Babe Verila

Name: Jackie Elverrillo
Alias: Babe Verila, Jack Ellis
Birth Name: Francis E. Elverrillo
Hometown: New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died: 1988-12-00 (Age:77)
Pro Boxer: Record

Babe Verila was the one of the subjects of the "Making the Grade" article in THE RING, April 1940, page 25, by Eddie Borden. The article, however, contains inaccurate personal information. He was not Panamanian, but was indeed part Cuban, which is why he had the boxing name "The Cuban Express." His father was from Cuba and his mother was "Portuguese" from the Cape Verde Islands, a portuguese colony at that time.

According to this article, "He got into the fight game because he couldn't find work on the farm in Oklahoma, where he supported his two brothers and sisters after his parents had died. However, he was actually born in Chicago and was not from Oklahoma. His parents died when he was 13 years of age, but he had no siblings. The article says that when work on the farm became slack, he went to town daily looking for other employment, but without result. Then he saw some amateurs training for an appearance in an Oklahoma tourney and he decided to do the mitts and practice with them. He became proficient and entered the game, but as a pro. He never was an amateur fighter. He got five dollars for his first bout and has been going strongly ever since. It isn't clear if Verila fought professionally in Oklahoma before coming to New England. His boxing name was changed to 'Babe Verila' after he arrived in New England, probably by his manager, Dave Lumiansky.."

His legal name was Francis E. Elverrillo. Following his boxing career he settled in the New England area and married Edith Feijoo Barbosa, a native of the Cape Verde Islands. He died in 1988 and is survived by four children.