Trainer and manager of Buddy McGirt, Mustapha Hamsho, and many others, promoter, matchmaker, all around boxing legend and a tailor too, died yesterday.
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Trainer and manager of Buddy McGirt, Mustapha Hamsho, and many others, promoter, matchmaker, all around boxing legend and a tailor too, died yesterday.
Dang figured he was far older than 90. R.I.P heck of a trainer.
Certo was proper old school and remember him with Buddy McGirt. RIP from a great generation.
“He didn’t do it for the money, he just loved it,” said Milano, of his uncle, who always kept Certo’s Custom Tailors open in Secaucus for more than half a century, during which time he made suits for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Roselli and Bobby Vinton. “He was best friends with Joey Giardello, Willie Pep, Jersey Joe Walcott – as a matter of fact he was the godfather to Jersey Joe Walcott’s son. All these guys would come down to the tailor shop and I would just sit there and feel like I was at the Boxing Hall of Fame. It was one after the other. And he was a regular guy. He was a man’s man and everybody loved him. He wore his heart on a sleeve and would tell you just how it is. And tell you to go “f” yourself and turn around and take you out to dinner. He had a heart of gold.”
“Gold” was the word boxing writers would most associate with Certo over the years, as he wouldn’t just give them quotes for days, but when you sat down with him for any length of time, you got a master class in the sweet science. Having access to that knowledge was priceless and a reminder that there aren’t many of Certo’s class left in the fight game.
https://www.boxingscene.com/al-certo...age-90--134966