Anthony Bizzarro was ringside for Bayfront Brawl 18.
The Erie boxer provided color commentary for the online broadcast of the Thanksgiving eve fight card at the Bayfront Convention Center.
The reason Bizzarro called the action and didn’t provide any was the same reason the lightweight won’t add to his 12-0 professional record over the near future.
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Bizzarro, 25, told the Erie Times-News that he recently had a tumor removed from the roof of his mouth. He learned two weeks ago that it was malignant.
Erie boxer Anthony Bizzarro provides color commentary during the Nov. 26 online broadcast of the Bayfront Brawl 18 at the Bayfront Convention Center. Bizzarro was forced to withdraw from the fight card because of a recent cancer diagnosis.
Bizzarro said he first sensed something was off in 2023.
“I noticed I had a bump growing,” he said. “I was eating (cereal), and it actually cut the tumor on the hard palate. Time went by and it stayed the same size. But from the April fight at the Meadows (outside Pittsburgh) to the one here (at the convention center in August), it just drastically grew.
“Finally, I had to have it out.”Bizzarro was informed that the cancer was mobilized in his gums and hadn’t spread. Chemotherapy also is unlikely.
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However, Bizzarro is scheduled for Dec. 5 surgery at Pittsburgh’s UPMC Presbyterian. The cancer cells will be removed and a special retainer installed so the tissue can properly heal.
Bizzarro will be able to train outside the ring, but anything beyond that is on an indefinite hiatus. Dieting will be another issue.
“The first thing I thought of when they told me (of the cancer diagnosis) was, ‘How long am I going to be out of boxing?’” Bizzarro said. “I love this. It’s what I do every day.”
Bizzarro spoke with Enida Gobeljic at his side. He proposed to his fiancée after his Bayfront Brawl 16 fight, which occurred nearly a year to the day of the Nov. 26 card.
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More: Erie boxer wins by knockout, then proposes to his girlfriend
‘See if I still had it’
Anthony Bizzarro’s absence led his uncle, promoter Ernie Bizzarro, to cancel the boxing portion of Bayfront Brawl 18.
Hungarian native Marko Szalai (7-3) was scheduled to be Anthony Bizzarro’s opponent.
Ernie Bizzarro replaced those fights with 12 amateur “grappling” bouts in the mixed martial arts cage. They consisted wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu aspects, but no hand strikes.
Referee Chip Snider raises John Heynoski’s arm in victory after the Erie fighter’s professional mixed martial arts debut at the Bayfront Convention Center on Nov. 26. Heynoski recorded a first round technical knockout of Ashtabula, Ohio, opponent Cliff Jefferson.
Eleven sanctioned MMA bouts followed. They were capped by the professional debuts for Erie’s John Heynoski and Cliff Jefferson of Ashtabula, Ohio.
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Heynoski, known more for arm wrestling, only needed 1 minute, 47 seconds to record a technical knockout. He was scheduled to box during the card but segued to MMA even though he said his last bout was as an amateur in the early 2010s.
“To be honest, I wanted to do this to get back into shape and see if I still had it,” Heynoski said. “(MMA) does benefit me because I have a wrestling background.”
As did the elder John Heynoski. The Fort LeBoeuf graduate, who died in 2008, was the Class 2A 132-pound gold medalist for the 1980 PIAA tournament.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie boxer Anthony Bizzarro confirms cancer diagnosis