Vince Cervi

Name: Vince Cervi
Birth Name: Vinicio Cervi
Hometown: Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died: 2009-03-09 (Age:41)
Pro Boxer: Record


Vince Cervi (The Voodoo Man) was born 22nd November 1966. He weighed around 216 pounds during his career and hailed from the city of Melbourne, Australia.

He started his professional boxing career in 1985 when only 18 years old as a Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight. His first fight was a 1st round TKO win over Glenn Irvine in Geelong. Next he fought in his home town of Melbourne against Paul Donnelly and again he won by 1st round TKO. Next up he experienced his first loss via a 6 round points decision to Paul James. His next two fights were against Kevin Hargreaves. He lost the first by 6 round Points decision, and also lost the second when Hargreaves knocked him out in 4 rounds. He then retired for 5 years. When he came back in 1991 as a Heavyweight he said of his previous attempt at boxing �I was a teenager and too young for the sport. Now I have more confidence and no doubts about what I�m doing�. His words proved to be correct. His first fight back was at the Fitzroy Central Hall in September 1991, when he outpointed the Melbourne based boxer Steve Hudson with a close decision win. His next fight was against Queenslander [[Mitchell O�Hello]] at Melbourne�s Festival Hall. Cervi won by 1st round KO with a murderous right.

He then fought a rematch with Steve Hudson at Princess Park in Melbourne, on the undercard of Fenech-Nelson II in front of 38,000 fans. The result was a majority points draw over 4 rounds, with two judges scoring it a draw and the third scoring a win for Cervi. In the lead up to that fight Cervi was a sparring partner of Virgil Hill, who was preparing for his fight with Aundrey Nelson. Cervi benefited greatly from sparring with Hill. His next fight was against Theo Tsakis for a draw over 4 rounds. Three months later he TKO�d Tommy Hammer in the first round in West Brunswick, Melbourne.

One month later he fought the classy former Australian Cruiserweight Champion Gary Wills. Wills, who came from Brisbane, was an experienced fighter who had fought and beat the best in Australia. When they met in Melbourne, Wills was favourite to win. Cervi however, didn�t read the script and in a boilover he TKO�d Wills in one round. He then knocked out Pilua Taito in one round in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. Everyone who doubted him before, were now sitting up and taking notice of the Voodoo man, who packed an extremely powerful punch.

Vince Cervi�s next fight was the most important in his relatively short career. He was to meet his fellow Melbourne Heavyweight James Grima, who also had a reputation as a very hard puncher, for the vacant Heavyweight championship of Australia in West Brunswick. In the end Cervi was the man who landed the more telling blows to win the fight by a third round TKO. He was now the Australian Heavyweight champion after 13 fights. In his first defence he met the veteran �Aussie� Joe Bugner, who by this time was fighting out of Queensland. Unfortunately for Vince, Bugner�s size (259 pounds), strength and vast experience won him a unanimous decision over 12 rounds (119-109, 119-111, and 117-111) at Carrara stadium, Gold Coast in front of 3,500 people. So, Vince Cervi lost his Australian title in his first defence, but he was unlucky for it to be against the vastly experienced Bugner.

After losing his title, Cervi travelled west for his next fight, to beat yet another Queenslander Colin Wilson in Perth, Western Australia by an 8 round points decision. One month later he fought in Melbourne again to KO Matthew Reid in 2 rounds. Next, he travelled north to Nerang, Queensland to fight Colin Wilson again, though this time the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation Heavyweight title was at stake. Cervi won the fight and the OPBF heavyweight title with a 12 round point�s decision. Nearly one year later, Wilson and Cervi had their third fight, this time for the Australian heavyweight title. Again they fought in Queensland, this time in Southport. Wilson won via a 12 round point�s decision. Vince Cervi retired not long after. His final record was: 18 fights, 11 wins (8 KO), 5 losses (1 KO by), 2 draws. He scored 6 first round KOs out of his 8 KOs, which was a pretty good effort. He had dynamite power in both hands and was entertaining to watch.

Vince Cervi might not have been a world beater, but he did fight and beat the best Australia had to offer, and he has a small place in boxing history by being an Australian Heavyweight champion. Alongside such famous names as: Peter Jackson, Paddy Slavin, Joe Goddard, Bill Squires, Bill Lang, Les Darcy, Dave Sands, and even his own conqueror Joe Bugner, who all held the title at some time.