James Salerno ?

[Expug]

This guy was a good fighter.
I fought on the same card with him in Chicago in 1983.
I was very impressed with his boxing ability.
He fought some real good fighters and retired with a good record.
However I see he died at 38 years of age.
Anyone have any info on him?
He died a young man.

[Expug]

Noone?

[EriqS]

I found this on a site called http://www.risumboxing.dk :

How many remember the popular cruiserweight, Angelo Dundee trained, James Salerno of the 1970-1990's? I remember him well. A six foot five inch, good looking mainstay on the USA Tuesday Night Fight series. James’ final ring record was 41-11-1, with 26 K.O.’s. He fought some excellent fighters in his day, losing a ten round decision to Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in his final fight. He never got the coveted title fight against Michael Spinks that he so badly wanted.

I had not thought about James Salerno for a long time until I received an e-mail recently. It was from an old College friend of his by the name of Jeff Shepherd. Jeff went on to say that while trying to find James he discovered that Salerno died in 1999 and wanted to know if I had any information on the circumstances of his death or whereabouts of his family. I didn’t know that he had died and started to make some phone calls. It seemed as if James Salerno just disappeared after his boxing career, as no one I spoke to was aware of the circumstances of his death.

Finally, I found an obituary from August 4, 1999, in the Orlando Sentinel. It said that James Robert Salerno (38) had died on August 1, 1999. It said he was a landscaper. It made no mention of his excellent boxing career. From the list of next of kin I was able to track down and talk to his father Salvatore. James Salerno was murdered on August 1, 1999, in Jacksonville, Florida. It is now a closed case. If anyone has any information about the murder, let me know. Six years later the family is still seeking answers.


It doesn't give the answers I'm sure you're looking for, but there is a cause of death here. As soon as I saw his name I remembered the guy- saw him fight several times on cable back in the eighties. Good luck in finding more info.

[Expug]

I found this on a site called http://www.risumboxing.dk :

How many remember the popular cruiserweight, Angelo Dundee trained, James Salerno of the 1970-1990's? I remember him well. A six foot five inch, good looking mainstay on the USA Tuesday Night Fight series. James’ final ring record was 41-11-1, with 26 K.O.’s. He fought some excellent fighters in his day, losing a ten round decision to Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in his final fight. He never got the coveted title fight against Michael Spinks that he so badly wanted.

I had not thought about James Salerno for a long time until I received an e-mail recently. It was from an old College friend of his by the name of Jeff Shepherd. Jeff went on to say that while trying to find James he discovered that Salerno died in 1999 and wanted to know if I had any information on the circumstances of his death or whereabouts of his family. I didn’t know that he had died and started to make some phone calls. It seemed as if James Salerno just disappeared after his boxing career, as no one I spoke to was aware of the circumstances of his death.

Finally, I found an obituary from August 4, 1999, in the Orlando Sentinel. It said that James Robert Salerno (38) had died on August 1, 1999. It said he was a landscaper. It made no mention of his excellent boxing career. From the list of next of kin I was able to track down and talk to his father Salvatore. James Salerno was murdered on August 1, 1999, in Jacksonville, Florida. It is now a closed case. If anyone has any information about the murder, let me know. Six years later the family is still seeking answers.


It doesn't give the answers I'm sure you're looking for, but there is a cause of death here. As soon as I saw his name I remembered the guy- saw him fight several times on cable back in the eighties. Good luck in finding more info.

Thankyou for that info.
What a shame.
He was a good fighter and I remember talking a bit to him at the weigh in a nice guy.
He beat a guy by the name of "downtown Freddie Brown" that night.
Freddie was in the same dressing room as I was and he was blasting Marvin Gaye on the boom box.
Early eighties man.

[joe kurtz]

I found this on a site called http://www.risumboxing.dk :

How many remember the popular cruiserweight, Angelo Dundee trained, James Salerno of the 1970-1990's? I remember him well. A six foot five inch, good looking mainstay on the USA Tuesday Night Fight series. James’ final ring record was 41-11-1, with 26 K.O.’s. He fought some excellent fighters in his day, losing a ten round decision to Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in his final fight. He never got the coveted title fight against Michael Spinks that he so badly wanted.

I had not thought about James Salerno for a long time until I received an e-mail recently. It was from an old College friend of his by the name of Jeff Shepherd. Jeff went on to say that while trying to find James he discovered that Salerno died in 1999 and wanted to know if I had any information on the circumstances of his death or whereabouts of his family. I didn’t know that he had died and started to make some phone calls. It seemed as if James Salerno just disappeared after his boxing career, as no one I spoke to was aware of the circumstances of his death.

Finally, I found an obituary from August 4, 1999, in the Orlando Sentinel. It said that James Robert Salerno (38) had died on August 1, 1999. It said he was a landscaper. It made no mention of his excellent boxing career. From the list of next of kin I was able to track down and talk to his father Salvatore. James Salerno was murdered on August 1, 1999, in Jacksonville, Florida. It is now a closed case. If anyone has any information about the murder, let me know. Six years later the family is still seeking answers.


