Tommy Rainone
Encyclopedia
Tommy Rainone is an American welterweight boxer nicknamed 'The Razor'. His current record is won 14 (KO 4) + lost 4 (KO 0). He is trained by Jorge Gallardo, a veteran of 85 amateur and 21 pro fights, out of the Westbury Boxing Club in Long Island, New York.
for the first time, the Plainview, Long Island native began to seek out a gym where he could pursue the sport that had suddenly captivated him. His search would prove fruitless until the age of 17 when he stepped into the Westbury Boxing Gym. Boxing couldn't have entered his life at a more appropriate time in his life.
“There’s no question about it, I was definitely able to channel a lot of my anger as a youth into boxing."
Rainone was a troubled teen. He had been kicked out of several middle schools. After middle school, he was sent to live with his father on Staten Island. His father placed him in a Staten Island Catholic School hoping the added structure would set the young man straight. It didn't work out as intended.
"You can’t take a kid who has been getting into trouble in public schools his whole life and put him in a Catholic school. I was a freshman at the time and it only took me about three months to get kicked out of that school. I went back to Long Island from there.
"My teenage years I was a very frustrated and angry person. I just had an attitude that the world was against me and boxing was an incredible outlet for me. Once I started getting into boxing I put the rest of the troublemaking off to the side and started really getting focused with my life.”
and light-welterweight contender Francisco "El Gato" Figueroa.
"I had three fights so far and I had to fight a guy named Leon Hinds, who was ranked number three in the nation. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had 70 fights. Having to survive a storm like that so early in my career made me improve my defense. I was always matched tough, and it was always expected thing to get matched tough. I went to tournaments knowing I wasn’t going to get easy fights. As soon as they called my name, I pretty much rolled my eyes because I knew they were going to match me tough."
Still a young man, Rainone's focus was anything but unwavering.
"When I was in the amateurs, I cut a lot of corners. I was having a good time partying. I stopped boxing when I was about 23 because I had to make a decision to either continue to just have fun or to box. I decided that I could not do both. I took a break from boxing, did some traveling and just enjoyed myself for a couple of years."
"If you looked him up, he is now a light-heavyweight. It was the only time he fought at 147, he was naturally fighting at 160, and he cut the weight. By the time he got in the ring, he was back up to 160-165. He was a big guy."
Rainone won his first 11 bouts, accompanied by his rabid local following. One of the highlights of his early career was
performing in the legendary boxing venue the Blue Horizon
in Philadelphia, PA. Rainone won a unanimous decision over Jaime Morales that night.
He ran into his first setback in 2008 when he dropped a very controversial split-decision to Manuel Guzman in Brooklyn. Rainone took the fight on two weeks notice. On the second day of training, Rainone sustained a cut under his left eye as the result of an elbow. He went to the hospital but was told he didn't need stitches. Being that he has great faith in his cutman George Mitchell and that the cut was not in a position that could affect his vision, he went forward with the fight. To stem the risk, the fight was reduced from six rounds to four.
"It was no walk in the park but there is no way I lost the fight," Rainone says. "Originally I pulled out of the fight but the promoter Tommy Gallagher wanted me to fight because I was going to sell a lot of tickets.
"My friend John Scully warned me 'if you get hit with a nothing jab, the cut is going to open up.' I started bleeding in the third round but I didn't think it would affect the judges. It was stupidity on my behalf to go into the fight with a cut. He's turned me down six times for a rematch."
His second loss came in his next fight - also a split decision - came against Henry White Jr. in Melville. There was no cut this time and Rainone had adequate time to train. Rainone discovered the significance of mental preparation on this night.
"He beat me fair and square. There was so much stress before this fight. I was in tremendous shape but mentally I wasn't prepared." After this fight he parted ways with his manager Luigi Olcese, whom he had been with for three fights.
