If ever there were a chance to freeze time, Izzadeen ‘Izzy’ Burgos would be forever suspended as a 12-year-old, swinging and flailing in his bright red boxing gear, melting a packed house of hardened fight fans a decade ago in Philadelphia’s legendary Blue Horizon arena. That night, 24 June 2005, Burgos stunned a smoke-filled room during a three-round exhibition. It wasn’t anything dazzling Burgos did in the ring. Rather it was the fact that he was a one-armed fighter who gained national attention when he lost his left arm at two after his father shot him.
Burgos recently approached someone about possibly putting a boxing glove on again, but his life, which seemed to play out publicly, took an abrupt and tragic turn when he was shot and killed shortly after 11pm on Sunday night. Burgos, 21, was shot in the face outside of his home on Wingohocking Street near Lawrence in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia known locally as ‘The Badlands’.
It was a sad ending for Burgos, whose story touched the city of Philadelphia when he lost his arm as a baby. Dennis Burgos, who was sentenced to 10 to 25 years at Graterford state prison for recklessly endangering a child, claimed the gun accidentally misfired while it was underneath a bed.
On Sunday, Dennis Burgos was with his son when he was shot and chased the assailant. As of Tuesday, Philadelphia police had no leads as to who shot Burgos and why.
“It really is a sad ending,” said Edwin ‘Bo’ Diaz, a former Philadelphia policeman who started Burgos boxing. “I found out Monday morning, when Milt Quinones, who used to work with Izzy too, told me. Izzy told Milt he wanted to box again. Milt and I used to work with the kids when we had a gym together. When I first heard it, I couldn’t believe it. I remember asking, ‘What do you mean Izzy got killed?’ And then it dawned me that it did happen. Izzy wasn’t supposed to survive the gun-shot wound when he was two. It was a miracle he survived that. Boxing brought something out in him. It gave him another chance. He went from a shy, timid kid to someone who spoke up. His life looked it was going to change for the positive, but it wound up being a disaster anyway.”
Burgos, the subject of two ESPN features and a story in Ring Magazine, became a mini-celebrity for a brief time after his June 2005 date in the ring. He made appearances on local TV and radio shows, and was nominated by the Boxing Writers Association of America for the most courageous award.
But as time progressed, Burgos seemed to fall more on a wayward side. Prison records show Burgos was released from jail last September after serving time on an aggravated-assault conviction.
“That’s the other sad part of this,” Diaz said. “Izzy could have been a real shining example to the handicapped if he took another path. He could have been a hero to the handicapped in general, because even though he had one arm, Izzy could fight. I remember the first time he walked into the gym. He used to wear these baggy clothes to hide it. It’s still hard to believe that this happened.”
Diaz hadn’t seen Burgos in over six years. But Quinones had seen him recently as a year ago, riding a four-wheeler up and down a Philadelphia street.
“Izzy told me he wanted to fight again,” Quinones said. “I can still remember Izzy coming to the gym with his cousin, who was shot last year. He was leaning up against the wall and I asked him why he didn’t want to box and he told me he couldn’t. I asked him why, because I didn’t see he had no left arm. Then he showed me. I told him he still should try. It took some time for him to come around, but once he did, he was great. He was a completely different kid. He really started to come out of his shell.
“It hurt to hear he was killed. The kid used to sleep in my house. He was embarrassed at first. He came back the next day. We got him a glove and he was so happy. His face lit up. The kid really was unbelievable. He was around 12, 13 years old. When he turned 14, we started to see him less. Then he disappeared completely.”
“Kids used to make fun of me all of the time,” said Burgos, 10 years ago. “Then after I appeared on TV, and people saw the ESPN story, everyone in the neighborhood started to talk to me. They say that I’m ‘The One-Armed Boxer,’ and I kind of like that. I like people knowing about me. Some people were asking me for my autograph after seeing me on TV.”