It doesn't give the answers I'm sure you're looking for, but there is a cause of death here. As soon as I saw his name I remembered the guy- saw him fight several times on cable back in the eighties. Good luck in finding more info.

Thankyou for that info.
What a shame.
He was a good fighter and I remember talking a bit to him at the weigh in a nice guy.
He beat a guy by the name of "downtown Freddie Brown" that night.
Freddie was in the same dressing room as I was and he was blasting Marvin Gaye on the boom box.
Early eighties man.

Pug, thanks for bringing this to my ( well, the board's ) attention. It's really a shame that there had been no word about his passing in boxing circles until now, some eight plus years since his death. :(

I never fought on any of the same cards as him, but I did work for a promoter by the name of Frank Florio who used him for three cards in Binghamton,NY back in '89 & '90 ( which, I hope he got paid for, for 'cause I know in the end a lot of people got ripped off by Florio. Including myself ).

Salerno was a nice guy & a steady, sturdy pro.
I think Florio & his co-promoter Floyd Patterson ( whom I think was just used by Florio for his good name & his promoter's license ) had some plans in place for bigger & better things for Salerno at the time, but then the bottom fell out ( when Florio got caught doing some shady business with the finances & not paying his taxes or some such thing ) & the boxing game dried up in Binghamton. Putting Salerno out of business in the area unfortunately. This after building up a bit of a following there.
After which, he only fought a couple more times.

[Expug]

I found this on a site called http://www.risumboxing.dk :

How many remember the popular cruiserweight, Angelo Dundee trained, James Salerno of the 1970-1990's? I remember him well. A six foot five inch, good looking mainstay on the USA Tuesday Night Fight series. James’ final ring record was 41-11-1, with 26 K.O.’s. He fought some excellent fighters in his day, losing a ten round decision to Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in his final fight. He never got the coveted title fight against Michael Spinks that he so badly wanted.

I had not thought about James Salerno for a long time until I received an e-mail recently. It was from an old College friend of his by the name of Jeff Shepherd. Jeff went on to say that while trying to find James he discovered that Salerno died in 1999 and wanted to know if I had any information on the circumstances of his death or whereabouts of his family. I didn’t know that he had died and started to make some phone calls. It seemed as if James Salerno just disappeared after his boxing career, as no one I spoke to was aware of the circumstances of his death.

Finally, I found an obituary from August 4, 1999, in the Orlando Sentinel. It said that James Robert Salerno (38) had died on August 1, 1999. It said he was a landscaper. It made no mention of his excellent boxing career. From the list of next of kin I was able to track down and talk to his father Salvatore. James Salerno was murdered on August 1, 1999, in Jacksonville, Florida. It is now a closed case. If anyone has any information about the murder, let me know. Six years later the family is still seeking answers.


It doesn't give the answers I'm sure you're looking for, but there is a cause of death here. As soon as I saw his name I remembered the guy- saw him fight several times on cable back in the eighties. Good luck in finding more info.

Thankyou for that info.
What a shame.
He was a good fighter and I remember talking a bit to him at the weigh in a nice guy.
He beat a guy by the name of "downtown Freddie Brown" that night.
Freddie was in the same dressing room as I was and he was blasting Marvin Gaye on the boom box.
Early eighties man.

Pug, thanks for bringing this to my ( well, the board's ) attention. It's really a shame that there had been no word about his passing in boxing circles until now, some eight plus years since his death. :(

I never fought on any of the same cards as him, but I did work for a promoter by the name of Frank Florio who used him for three cards in Binghamton,NY back in '89 & '90 ( which, I hope he got paid for, for 'cause I know in the end a lot of people got ripped off by Florio. Including myself ).

Salerno was a nice guy & a steady, sturdy pro.
I think Florio & his co-promoter Floyd Patterson ( whom I think was just used by Florio for his good name & his promoter's license ) had some plans in place for bigger & better things for Salerno at the time, but then the bottom fell out ( when Florio got caught doing some shady business with the finances & not paying his taxes or some such thing ) & the boxing game dried up in Binghamton. Putting Salerno out of business in the area unfortunately. This after building up a bit of a following there.
After which, he only fought a couple more times.

Thanks for that Joe.
Its too bad really how this turned out.
I know there are lots of stories like this.
For every guy who makes the millions fame ,fortune etc.
there are countless guys with hard luck stories like Salernos.
Man what a shame.

[Woller]

I have a kick-boxing fight involving a James Salerno. Is that the same guy? Tall, lanky and about light-heavyweight. Did he try his luck in kick-boxing after his boxing carear enden?

Woller

[Expug]

Im giving this a bump to see if there is any more info on James.
Joe Kurtz and Eriq have been helpful.
Maybe some of the newer guys have some info.

[bennie]

I might be wrong, but something tells me Salerno is the man who chartered a light aeroplane tailing a banner in an effort to lure Mike Spinks into a defence. The banner read "I want you Spinks," or something.

[bennie]

Well, it was either Salerno or Mike Sedillo.

[Lawrence]

James Salerno was my uncle. I share his name.

I'm glad to see people still remember him, I was too young to really know him, but I've watched several of his fights and they're all impressive. I don't box myself, although I've wanted to, but I can recognize that he had a lot of talent. You don't turn pro at 15 for nothing, after all.

