Paul Andre Banke ( ; born March 1, 1964) is a former World Boxing Council Super Bantamweight champion
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
*Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
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, and is the first American boxer to go public with an AIDS diagnosis. Having lived 29 years after being diagnosed with AIDS, Banke, who accepted medical treatment, is the longest living professional boxer with the disease.
Career
Banke turned pro in 1985. After losing a 12-round split decision to
Daniel Zaragoza
Daniel Zaragoza (born December 11, 1957) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight title in 1985 and the WBC super ...
in June 1989, Banke captured the
WBC Super Bantamweight
Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to .
There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...
Title in April 1990 with an upset ninth-round TKO victory over Daniel Zaragoza. He defended his title once in August 1990 with a twelfth round stoppage of undefeated Ki Hoon Lee in South Korea, knocking Lee down three times. He was knocked down three times in the fourth round, and lost his WBC title to
Pedro Ruben Decima
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...
by fourth round stoppage in November 1990. Banke lost five of his last six bouts, including a 12-round WBC rematch title loss to Zaragoza in their third meeting. After a ten-round decision loss to winless 0-8 Mexican journeyman Juan Francisco Soto in December 1993, Banke retired at age 29 with a record of 21–9 with 11 knockouts.
Later life
Banke, who battled drug use during his career and overcame it, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995, approximately two years after his final fight. After returning to drug use, Banke successfully completed a drug rehab program. Banke, who resides in Los Feliz, California, has
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...
, also known as dementia pugilistica, an aftereffect from his professional boxing career. Chronic traumatic encephopathy is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from repeated head trauma.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of world super-bantamweight boxing champions
This is a list of world super-bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often rec ...
*
List of southpaw stance boxers
This is a list of southpaw stance boxers. Southpaw is a boxing term that designates the stance where the boxer has his right hand and right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook. Southpaw is the normal s ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banke, Paul
1964 births
Living people
American male boxers
Boxers from California
People from Blythe, California
Boxers with chronic traumatic encephalopathy
People with HIV/AIDS
American sportspeople convicted of crimes
Southpaw boxers
Super-bantamweight boxers
World super-bantamweight boxing champions
World Boxing Council champions
20th-century American sportsmen