Rainone returned to his winning ways in December 2008, this time it wasn't in front of his hometown fans. To find a fight he flew all the way to his trainer's hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina to face Santos Galli. Rainone won the first six rounds before stunning Galli the seventh with a left cross to the head, followed by a left to the body which put him down. Upon rising at the count of seven, Galli informed the ref that he had enough.
"It was an amazing experience, they treated me like royalty there" says Rainone. "I will be going again in December, most likely."
To this day, Rainone trains at the Westbury Boxing Gym under Jorge Gallardo, a veteran of 85 amateur and 21 pro fights. As a trainer he guided the careers of Jake "The Snake" Rodriguez, leading him to the IBF junior welterweight title. So far the southpaw slickster's record reads 12-2 (4 KO).
Though full of ambition, Rainone has foregone the formality of setting lofty standards for him, preferring to take his career one step at a time.
"Boxing is something that I have always dreamed of doing and I am really doing it. Most people in this world make compromises in their life of what they want to do. A lot of people have dreams of being a firefighter, a baseball player, or a movie star but it doesn’t always work out like that. If I accomplished nothing forward for the rest of my career in boxing at least I can say that I gave it my best shot and that I did what I always wanted to do.”
. "All of the revenue that comes into the hotel, from food and beverages to meetings, I crunch those numbers every night, making sure they add up. I have to smile and be polite in the professional world, it's like night and day from my other job."
Rainone enjoys working out, watching movies and spots and the New York night life, but his primary passion is traveling.
"The travel bug hit me around 2002. Working for Hilton Hotels helps out since I get my reservations and rooms for free which pretty much covers half my expenses. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet with the places I wanted to travel. When you travel you get to forget about the stresses of your everyday life. When you are on vacation those things don’t exist. Worrying about bills and the problems of life all disappear once you set foot on that plane. You also get to meet new people and experience new things.”
Early life
Tommy "The Razor" Rainone's love affair with boxing began at the age of seven. After watching RockyRocky
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
for the first time, the Plainview, Long Island native began to seek out a gym where he could pursue the sport that had suddenly captivated him. His search would prove fruitless until the age of 17 when he stepped into the Westbury Boxing Gym. Boxing couldn't have entered his life at a more appropriate time in his life.
“There’s no question about it, I was definitely able to channel a lot of my anger as a youth into boxing."
Rainone was a troubled teen. He had been kicked out of several middle schools. After middle school, he was sent to live with his father on Staten Island. His father placed him in a Staten Island Catholic School hoping the added structure would set the young man straight. It didn't work out as intended.
"You can’t take a kid who has been getting into trouble in public schools his whole life and put him in a Catholic school. I was a freshman at the time and it only took me about three months to get kicked out of that school. I went back to Long Island from there.
"My teenage years I was a very frustrated and angry person. I just had an attitude that the world was against me and boxing was an incredible outlet for me. Once I started getting into boxing I put the rest of the troublemaking off to the side and started really getting focused with my life.”
Amateur career
Rainone's amateur career was brief, consisting of approximately 40 fights. In that short span he fought a variety of world class fighters including former welterweight world champion Luis CollazoLuis Collazo
Luis Collazo is a boxer in the welterweight division. His boxing record is 31-4 . He is a former WBA welterweight champion.- Professional career :...
and light-welterweight contender Francisco "El Gato" Figueroa.
"I had three fights so far and I had to fight a guy named Leon Hinds, who was ranked number three in the nation. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had 70 fights. Having to survive a storm like that so early in my career made me improve my defense. I was always matched tough, and it was always expected thing to get matched tough. I went to tournaments knowing I wasn’t going to get easy fights. As soon as they called my name, I pretty much rolled my eyes because I knew they were going to match me tough."
Still a young man, Rainone's focus was anything but unwavering.
"When I was in the amateurs, I cut a lot of corners. I was having a good time partying. I stopped boxing when I was about 23 because I had to make a decision to either continue to just have fun or to box. I decided that I could not do both. I took a break from boxing, did some traveling and just enjoyed myself for a couple of years."
