Antonio Sabato Jr. delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.
Alex Wong
Getty Images
That’s a wrap. Exit stage left. Cut!
After almost a decade together, Antonio Sabato Jr. and Katia Fernandez have gone their separate ways, TMZ first reported.
Sources told the outlet that the Tampa area-based exes were actually engaged, a fact they impressively managed to keep quiet. As for who ended things? The insiders added it was Fernandez, a model who now works in real estate.
Another fun fact: Sabato, who shot to fame for roles in “General Hospital” and “Melrose Place,” relocated to Florida from California in 2019. The move came a year after an unsuccessful run for Congress, and three years after claiming Hollywood “blacklisted him” for speaking at the Republican National Convention in support of now President Donald Trump.
Well, not all of Hollywood. Sabato, who pays the bills these days working construction, joined Official Celebrity Boxing, a company that organizes and promotes live bouts between non-athletic influencer types purely for entertainment purposes.
Last September, the single father of three pummeled former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Joe Giudice, winning the “Battle of the Italian Stallions” pay-per-view special.
As for Sabato’s next match? The 54-year-old middleweight announced on Instagram last month he was headed south to return to the ring, and would send updates as they come.
“Miami, baby!” he wrote of the PPV fight which is set for Nov. 21. Location and opponent: TBD.
So, why would Sabato want to keep taking punches in his middle age?
“I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time when I wake up one morning and go, ‘I’m old.’ I don’t have that DNA,” the Rome native told WFLA-TV in 2024. “I could be 90 years old, and if the challenge is there, I’m always going to train no matter what happens.”
Miami Herald
Celebrity/real time news reporter Madeleine Marr has been with The Miami Herald since 2003. She has covered such features as travel, fashion and food. In 2007, she helped launch the newspaper’s daily People Page, attending red carpet events, awards ceremonies and press junkets; interviewing some of the biggest names in show business; and hosting her own online show. She is originally from New York City.