts similar to those used to set broken bones, which greatly—and illegally—increased Resto's punching power. The hand wraps have never been confiscated. Resto also disclosed that Lewis would break apart pills used to treat asthma and pour the medicine into his water bottles, giving Resto greater lung capacity in the later rounds of a fight. Resto also visited Collins's gravesite and said, "I'm sorry for what I did to you." At a 2008 press conference, Resto said that he knew Lewis had taken the padding out of his gloves and had done so at least twice before. Resto said he did not protest at the time even though he knew it was wrong. "At the time, I was young," he said. "I went along." Resto was 28 years old at the time of the incident.

The 1983 incident and subsequent aftermath is covered in the Showtime documentary Assault in the Ring. During this documentary, Resto appeared to confirm law enforcement's theory that the incident was rooted in large bets on him.

Professional boxing record