Edmonton brothers Carlietto and Raffeal Santoro will have boxing royalty in their corner when they fight Friday at Shaw Conference Centre.
Former lightweight and light-middleweight world champion Vinny Pazienza, who they recently learned is a distant relative, is in town to help support the boys at the KO Boxing event.
Third Cousins
It turns out Pazienza, who now goes by the name Vinny Paz, is their father’s third cousin.
“It’s very cool, very interesting, because we almost couldn’t believe it at first,” said Raffeal, 20, the eldest of the boxing Santoro brothers.
Raffeal Santoro (left) with Vinny Paz (middle) and 17 year old Carlietto Santoro at news conference
“When I first found out, I was kinda like, ‘Whatever,’ ” said Raffeal, who will be in his second pro fight on Friday evening.
“But with Vinny and my dad actually having a relationship right out of literally nowhere, talking about family history and stuff, you’re like, ‘Wow, it’s legit.’ ”
Carlietto, 17, said having a legend like Paz in his corner will be surreal.
‘I gotta see these boys’
“We used to actually watch him before this,” Carlietto said. “We watched his movie Bleed For This, we watched his highlights against Roy Jones, we watched him all the time.
LETS GO !! #SANTORO @Canada @AirCanada @KOBoxingCanada pic.twitter.com/oC3K2IgGmY
— @5XPAZ
“Then next thing you know, my dad calls him up and shows him some clips of us. He’s like, ‘I gotta see these boys, I gotta see them.’ He comes down here and is cornering us.”
Growing up, the Santoro brothers were heavily into soccer but switched to boxing in their teens.
Paz said he was intrigued right away as soon as their father, Lino Santoro, sent a video of the boys’ fights.
He didn’t hesitate to come when Lino invited him to Edmonton.
“I’ve watched the kids fight,” said Paz, who turned pro when he as 21 and fought some of boxing’s greatest, including Roberto Duran, Roy Jones Jr. and Hector “Macho” Camacho.
He won 50 of his 60 fights, including 30 by knockout.
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“They’re good, they’re tough, they’re badasses,” he said of the boys. “They want it badly. And the greatest thing about them is that they’re great guys.”
Paz, 54, said he isn’t getting too involved with the boys’ training.
Instead, he’s just talking about his journey in the boxing world and what it took for him to become one of the best.
‘It’s pretty sick, I won’t lie’
For Carlietto, the reality of having Paz in his corner Friday night is slowly starting to sink in.
“It’s pretty sick, I won’t lie,” Carlietto said.
“This is probably the most I’ve been nervous. With Vinny here, I want to do a little bit more for him. I’m also doing it for myself, don’t get me wrong. But having him here is special. It’s an honour.”
KO Boxing’s event at the Shaw Conference Centre begins Friday at 7 p.m.