The Lore of the Corps
‘LethalLeatherneck’ helps train boxers to excel in ring
By Bill Zimmerman - Special to the Times
Posted : June 18, 2007

“A classy little mixer.”

“A fighting machine.”

“A clever local boy who knows how to use his fists.”

Sports reporters were quick with such praises when Johnny Kostas boxed, but none of those could compete with his most prestigious and intimidating moniker.

Kostas, 85, was also a “Lethal Leatherneck.”

Born in Mobile, Ala., and raised in Ambridge, Pa., Kostas joined the Marine Corps in 1943 after his sophomore year at Indiana State Teachers College (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania).

A star defensive end on the football team, his pugilistic skills flourished under the guidance of boxing coach Johnny Abood at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C.

After becoming a drill instructor, Kostas transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., where he came upon the boxing gym. And his old coach, Abood.

“I heard ta-ta-ta-ta-ta,” Kostas said. “It sounded like a machine gun. I looked in, and it was a punching bag.”

He eventually earned a spot on Cherry Point’s team, which sported such nicknames as the “Lethal Leathernecks” and the “Pointers,” and continued his training under Abood.

During the 1944-45 season, the team didn’t lose an interservice competition, and the Marines often went toe-to-toe with professionals serving in the military.

Kostas fought three professional fighters, including future welterweight champion Marty Servo. After getting out of the military, several of the Cherry Point fighters turned pro, including welterweight Laverne Roach, who was Ring magazine’s rookie of the year in 1947 but died a day after his 24th birthday following a brutal loss in 1950.

Roach and other Golden Gloves champs from the 1944-45 team left Cherry Point before the next season, when Kostas took over after Abood’s discharge.

“It was in me to be a coach,” he said. “I went to college to be a coach. I figured I would be a high school football coach.”

During his first year coaching, Kostas’ fighters collected state titles on their way to the 1946 National Amateur Athletic Union boxing tournament in Boston. Before a crowd of more than 13,000, the Leathernecks won a share of the team championship with a squad from Hawaii; two of his fighters earned individual titles. The performance earned the team a congratulatory letter from Commandant Gen. Alexander Vandegrift.

After his discharge from the Corps, Kostas returned to college and fought in the 1948 national collegiate boxing tournament in Madison, Wis., where he lost his first bout by decision. He was 5 foot 7 and weighed about 147 pounds during his amateur career, which consisted of 39 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw.

And he hasn’t lost his passion for pugilism. Five days a week, young fighters come to train with Kostas in the basement of his house in Indiana, Pa.

He’s led scores of fighters to Golden Gloves titles from the district to the international level, and the walls of his gym are covered with photos of former pupils and admirers, such as former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, who called him the best coach in the Marine Corps on a signed photo.

Former Cpl. Rick Fanella trained as a boxer under Kostas and now coaches with him. As a fellow Marine, he’s amazed at Kostas’ enthusiasm and ability to connect with younger people.

“It’s probably a carry-over from his early education in the Marine Corps, in creating warriors,” Fanella said.

The writer is a newspaper reporter and freelance writer in Indiana, Pa.

Ellie