compiled by Mark A Crouch
In 1993, authors Ed Okonowicz and Andy Ercole wrote in their book, Tiberi - The Uncrowned Champion, “Ten years from now, fans will speak about the sport of boxing in relation to its existence “B.T” and “A.T.” - Before Tiberi and After Tiberi.
February 8, 2002, tens years to the day since Tiberi's last appearance in the boxing ring, that prediction has been realized. It was on that date in 1992 that Tiberi fought and by nearly universal opinion , soundly defeated James Toney for the IBF middleweight championship. When two of the three judges did not see the same fight, it ignited a firestorm of controversy which lead to the recent passage of the Ali boxing reform bill.
To understand the impact of Dave Tiberi's career on the sport of boxing one need to understand the man and the life that lead him to that fateful day in Atlantic City.
Looking back, 1966 was probably one of the least remarkable years of what would become the most remarkable decade of the 20th century. It was the year of the Mama's and Papa's, the Monkees and of course the Beatles. NASA conducted it's first successful test of the Saturn V rocket. Batman was the smash hit on the television and the entire world mourned the passing of Walt Disney.
In a simple two-room bungalow near Bear, Delaware, Mario and Helen Tiberi welcomed their 13th child, a slightly pudgy and curly haired prankster they called Davie.
If there was any numerological jinx assigned Davie due to his birth order it was soon lost in the reality of being the “baby” brother to eleven older male siblings.
“Oh I had to learn to fight,” Dave smiles today as he reflects on the halcyon days of his early childhood.
All of the Tiberi boys were athletic and most of them boxed. Mario even constructed a small ring beside their home for his boys to hone their pugilistic skills.
By the early 1970's television had replaced motion pictures as the predominate form of family entertainment. The sheer size of the Tiberi clan meant that any outing, which entailed an admission fee, was probably beyond the family's modest budget. The resourceful Mario found a solution, which combined a family outing with sports and the opportunity for his boys to pick up a little pocket money. The operators of Delaware Park racetrack had begun to stage outdoor boxing matches and whenever the ring went up everyone could count on a good one third of the contestants being Tiberis!
“When I think back,” Dave reflects, “one of the most vivid images of those early Delaware Park fights was seeing some guy break his arm. I mean, the bone shot up through the skin. I was five years old and I said to myself, I'll never do that!”
Within a year though his brothers had cajoled little Davie to give it a shot. His first “fight” could only be described as a “pee-wee exhibition bout” between six year old Dave and a slightly older boy. Both youngsters were declared winners and the cheers and adoration of friends, family and spectators drowned out whatever fear young Dave might have had about stepping into a ring.
Over the course of the next twelve years, the playful ring ham would transform into a serious and respected contender in the middleweight boxing ranks. By his 18th birthday Dave had amassed an impressive 62-0 amateur record and 2 Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Championships. His ring skills earned him the opportunity to travel to England, Canada and Ireland representing the United States.
The boxing ring wasn't Dave's only athletic endeavor. He was a standout baseball letterman at William Penn high school as well as a member of Harford (Maryland) Junior College's 1985 national runner-up Championship football squad.
As he approached manhood two other aspects of Dave's personality began to emerge. His natural curiosity coupled with his easy comfortable style before the public gave birth to “Dave Tiberi at Large.” A weekly cable access television program now in it's 17th year. Those around him also saw a young man with a tireless commitment to improving the lives of the people around him and in his community.
By 1985, Dave's older brothers had moved beyond their individual boxing ambitions to start families and careers. In their day, there were few venues in the area that entertained the sport. Aside from the casual matches at Delaware Park there were a few clubs that still offered occasional live bouts, one of which was Philadelphia's legendary Blue Horizon. But as Dave prepared to don the gloves of professional boxing at the age of 19 there had been two major developments in the world of boxing: Network Cable TV and Atlantic City.
Dave Tiberi stepped into the ring as a professional on July 24, 1985 at the Atlantis (originally Playboy) casino in Atlantic City and notched his first professional victory in a four round bout against Mike Jefferson. It would be nearly nine months before his second pro match at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas on March 2, 1986. Dave battled power-puncher Danny Lindstrom to a six round draw. His next fight, two months later was a homecoming to Delaware Park and a six round victory over Kenney Paige.
Over the next 18 months Dave answered the opening bell ten times. Nine of those fights were in Atlantic City and most were televised by either ESPN or USA. Dave soon became a popular draw for the cable networks and the casinos.
On August 18, 1987 Dave showed he was more than a reliable undercard performer when he soundly defeated Dr. Terry Christle, “The Boxing Brain Surgeon” in a nationally televised match from Atlantic City. Many began to see championship potential in the slightly scrawny kid from a big family in the little state of Delaware.
A fall match with the always dangerous Ron Essett was quickly arranged. The October 23, 1987 bout was an eight round slug fest with Essett handing Dave his first professional loss. Dave's run of good luck in Atlantic City had ended and another nine month hiatus followed before he returned to the ring on July 14, 1988 at Philadelphia's legendary Blue Horizon and handed Manuel Opher a six round defeat. Later in the year he did likewise to Terry Young and Tony Blair.
In 1989 Dave steered clear of Atlantic City but not the ring adding four more wins at matches in Philadelphia including his first two wins by knock out. He opened 1990 with a fifth round knock out of Joe Summers in Philadelphia followed closely on March 26th by a 5 round KO of Ken Shannon in Atlantic City. Dave was increasingly being seen as a possible championship contender and the stage was set for a showcase match.
Tiberi's 23rd bout was before a packed house at Harrah's Atlantic City casino on May 21, 1990 against veteran knock out artist Tony “The Postman” Thornton. While Dave looked sharp and crisp in the early rounds a cut, likely from a head-butt, opened over his left eye and would quickly lead to the referee stopping the fight in the 4th round and giving Dave his first defeat by knock out.
