Eddie Melo

Melo was born in São Miguel in the Azores archipelago, but grew up in Toronto, where his father worked in construction.[1] He recalled about his youth in a working-class neighborhood: "I was always fighting. If I had a black eye, I didn't put on dark glasses to hide it. If I got a little scratch and come home bleeding, my mother would go crazy. But the way I figured it, you can't give pain to somebody else and not expect to get a little bruised yourself".[1]

Melo dropped out of high school in Grade 9 and with a forged birth certificate moved to Verdun, Quebec where he worked as a boxer.[1] As an amateur boxer, Melo won 93 matches while losing only 4.[2] Melo made his debut as a professional boxer in Montreal on 7 March 1978 at the age of 17. Melo's boxing style gave him the nickname of "The Hurricane".[1] Spider Jones said of Melo: "Eddie Melo filled the Montreal Forum at 18 years old. His explosive power punching style made him on one of Canada’s most exciting fighters of our time".[2] Melo won his first 12 matches in a row in 1978–1979, with the majority being by knock-out.[2] In 1979, Melo became the Canadian middleweight boxing champion.[2] Melo rapidly became a favorite of boxing fans in Montreal.[2]

On 31 October 1978, Melo first fought Fernand Marcotte at the Verdun auditorium in a match that lasted 10 rounds and ended with him winning by split decision.[2] In their second match, Marcotte won by majority decision.[2] The final match in the famous rivalry ended in a draw.[2] The fights between Melo and Marcotte were regarded as some of the best boxing matches in Montreal.[2] In 1981, Melo finally became old enough to box in Ontario.[2]

In the early 1980s, Melo's boxing career went into decline with him losing a match by knock-out to Ralph Hollett in Toronto in January 1981.[2] On 4 May 1982, Melo had a much publicized match against Jimmie Gradson at the CNE Coliseum in Toronto that had been promoted by George Chuvalo.[2] Prior to the match, both men had taken to insulting each other in public, and by all accounts the two boxers hated each other.[2] The match was an extremely hard-fought one with judge Jackie Silver saying: "I’ve seen a lot of fights but never a war like this".[2] The first three rounds of the Gradson-Melo match was described as leaving the audience breathless with excitement.[2] Gradson finally won the match by knock-out in the tenth round.[2] The last noteworthy fight by Melo was when he defeated via knock-out the former Canadian lightweight champion Gary Summerhayes in June 1983.[2]

Melo had married a former Miss Montreal Alouette cheerleader.[3] He used his boxing wealth to buy a Lincoln Continental automobile, a house in Toronto and some $20, 000 worth of jewelry.[3] It was felt that Melo suffered from poor management as his managers kept pushing for him "too hard, too fast" while he began to show signs of brain damage caused by his boxing.[4] One of Melo's fans was the gangster Frank Cotroni of the Cotroni family of Montreal.[3] Melo came to enjoy a friendship with Cotroni, whom he called "my number one fan".[3] The hitman Réal Simard served as the Toronto representative of the Cotroni family starting in July 1983.[5] Cotroni would visit Toronto about once every month to see Simard and during those visits Melo would serve as his chauffeur and bodyguard.[5] A police check-up of Melo revealed that Melo was working as an organizer for Local 75 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union, a union so corrupt that it had been expelled in 1981 from the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec under the grounds that the union was controlled by Cotroni and it represented the interests of management instead of the workers.[5] During one of his visits to Toronto, Cotroni went to the Little Italy neighborhood to meet with Rocco Zito, the leader of the Siderno Group of the 'Ndrangheta.[5]

Starting in October 1984, a Royal Commission under Justice Raymond Bernier of the Quebec Sports Safety Board examined Mafia influence within boxing.[3] Between October 1984 and July 1985, the Bernier Commission interviewed 105 people and in its report presented in March 1986 concluded that the boxing industry in Quebec was systemically corrupt and under the control of Cotroni, an avid boxing fan.[6] Bernier wrote that Cotroni was the "guiding spirit" of boxing in Montreal.[6] The report listed Melo as one of the boxers who was associated with Cotroni.[6]

With his career in decline, Melo retired in 1986.[2] During his boxing career, Melo won 24 matches out of 34.[3]

Melo at the time of his retirement went to work as an organizer for the Cotroni-controlled Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union and then in the vending machine business.[3] Melo was known for his aggressive style both in and outside of the ring with many finding his temper to be quite ungovernable.[3] Melo's real job was as the supervisor for the Cotroni family in Toronto, bringing in strippers and video machines from Montreal to various Toronto bars.[3] The previous Cotroni family representative for Toronto, the hitman Réal Simard, had turned Crown's evidence, thus requiring a replacement. Johnny Papalia, the boss of the Papalia family, came to detest Melo, once telling Cotroni: "Put a leash on Melo or I'll kill him".[3]

In 1989, at a pool hall on College Street, Melo assaulted a Mafioso, which led to a murder plot against him with a hitman being hired to kill him.[7] The hitman turned informer, and the police faked the murder of Melo with a photograph being taken of a crash test dummy designed to look like Melo being shot up and covered in fake blood.[8] The hitman showed the photographs of the crash test dummy and was paid for the supposed murder, leading to those who had paid him being charged with conspiracy to commit murder.[8] In April 1989, Melos first marriage ended in divorce with his ex-wife, Sine, moving to Vancouver with their two daughters.[3] In the early 1990s, Melo was often photographed eating in a Yorkville restaurant with a visiting Vancouver-area Hells Angel who worked as a loanshark.[9] In 1993, a police report listed Melo as a member of the Siderno Group.[10]

