The WBC reports the death of former light heavyweight contender Bobby Cassidy, Sr., a beloved fixture on the New York boxing scene for decades. Cassidy was born April 19, 1944 and fought professionally from 1963 to 1980. Although born and raised in New York, Cassidy is of Irish lineage and fought as “Irish” Bobby Cassidy. He was a southpaw who was world-rated in the the junior middleweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight (then 190 pounds) divisions. In 1975, he was ranked number one in the world as a light heavyweight by the WBC. In 1963, Cassidy, fighting out of Levittown, Long Island, New York, scored a one-punch, 39-second knockout in his pro debut at Sunnyside Garden. He went on to compile a ring record of 59 wins, 16 losses, three draws, one no contest and 27 knockouts. Among the notable fighters that he defeated were Don Fullmer, Jimmy Dupree, Tom Bethea, Isaac Logart, Ramon Ranquello, Tommy Hicks and Christy Elliott. He also fought world champions Luis Manuel Rodríguez, Rodrigo Valdez and Alessandro Mazzinghi.
Boxingtalk editor Scott Shaffer adds: "I met Bobby in 2000 and shared a great laugh with him when he got drafted into working Wayne Braithwaite's corner at the very last minute due to Wayne's trainer being unable to enter the USA. Bobby had never even met Wayne before the weigh-in. A future champion, Wayne was a total unknown that day but scored what seemed at the time to be a huge upset. At the post-fight press conference, we all jokingly gave Bobby full credit for Wayne's win, promising to vote for him as trainer of the year. He laughed right along with us. May he rest in paradise."
In a six-month span of 1973, Cassidy fought Dupree three times, for a total of 30 rounds. Both light heavyweights were ranked in the top 10 at the time. They fought to a draw in the first fight, Dupree won a split decision in the second fight and Cassidy won a unanimous decision in the third. The final meeting was held at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum. Cassidy dropped Dupree three times in the fight. The Dupree fights were part of stretch during which Cassidy fought eight consecutive opponents ranked in the top ten.
Throughout his career he fought main events in both the old and current Madison Square Garden.
Bobby Cassidy Jr. a respected journalist who has covered boxing for years, posted this on social media: "I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming number of messages, calls, texts, emails. Thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt memories about my Dad. I will come back and say more at another time. One of the greatest things that could be said of my father's career - and it has been said often over the last few days - is that he came to fight. He came to fight and he came to win every night. He never took a night off and that's why his fans loved him so much. I will miss you eternally my champion. I am who I am today because of you."
After his boxing career, Cassidy began training fighters and has worked with two world champions, WBC light heavyweight champion Donny Lalonde and WBO middleweight champion Lonnie Bradley. He also trained Ugandan contender Godfrey Nyakana. [For one fight, Cassidy worked the corner of future cruiserweight champion Wayne Braithwaite]. As an actor, Cassidy appeared in three films, Rocky, Uncle Joe Shannon and This Thing of Ours.
Boxingtalk sends its deepest sympathies to the friends and family of “Irish” Bobby Cassidy, including his son, Bobby Jr.
