The retired boxer's assets total $383,000, his debts are more than $2 million, so he says this is "probably the best financial move."

12:34 PM EST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

BY LYNN ARDITI
Journal Staff Writer

Boxer Vinny Paz bled for his money. Now, his creditors are seeing red.

Faced with more than $2 million in debts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars that he owes the IRS and two Las Vegas casinos, the five-time world champion filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection late last month.

Paz, 42, who retired from professional boxing last year, estimates that his assets -- champion boxing belts included -- total about $383,000, according to federal bankruptcy court documents.

"I just lost a million dollars in the stock market, about a month ago, so that, like, did it for me," Paz said during a phone interview yesterday.

He played the stock market, he said, to try to pay off his gambling debts -- now estimated at more than $300,000 -- and wound up further in the hole.

"I live my life like I fight in the ring," Paz said. "That's good for boxing, but it's not good for your life."

Paz, who once said his boxing career had grossed about $6 million, now works as a TV sports commentator and does product endorsements. He did a TV spot for a mortgage company.

So far this year, he has earned just over $12,000, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Paz's gross income last year was $78,403, the documents state, and $56,455 in 2003.

Paz, who has been known to lavish expensive gifts on his friends, also has turned to them for financial help. His bankruptcy petition lists personal loans from friends and colleagues over the past two years that total about $110,000.

Vinny Paz

"He is blessed with many friends," said Paz's bankruptcy lawyer, Peter G. Berman, of Providence. "He has helped many people in his life and he has many good friends."

Paz's assets include a ranch house in Warwick worth $358,000, on which he owes $212,000; a 2003 Jeep Wrangler for which he owes $16,985, or nearly $4,000 more than the vehicle's market value; $6,000 in household goods; $2,500 in jewelry, and championship boxing belts with an estimated value of $2,000.

His estimated $2.2 million in debts include $463,179 owed to the IRS dating back to 1999, and $145,264 owed to the State of Rhode Island for state income taxes, according to the bankruptcy documents. The state and the IRS placed liens on Paz's house. But it's unclear how much money, if any, they could recoup, since the equity in the property amounts to a fraction of the taxes he reportedly owes.

Paz also owes The Mirage Casino Hotel, in Las Vegas, $291,171, the bankruptcy documents show. The debts date to before 2001, when the casino hired Providence lawyer Marc Wallick to try to collect.

"I literally attached some money out of his winnings a couple years ago," Wallick said yesterday.

In 2003, police arrested Paz in a hotel room at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Connecticut, for writing $65,000 in bad checks at two Las Vegas casinos. To get out of jail, he posted $75,000 cash bail.

With interest and costs, Wallick said, Paz now owes the casinos "a little over $300,000."

"He has some of his trophies and stuff that probably could be sold," Wallick said. "His championship belts and stuff, it's got to be worth something to sports buffs. Put it on eBay and somebody will buy it."

Paz, however, said he is confident that his belts and trophies are safe from creditors. "The value is not what you think it is," he said. "The belt is only worth about 2,000. . . . It's the personal value."

Over his career, he told the The Journal in 2002, he earned about $6 million fighting, though he noted that generally, 30 percent went to his manager, and 10 percent to his trainer.

He spoke candidly about his weakness for gambling ("I'd gamble like a billionaire on crack, and I'm neither of the two!") and his bad investments ("I trust too many people.")

Now, he also travels a lot. He was supposed to be in Ohio yesterday, he said. Someone wants him to be the front guy for a corporate gym.

The decision to file for bankruptcy was "probably the best financial move," Paz said, soberly.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions generally wipe out a person's debts -- and allow them to start over. People are often allowed to keep their houses under a state law, known as a homestead exemption.

Paz is expected to appear Nov. 28 at a creditors' meeting on the bankruptcy petition at the U.S. Trustees' Office, Providence.

Paz, who legally changed his name two years ago from Vincent E. Pazienza to Vinny Paz, said he still works out daily in his basement gym. And he still drinks his coffee black, with Splenda.

Does he still worry about his weight?

"I'm in fighting shape!" he said.

He's also looking to the future.

"I'm hoping some movies will happen," he said. "I'm gonna work on being a motivational speaker soon. . . . I just got to get my life set back on the straight and narrow and make some things happen, and I will."

He said he knows he is no good with money.

"I don't concern myself with money, that's my problem. I really don't," he said, in a voice mail message yesterday. "I've made millions, I've lost millions. And I'll make more millions. I never fought for money; I fought 'cause I love to fight and money don't mean much to me. . . . You know, fighters go down but only the champs get back up, and I'm a five-time world champ. So, this is just a wise financial move for me. Hell, if Donald Trump can file for bankruptcy . . ."

Contact staff writer Lynn Arditi by e-mail at larditi@projo.com or call (401) 277-7335.

Read Vinny Paz's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing at:

http://projo.com/news/pdf/2005/paz.pdf