After his decision win over Glenwood Brown in July of 1998, Vinny returned to action on November 6 against Arthur Allen at the Foxwoods Resorts in Connecticut. He won a 10 round unanimous decision, his second in a row, and a good way to end the year.
Vinny won a string of three bouts over mediocre competition in 1999, which set up a rematch with Dana Rosenblatt on November 5 at Foxwoods again. Unlike their first bout, Rosenblatt outboxed Pazienza this time, and took home a split-decision victory. Now closing in on 38 years of age, I didn’t understand at this point why Vinny was even fighting anymore.
He took the entire year of 2000 off, and spent his time getting his name legally changed to Vinny Paz. While he did win four times in 2001, no one really cared anymore but his diehard fans. While his courageous comeback was inspiring, it had been ten years since his car wreck, and his fan base was gone.
He lost again, this time to Eric Lucas on March 1, 2002 at Foxwoods again. It left Paz with a career record of 49 wins and 10 losses, and he insisted he wanted to retire with 50 wins. Two years later, on March 27, 2004, Paz won his last professional bout, a unanimous decision over Tocker Pudwill. It gave him the 50th win of his career, and he announced his retirement afterwards in the ring.
I’ll always remember Vinny as the guy who I wish could have lasted one more round against Roy Jones in 1995. Secondly, I’ll remember his grit and courage, and despite limited skills, got the most out of his ability. He will be fittingly inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, in June of 2025.
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