Paul Vandale is nimble as he bounds through the ropes at Gloria’s Boxing Gym at the Monroeville Mall.
The 64-year-old Penn Hills resident is full of energy, and confidence, as he bounces around the ring shadow boxing while sporting a black cut-off shirt with white lettering in the center featuring his fighting nickname, “Papa Chainsaw.”
Vandale is set to fight in a heavyweight celebrity boxing match June 8 at Showboat Atlantic City. Before taking any questions, Vandale quickly offered his belief that he is capable of surprising anyone who believes someone his age can’t compete. In an era where many former boxing greats like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Manny Pacquaio have come out of retirement for exhibition matches, Vandale doubts many have stayed in shape like he has.
“Let me tell you something, Mike Tyson is seven years younger than me, right?” said Vandale, who is 230 pounds. “He wishes he could have my physique. I’m friggin’ thick, I’m strong, I’m tough, and I’ve got the endurance of a stallion.”
Vandale’s fight is being promoted by Online Celebrity Boxing, which is owned by Damon Feldman. The fight will be broadcast on Triller TV as part of the War on the Shore 2024 event, which is being billed as an event to help fight for mental health awareness. Former heavyweight champions Riddick Bowe and Buster Douglas will serve as hosts.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Vandale made appearances in the WWE as an enhancement talent or “jobber.” The Massachusetts native trained under Killer Kowalski and worked part time with the WWE. During his professional wrestling career, one of Vandale’s notable matches was being the opponent for Razor Ramon during his debut match in the WWE. Vandale’s daughter, Leah, better known by her ring name Carmella, is a former WWE Smackdown women’s champion.
Vandale learned how to box while serving in the Marines. He participated in amateur fights. Vandale did sign a contract to fight former UFC champion Dan Severn in the early 2000s but had to back out due to a detached retina.
“They had to sideline me for a while. I’m going to be all right for this one because you have to have good headgear,” Vandale said. “My eyes aren’t going to get hit.”
Staying active has always been important for Vandale. He wants to continue to test himself. The recovery process afterward, following a lifetime of boxing and wrestling, can take some time.
“Don’t get me wrong, after I loosen up, I’m ready to go,” Vandale said. “Motion is lotion. But after that and I’m done, I’ll be stiff. But I do suffer, my hips bother me. But I’m used to dealing with it, so I just deal with it.”
Vandale moved to Pittsburgh to be closer to Leah, who recently had her first baby. She is married to Corey Graves, a Pittsburgh native and WWE commentator, and the couple has a home in Lawrenceville. Leah is planning to return to the ring.
Vandale said he helped train her daughter when she was starting out in a boxing ring in Massachusetts.
“I had her doing hip tosses, body slams and everything inside there,” Vandale said. “I figured if you can do it here, you can do it in the wrestling ring. When I was trained by Killer Kowalski, I spent 10 years with him in boxing, they had a steel post right under the center of the ring. It was stiff as hell, the stiffest ring I was ever in taking slams.”
What has been important for Vandale is to stay in fighting shape. Building his cardio base wasn’t centered around running or any type of specific training program like it has been in the past. Vandale was focused on getting in as much boxing-specific practice as possible.
“Sparring is king,” Vandale said. “There’s no substitute for sparring. The more you spar, the better condition you are going to be in. The only way you can get in fighting shape is to fight.”
Vandale said he most recently had an exhibition boxing match a few years ago. He has stressed to any promoter that he talks to that he isn’t interested in fighting anyone in his age bracket.
Vandale would like to take on someone half his age if he can.
He wants to know if they can handle his pace.
“I’m a brawler,” Vandale said. “I just keep coming forward. That’s all I know. I just work hard. Someone might outskill me, but they aren’t going to outwork me.”
Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.