Former boxer's claim to fame missing

The 14-karat gold medal never left his neck, but while he was hospitalized, it vanished.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2007

Michael Figliuolo is pictured, right, in this Daily News clipping from the 1947 night he became a Golden Gloves champ.
	[Special to the Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Brendan Fitterer | Times] Michael Figliuolo, 87, is visited by his daughters, Michele Cardillo, left, and Judy Licata, center, and his wife, Rose Figliuolo, at Windsor Woods retirement home in Hudson. Figliuolo's Golden Gloves boxing medal disappeared during a recent hospital stay. [Family photo] Michael Figliuolo has worn this medal since 1947.

The highlight of Michael Figliuolo's life was his gold medal.

He won it on Feb. 17, 1947, in a New York City Golden Gloves tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Since then, the novice heavyweight champ never took it off.

Not even when he was diagnosed with dementia and ended up in a nursing home.

Or when he got so sick that he ended up in the hospital a few weeks back.

Not even when his daughter visited him there and tried to take it off.

"I reached for it, and he grabbed my hand, my left hand," said Michele Cardillo. "He said, 'Leave it.' I knew what it meant."

For Figliuolo, the 14-karat gold medal, about 3 inches wide, is a reminder of his biggest accomplishment.

Now, it's missing. And Figliuolo's family is doing everything they can to get it back.

"He was just so proud of it," Cardillo said. "That was his moment. His glory."

* * *

Figliuolo was a U.S. Army veteran. He returned to his native Brooklyn afterward and picked up boxing as a hobby. As a 6-foot-2, 250-pound amateur, he eventually won his way into the Golden Gloves tournament -- emerging as the champion.

A few years later, the guy known around town as "Big Mike" became a sanitation police sergeant and wrote summonses to people who littered. Later, he owned his own bar and restaurant in his hometown. But no matter what he accomplished, Cardillo, 51, said her father's medal was his pride and joy.

"The darn thing was so big that people would say, 'What's that?'" Cardillo said.

"It was a conversation piece. And he was a great storyteller. That always seemed to break the ice."

* * *

About five years ago, Figliuolo was diagnosed with dementia. Since then, he has spent his days at Windsor Woods retirement home in Hudson, sporting his medal and talking boxing with whoever would listen.

But on Oct. 11, he got so sick that an ambulance took him to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point to treat a urinary tract infection and congestive heart failure.

When Cardillo arrived at the hospital, the medal was around her father's neck. Things changed a few days later.

On Oct. 14, a few of Cardillo's relatives went to see Figliuolo. That day, they noticed that the medal was gone.

"They didn't see it," Cardillo said, "but they assumed that he was having tests."

The next day, Cardillo went back to the hospital.

"As soon as I walked in the door, I saw he didn't have it on," she said. "Before I said, 'hello,' I saw it was gone. I didn't want to upset him, so I went straight to his nurse and asked her about it."

Cardillo of Hudson described the medal in detail, but the nurse said she hadn't seen it. The nurse told Cardillo she would call security.

Cardillo waited at the hospital, but eventually had to leave. She returned Oct. 16 and went to hospital security.

A security guard checked a hospital safe, but didn't see the medal. Cardillo said the guard referred her to a risk management coordinator at the hospital, who told Cardillo she would look into things.

Cardillo said she never heard back from anyone at the hospital.

But Cardillo was persistent. She decided to call the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and file a report.

Cardillo eventually spoke with a detective, who said he would contact hospital officials.

By Monday, Cardillo said she hadn't heard from authorities.

Hospital officials said they are still investigating what happened, and talking to anyone who had contact with Figliuolo.

"We are covering all the bases and making sure we do the best we can," said Kurt Conover, a hospital spokesman.

As the search continues for the medal, Figliuolo is out of the hospital and back in the retirement home. Cardillo said her father is unaware that it is missing.

"We haven't said a word to him," she said. "He doesn't know it's gone."

Even so, Cardillo said she'll continue looking for the one thing her father cared about most, something he talked about to everyone he knew.

"He remembers the fights, even through the dementia," she said. "It was his claim to fame."

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at cspencer@sptimes.com or 727 869-6229.

[Last modified October 22, 2007, 21:32:27]