[Expug]

Hello Lawrence.
I fought on the same card with your uncle in Chicago in 1983.
He was a real real nice boxer.Very talented I thought.
He fought a guy named Freddie Brown. James won going away. Probably every round.
He was a nice guy, your uncle.
I remember him at the weigh in , he was a very quiet, relaxed, confident fighter.

[cedarbob]

I had the priviledge of meeting James(mouth of the south) in Jacksonville, Fla. and became close to him for a while. When I met James he was living on the street, having fallen into an addiction,according to James ,it began with a motorcycle accident in New York while living with Floyd Patterson.James had told me that he started with prescription meds. and when they weren't enough.........well you know how that goes.James would come to my office every day or two and leave some things overnight he cherished , like his guitar or maybe a few clothes.He prided himself in writing songs, some of which he had on c/d's under the name "Italian Ice". I eventually got James into a rehab program in which He did very well and after completion I was able to take him to the local police athletic league to help train young boxers.James, I thought, was doing pretty good. I lost touch with him until news came of his being shot and killed.

[Phillip]

I went to middle school and high school with James. We sat next to each other in a math class and I remember when he turned pro at 16 or 17. I'm sad to hear of his slide into addiction and his murder. When I knew him, he was a quite guy and had a gentle demeanor. I always thought he was a good guy.

[Expug]

I went to middle school and high school with James. We sat next to each other in a math class and I remember when he turned pro at 16 or 17. I'm sad to hear of his slide into addiction and his murder. When I knew him, he was a quite guy and had a gentle demeanor. I always thought he was a good guy.

Thankyou for that info Philip.
He seemed like a real decent guy.

[salerno0603]

he was my brother i was so soooo so sad about his death :( :( :( :( :( :( :( he was the best brother you could ask for.

[salerno0603]

he was my brother i was so soooo so sad about his death :( :( :( :( :( :( :( he was the best brother you could ask for.

:bhttp://forum.boxrec.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=4&p=1925455#ox:

[salerno0603]

he was my brother i was so soooo so sad about his death :( :( :( :( :( :( :( he was the best brother you could ask for.

:?? :bhttp://forum.boxrec.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=4&p=1925455#ox:

whoops

[salerno0603]

he was my brother i was so soooo so sad about his death :( :( :( :( :( :( :( he was the best brother you could ask for.

:?? :bhttp://forum.boxrec.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=4&p=1925455#ox:

whoops

i loved hi

[ElginGates]

Jimmy was a happy go lucky guy and had a good heart.

I knew him for many years and he ended up extremely broke on the streets of New Paltz quite often.
He had guts and his ring record shows it.

Tracy Patterson 5'5" boxed with 6'5" Jimmy up at Floyd's and in one session knocked Jimmy across the ring with some stunning punches that even Qawi did not land on him.

When we heard that he was murdered it absolutely stunned everyone who liked him and we mourned his passing for sure.
He got into some bad things out of depression but the bottom line is he was a good kid and if anyone knows the details of what happened to him, if they would post it then we would all know.

[songman2112]

James Never ended up on the streets of New Paltz...he really started going downhill,after getting arrested in Jacksonville...I knoow the James Salerno Story very well....he was My best friend for 30 years...we Grew up in Orlando together,and My father was the one who started him in Boxing

[ElginGates]

When the term "Ended up" was used, no harm meant. I know he sadly ended up with a tragic end in Florida. I liked him very much, and like I said he had a good heart and I never saw him start any trouble. It made me very sad to see him in New Paltz NY outside the Bistro all the time, on the street with no money and little hope. That is what I meant, he ALWAYS was a good guy to me and others. I respected his courage as a fighter.

What finally happened to Jim, was he shot, did they ever catch the person responsible, any facts on how it happened.
Very sorry for his loss.

[songman2112]

Um...thanks I guess,But James(no one who knew him Ever Called him Jim and If you did he'd correct you) was actually doing quite well in New Paltz.He had a New Red Nissan Pick up that was Paid for,and was doing quite well in His Landscaping Business.He was recording his Rap Cd,and always had plenty of bread.He Had plenty of hope.Your facts are conmpletly wrong!

[Expug]

Thanks for all the info gents.
Even after the original post awhile back,its great that their are still those contributing with memories.

[ElginGates]

"Uhh I guess," WTF is this the nostalgia police.

Ugh, if you knew him, he'd correct you?
Sheeeeet.

Anytime we saw him he did not have you tagging alone to correct our spelling, facts or any other damn thing.
How much nicer can I write. Fact, he was a nice guy, fact yes he had a business but he was hurting and not dong well at the time,
fact, we called him Jim, Jimmy, James Champ WHATEVER and he never corrected anybody. You weren't there to correct anyone either.
Lighten up with the bullshit skepticism its as out of place here as Saddam Hussein at a Bar Mitzvah.

He was up there awhile and we knew him at Floyds and he was in front of the Bistro quite a bit when he wasn't doing well.
We liked him, he was an ok guy, and he was good to us.
I hope I got that right oh GREAT GUARDIAN OF THE FACTS.