Harry Arroyo: The Other Champion Who Youngstown Ohio Also Proudly Owns

By Jim Amato

The great city of Youngstown, Ohio has produced an array of fine fighters. Numerous champions and contenders have come out of Youngstown and its surrounding areas. From highly regarded welterweight contender Tommy Bell to the recent former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. The history of boxing in Youngstown is priceless. Among the boxers who have added to Youngstown’s rich legacy is a lightweight who reached the top of his profession. His name is Harry Arroyo.

Harry was born on October 25,1957. He had a long and successful amateur career posting a record of 110-15. Arroyo made his professional boxing debut on October 30,1980 by halting Dale Gordon in Niles, Ohio. It was to be the first of twenty three straight wins that would lead Harry to a world title shot. Harry’s first major win came in Atlantic City, NJ on October 30,1982, when he won an ten round split decision over future junior welterweight titleholder Joe Manley. In 1983 Harry won all five of his fights and was moving up in the ratings.

There was another talented lightweight out of Youngstown who was also active at this time. Ray Mancini the son of ex lightweight contender Lenny “Boom Boom” Mancini was putting together his own win streak. Ray and Harry had been amateur stablemates under trainer Ed Sullivan. The two had sparred several rounds together. Mancini made his professional debut on October 18,1979. By the time Harry entered the pro ranks Ray had run up an impressive 13-0 record. Ray was putting together a great local following. The national media began to pick up on the Mancini story. A son trying to win the title his father never had a chance to fight for. The press and the fans were eating it up. In 1981 Ray made great progress halting Norman Goins in two. He outpointed veteran Al Ford and took out tough Jorge Morales in nine. The win over Morales gave Ray the North American Boxing Federation lightweight title. That is back when the NABF belt had some clout.

By the end of 1981 Harry had only seven wins on his ledger. On July 19,1981 Mancini scored a solid twelve round decision win over highly rated Mexican Jose Luis Ramirez. The scores were 120-108,119-112 and 119-110. A clear cut victory over a fighter who had given world champion Alexis Arguello a real battle. Arguello and Mancini would now meet for the World Boxing Council lightweight title. After a spirited effort Mancini was stopped by Arguello. Ray would rebound in 1982 and on May 8th he would take out Arturo Frias in one action packed round to win the World Boxing Association version of the lightweight title. On July 24th Mancini would make his first defense against former champion Ernesto Espana. The fight would be held in Warren, Ohio near Youngstown. On the undercard would be Harry Arroyo. Harry would stop unbeaten Kevin Austin in five rounds to raise his record to 15-0. Mancini would beat up Espana in six rounds to retain his title. At this point in time the worlds of Harry Arroyo and Ray Mancini were very far apart.

While his 1982 win over Manley raised some eyebrows. Harry was still boxing in the shadow of Ray. Mancini ended 1982 with the tragic Deuk-Koo Kim win. No one but Ray will ever know how much Kim’s death effected him. Mancini would box on and in 1983 he made a title defense against Orlando Romero and scored two non title victories. The year 1984 would see Harry Arroyo make great strides up the fistic ladder. On January 14th in Atlantic City, Harry upset the favored Robin Blake in a thrilling contest. On that same day in Reno, Nevada Mancini beat the gutsy Bobby Chacon in three rounds to retain his title. Three months later Harry got the break of a lifetime. Filling in for Cornelius Boza Edwards, Arroyo met Philadelphia’s Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown for the International Boxing Federation lightweight title. The bout took place on April 15th. Although the IBF was a fledging organization they were gaining momentum. Harry beat down Brown in an exciting fight to win the championship.

Now there was talk of an all Youngstown shootout with Mancini. A unification bout that would have drawn a lot of attention. Boxer versus slugger to see who was the best lightweight in Youngstown. Ray would go on to a June date with Livingstone Bramble. It was to be his Waterloo. Bramble fought a superb fight. He busted up Mancini and took his title in round fourteen. It’s possible that Ray could have challenged Arroyo for the IBF belt but he wanted his title back. That meant a rematch with Bramble. On September 1st Arroyo beat undefeated Charlie “White Lightning” Brown to retain his crown. On January 12,1985 Harry met the very formidable Terrence Ali. It was a classic. Arroyo got off the floor in the second round to rally and halt the game Ali in the eleventh.

Harry’s popularity was soaring. He was on the cover of boxing magazines and he had become a television favorite. Mancini got his rematch with Bramble on February 16th and lost a close hard fought battle. On April 6th Arroyo met the clever Jimmy Paul. He was a product of the Kronk Gym and aptly nicknamed “The Ringmaster”. Harry would soon find out why. Arroyo could never figure out Jimmy’s counter punching style. Harry hit the floor a few times but hung in there only to lose a lopsided verdict and his title.

Ray Mancini would not enter the ring again for four years. Arroyo embarked on a mission to regain his championship. Six months after his loss to Paul he took on Sammy Fuentes. A veteran of only eleven fights Fuentes gave Harry a beating and stopped him in the seventh. It was quite an upset and it was back to the drawing board for Harry. A three fight win streak followed the loss to Fuentes. On May 18,1986 Harry went to Providence, Rhode Island to face the streaking Vinny Pazienza. Paz entered the ring with an 18-1 record and proved to be too fast for Harry winning a comfortable decision. That loss pretty much took Arroyo out of the title picture.

There was another three fight win streak and then a 1987 loss to journeyman Roger Brown. On February 23,1988 Harry stopped Rick Souce to win the World Boxing Council Continental light welterweight title. In his next contest Arroyo was blitzed by future world champion Loreto Garza in one round to lose that title. In 1989 Harry lost another decision to Roger Brown. In 1990 he dropped a ten round duke to Carl Griffith. In 1991 Harry lost a bout in Paris, France to unbeaten Valery Kayumba. Next he lost a twelve rounder to Tommy Small for the World Boxing Federation light middleweight title. In 1992 Harry was taken out in three by another future world champion Javier Castillejo. In his last bout in 1993 Arroyo was on the short end of a decision to undefeated Vinny Letizia.

In all Harry Arroyo had 51 fights. His final tally was 40-11. He won 30 fights by the knockout route. He met six world champions in Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown, Jimmy Paul, Joe Manley, Vinny Pazienza, Loreto Garza and Javier Castillejo. He was world champion for a year and defended his title successfully twice. Although he badly wanted to fight Mancini it just wasn’t meant to be. Ray did not return to boxing until March of 1989 for a lucrative bout against Hector “Macho” Camacho. A close fight that Ray lost. By then Harry’s star had greatly diminished. When Mancini fought Greg Haugen in April of 1992 Harry was nearing the end of his career. Mancini was badly beaten by Haugen and hung the gloves up for good.
Harry Arroyo remains in the Youngstown area where he is popular with the local fans.

He has been a boxing judge and referee. I have met Harry a few times and I found him to be a humble soft spoken man. He is proud of his career as well he should be. He is as friendly as can be to fight fans who seek his autograph. Signing one after another with a wide smile on his face. Pride in his accomplishments and the city of Youngstown takes pride in him.