Undaunted, Dave returned to Atlantic City in September to hand Willie McDonald a sixth round knock out and later in the year notched a 10 round decision against Danny Mitchell at a fight staged on Dave's home turf in Delaware.
1991 would be the year Dave working with manager Mark Kondrath , set the stage for his elevation into the championship echelon of professional boxing. The year began with a tune-up match against Troy Watson in Atlantic City with Dave scoring an impressive 9th round knock out. This set the stage for a July 1st championship match against Pittsburgh's Ed Hall. The bout was staged before a packed house at Cheyney University, Pennsylvania.
Hall, a seasoned veteran of the tough Pittsburgh club circuit, came into the match with a reputation as a knock out brawler. Power punchers like Hall rely on landing that one punch with their opponent at precisely the right distance in order to deliver maximum power. Dave knew this and from the opening bell stifled Hall's attempts to measure himup and deliver a fight-ending punch. Meanwhile Dave pummeled Hall with numerous point scoring strong jabs followed by a relentless close-in attack on the body. The combination and persistence paid off and when a thoroughly exhausted and frustrated Hall answered the opening bell for the 5th round the referee wisely waved off a still fresh and ready to fight Dave and the match was over. The huge crowd of Tiberi loyalist erupted into a deafening roar. Delaware had it's first champion.
The remainder of 1991 Dave enjoyed the title of a champion as he continued to train and work towards a even bigger match. That opportunity came on February 8,1992 with a chance to fight for the IBF middleweight belt in Atlantic City against James “Lights Out” Toney at the Trump Taj Mahal before a world wide television audience on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
The Toney camp obviously took the fight as little more than a minor tune-up prelude to a future seven figure pay day against a more widely known and respected opponent. It's not known if Toney and his manager had studied the tape of the Hall fight but it was obvious they were unprepared for Dave's increasingly powerful jabs and pummeling body work.
As if scripted for a real life Rocky sequel, the underdog Tiberi who had been given little chance of surviving more than a few rounds with the treacherous Toney, began to win rounds as well as the respect and awe of those in attendance.
By the mid rounds it was obvious to everyone that James Toney, frustrated and breathing hard was in trouble. What the stunned champ needed was a breather, which is what he got in one of the first, but certainly not the most bizarre twists of the evening.Dave's relentless snapping jabs eventually split his glove which prompted the referee to pause the fight for an excruciating 17 minutes while a fresh glove was found. According to widely accepted ring rules Toney should have spent the time in a neutral corner, but instead was allowed a long break in his own corner, attended by his handlers.
When the fight resumed Toney obviously had a second wind, but Dave soon deflated his opponent's sails with more hard body shots and some powerful blows to the head. When the bell finally sounded the partisan Tiberi crowd erupted in celebration of the obvious victory. Kondrath rushed into the ring to hoist Dave into the air while a barely standing James Toney was nearly carried to his own corner.
After an unusually long wait, ring announcer Michael Buffer took microphone in hand to announce the judges decision. His words were the opening shocker when he announced that the judges had reached a split decision.
The scorecard of veteran New Jersey judge Frank Brunette was announced first. He'd scored the fight a clear 117 to 111 decision for Dave Tiberi. Next came the card of novice Illinois judge Bill Lerch who gave the fight to Toney with a 115 to 112 decision. The assembled multitude held their collective breath as the final scorecard of Michigan judge Frank Garza was announced , 115 - 111, incredibly in favor of the still stunned and battered James Toney.
The thunder of utter disbelief which swept through the Taj Mahal that evening began to reverberate throughout the boxing world. Host Donald Trump vowed to bar boxing in Atlantic City until the matter was investigated. The heartbreaking injustice rendered Dave Tiberi tore open a long festering wound in the boxing industry and a putrid pus of corruption spilled out. Years later Bill Lee, president of the fight's sanctioning body the IBF, would be indicted for corruption. While honest men like Delaware's respected United State's Senator William V. Roth vowed to right this wrong, the boxing elite tried to make the public and Dave forget the debacle. Offers in excess of a half a million dollars were set before Dave if he would fight a rematch with Toney. But just as most people had underestimated Dave's ring talents before the Toney fight, so to had they misjudged the depth and quality of his strong Christian character.
Dave refused the offers for a rematch and instead began working tirelessly with Senator Roth in an effort to reform the sport. That effort would take nearly ten years but eventually result in the “Ali Bill” which was signed by President Clinton and forced promoters to treat boxers as humans and not simply raw meat to be discarded when they had outlived their money making potential.
For most, a personal defeat such as that suffered by Dave Tiberi would almost certainly lead to a life of bitterness. But bitterness and regret were never part of Dave Tiberi's character. He and wife Angie set about building a life and a family. A decade later Dave is the father of three bright and energetic daughters and the President of TNT Video Productions, a company built literally from scratch and now a premiere state-of-art video production company.
His fans did not forget Dave Tiberi and Dave never relaxed from his true mission of bringing faith, hope and opportunity to the people of Delaware. His tireless civic involvement on behalf of hundreds of charities has earned him numerous accolades including the honor of being named one the Ten Most Outstanding Young Americans by the Jaycees organization. Dave's devotion to under privileged youth has been beyond measure. From the Dave Tiberi Youth Center to the monumental undertaking of a video documentary highlighting the plight of Youth At-Risk in Delaware, Dave Tiberi, the little curly haired kid who liked to ham it up in the ring at Delaware Park, has given back to his community more than money could ever measure.
He was Delaware's first professional boxing champion but he will forever be known as a champion not only of people but for people.
With or without a belt attesting to it, Dave is proud, honored and humbled to be known simply as The Uncrowned Champ.