In early 1994, Melo decided to resume his boxing career, hiring the Israeli-Canadian businessman Harold Arviv as his manager.[10] Arviv was a flamboyant character, well known in Toronto, who had gone to prison for four years starting in 1986 for hiring via the Commisso 'ndrina the Satan's Choice hitman and bomber Cecil Kirby to blow up his disco in 1980 in order to allow him to collect the insurance money.[11] Arviv was given to flaunting his wealth as he owned a luxury yacht, The Problem Child, that was worth $170,000 that he used to sail Lake Ontario with; previous yachts owned by Arviv had been named Monkey Business and Misbehavior.[12] In March 1994, Melo and Arviv called a press conference when they talked grandly about plans for Melo to perform a comeback tour of Europe, a tour that never occurred.[11] In August 1994, Melo was recorded by a police wiretap talking to a Cotroni family member, Tony Volpato, where he said: "I went there when they had the meeting. I had a couple of guys. We took care of things. You know what I mean?... Went down and took care of things, so there is no problem... So what I'm doing, I think, is the right thing for us and fuck the other guy".[10]

Before Melo could resume boxing, later in 1994 it was discovered that he had never taken Canadian citizenship, thus leading for the government to order him deported to Portugal.[10] Melo fought against the deportation order, arguing: "My parents brought me here for a better life. I did everything in Canada. Had two daughters and now a baby. And I have to add I got in a lot of trouble here, too".[10] In an immigration hearing, Melo admitted that one of his close friends was Joe Diardo, a "leg and arm man" who had thirty convictions going back to 1958 for arson, for passing counterfeit money, robbery, and possession of illegal guns.[10] Melo described Cotroni as one of his best friends and admitted that Volpato was the godfather to one his daughters.[10] Melo also admitted to being a godfather to one of Arviv's daughters.[10] Melo was asked why he should be allowed to stay in Canada given his association with known criminals such as Cotroni, Arviv, and Volpato, leading for him to reply: "All I know is that they've been OK with me. They're never asked me to do any criminal activity or get into trouble. They've only been supportive in whatever it was that I had to do".[10] Melo's friendship with Arviv ended in a bitter dispute over money.[11]

Melo remained a celebrity in Toronto, attending the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival, where he posted for photographs with his second wife, Rhonda, whom it was noted resembled Pamela Lee Anderson.[10] At the same time, Melo claimed to be taking drugs to control his anger, saying he was trying to reform.[10] However, the police remained suspicious of Melo, noting he was still working in the all-cash vending machine business, through Melo complained that police surveillance made it difficult for him to work in the vending machine business.[13] The police also noted that Melo listed his annual income when filing taxes as being about $24,000 yet he lived in a condo on Lakeshore Boulevard West that cost $2,000 per month; paid $1,500 in child support to his ex-wife every month; owned another condo on Queen's Quay; and owned two vehicles, a Jaguar automobile and a sports utility car.[14]

On Thursday 5 April 2001, Melo planned to go out with his wife Rhonda to attend a concert by Andrea Bocelli at the Air Canada Centre.[14] At about 5:15 pm, Melo went to Amici Sport Café to meet his friend Joao "Johanny" Pavao .[14] At about 6:25 pm, Melo was in the parking lot talking to Pavao when the hitman Charles Gagné shot Melo in the head and then killed Pavao.[14] Melo died of his wound the next day. On 8 April 2001, his widow, his daughter Jessica and his brother Tony were all charged with obstruction of justice and assault after they attacked the officers of the Peel Regional Police who tried to seize Melo's Jaguar for evidence.[15]

Melo's daughter, Jessica, who was studying criminology at Simon Fraser University at the time of his murder told the media: "He was the most amazing father, friend, confidante, supporter, everything. I couldn't have asked for a better person to be my father...I was with him for nineteen years. I went everywhere with him".[14] Melo's brother, Joey, stated: "Eddie walked into a lot of places and people respected him. These guys could never face one on one, even if my brother only had one arm and one leg".[10]

Gagné was paid $75,000 for killing Melo.[14] Gagné was a career criminal from Montreal who was on parole for armed robbery when he took the contract on Melo's life.[14] On 30 September 2003, Gagné pledged guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, being eligible for parole after 12 years in exchange for testifying against his employer.[14] The police believe that Melo's murder was linked to a "historical conflict within the 'Ndrangheta (in Ontario) and that the organization has had with other Italian criminalized groups (in Canada)."[16] The Canadian journalists Peter Edwards and Michel Auger wrote: "Ironically, Melo might have still been alive if he hadn't recently won his fight with the Canadian authorities to keep him from being deported to Portugal. He wasn't famous or feared over there, but then nobody there wanted him dead either".[14] On February 18, 2022, Gagné was denied full parole, but was granted limited release.[17]

• Auger, Michel; Edwards, Peter (2004). The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime: From Captain Kidd to Mom Boucher. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0771030495.
• Schneider, Stephen (2009). Iced The Story of Organized Crime in Canada. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470835005.

• Eddie Melo's Final Round