Professional Career
Rainone returned to boxing in 2006 after spending three and a half years away from the sport. He trained for eight months before making his pro debut against ten-fight veteran Marquis McConnell at the Huntington Hilton Hotel in Melville. In front of a huge, supportive local crowd, Rainone boxed his way to a shutout victory."If you looked him up, he is now a light-heavyweight. It was the only time he fought at 147, he was naturally fighting at 160, and he cut the weight. By the time he got in the ring, he was back up to 160-165. He was a big guy."
Rainone won his first 11 bouts, accompanied by his rabid local following. One of the highlights of his early career was
performing in the legendary boxing venue the Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the mid 1960s.Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry ; and another by John Mayall and Eric Clapton "Bernard Jenkins", and...
in Philadelphia, PA. Rainone won a unanimous decision over Jaime Morales that night.
He ran into his first setback in 2008 when he dropped a very controversial split-decision to Manuel Guzman in Brooklyn. Rainone took the fight on two weeks notice. On the second day of training, Rainone sustained a cut under his left eye as the result of an elbow. He went to the hospital but was told he didn't need stitches. Being that he has great faith in his cutman George Mitchell and that the cut was not in a position that could affect his vision, he went forward with the fight. To stem the risk, the fight was reduced from six rounds to four.
"It was no walk in the park but there is no way I lost the fight," Rainone says. "Originally I pulled out of the fight but the promoter Tommy Gallagher wanted me to fight because I was going to sell a lot of tickets.
"My friend John Scully warned me 'if you get hit with a nothing jab, the cut is going to open up.' I started bleeding in the third round but I didn't think it would affect the judges. It was stupidity on my behalf to go into the fight with a cut. He's turned me down six times for a rematch."
His second loss came in his next fight - also a split decision - came against Henry White Jr. in Melville. There was no cut this time and Rainone had adequate time to train. Rainone discovered the significance of mental preparation on this night.
"He beat me fair and square. There was so much stress before this fight. I was in tremendous shape but mentally I wasn't prepared." After this fight he parted ways with his manager Luigi Olcese, whom he had been with for three fights.
Rainone returned to his winning ways in December 2008, this time it wasn't in front of his hometown fans. To find a fight he flew all the way to his trainer's hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina to face Santos Galli. Rainone won the first six rounds before stunning Galli the seventh with a left cross to the head, followed by a left to the body which put him down. Upon rising at the count of seven, Galli informed the ref that he had enough.
"It was an amazing experience, they treated me like royalty there" says Rainone. "I will be going again in December, most likely."
To this day, Rainone trains at the Westbury Boxing Gym under Jorge Gallardo, a veteran of 85 amateur and 21 pro fights. As a trainer he guided the careers of Jake "The Snake" Rodriguez, leading him to the IBF junior welterweight title. So far the southpaw slickster's record reads 12-2 (4 KO).
Though full of ambition, Rainone has foregone the formality of setting lofty standards for him, preferring to take his career one step at a time.
"Boxing is something that I have always dreamed of doing and I am really doing it. Most people in this world make compromises in their life of what they want to do. A lot of people have dreams of being a firefighter, a baseball player, or a movie star but it doesn’t always work out like that. If I accomplished nothing forward for the rest of my career in boxing at least I can say that I gave it my best shot and that I did what I always wanted to do.”
Outside of Boxing
Away from the ring Rainone moonlights as an auditor for Hilton HotelsHilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
. "All of the revenue that comes into the hotel, from food and beverages to meetings, I crunch those numbers every night, making sure they add up. I have to smile and be polite in the professional world, it's like night and day from my other job."
Rainone enjoys working out, watching movies and spots and the New York night life, but his primary passion is traveling.
"The travel bug hit me around 2002. Working for Hilton Hotels helps out since I get my reservations and rooms for free which pretty much covers half my expenses. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet with the places I wanted to travel. When you travel you get to forget about the stresses of your everyday life. When you are on vacation those things don’t exist. Worrying about bills and the problems of life all disappear once you set foot on that plane. You also get to meet new people and experience new things.”