Chuck Zito

Charles Carmine Zito Jr. (born March 1, 1953) is an American actor and boxer who is the former president of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels, and later became an actor.

Zito was born in the Bronx, New York City, the second of three children of Charles Zito Sr. and Gloria Frangione.

He was raised in the Bronx and New Rochelle.

The son of a professional welterweight boxer, Zito was taught at an early age how to fight and defend himself.

His father boxed under the ring name Al LaBarba and fought in 228 professional matches.

At the age of seventeen, Zito dropped out of New Rochelle High School and married his high school sweetheart, Kathy.

His involvement with the Hells Angels motorcycle club eventually led to their divorce.

Zito became a refrigerator mechanic.

He also worked as a bouncer at Café Central on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Zito was an amateur boxer for several years.

He trained out of the Southside Boys Club in New Rochelle and Cage Recreation in White Plains, and held an amateur boxing record of 36–5.

Zito had his first boxing match aged 12.

At 17, he fought his first of four career Golden Gloves bouts when he knocked out Joe Pratt at 1:50 of round two of a preliminary bout in the 147 lb sub-novice division of the 47th annual New York Golden Gloves, held at the Felt Forum on January 30, 1973.

Zito then defeated Michael Nesbitt in the tournament's third round at the Audubon Ballroom on February 19, 1973, before losing to Orlando Nieves in the fourth round of the competition at the Felt Forum on February 23, 1973.

A motorcycle enthusiast, Zito established the New Rochelle Motorcycle Club in 1974, which merged with the Bronx-based Ching-a-Ling Nomads in 1976.

He returned to the Golden Gloves on February 2, 1978, losing to Gaylord Bryant at the Felt Forum in the 160 lb open division.

Zito was later the boxing coach of Mickey Rourke.

After serving as a club "prospect" for some time, Zito was voted in as a member of the New York City Hells Angels in May 1979.

Explaining what inspired him to join the Angels, Zito said: "I used to watch their movies like Hells Angels on Wheels and Hell's Angels '69 as a kid. They were the elite of the elite, the No. 1".

His biker nickname was "Charming Chuck".

According to prosecutors, one membership requirement of the Hells Angels' New York City chapter was that prospective members must kill or attempt to kill a target selected by the club as part of an initiation process.

Zito allegedly earned his membership in the club by attempting to murder Robert Giangarra, a Queens pizzeria owner who had previously shot and injured Hells Angels biker Cortland "Chip" Candow in a Manhattan bar.

According to testimony from John Joseph "Pirate" Miller, a Hells Angels member who turned government witness, Zito and another Hells Angel, Philip "Lightfoot" Kramer, used a remote-controlled device from a model airplane to detonate C-4 explosives attached to a vehicle belonging to Giangarra, who survived without serious injury.

Zito was never charged with the bombing, although he was variously convicted of weapons possession, when police discovered a loaded pistol, ammunition and brass knuckles in his car, criminal possession of a controlled substance (Quaaludes), and disorderly conduct.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began monitoring his "meteoric rise" in the Hells Angels.

After rising to the rank of vice president in the New York City charter, Zito assisted in the formation of the Hells Angels New York Nomads chapter in November 1984 and became the Nomads' founding president.

The Nomads chapter, which is based between Syracuse and the northern suburbs of New York City, was allegedly formed after some members became frustrated with restrictions on narcotics distribution imposed by senior members of the New York City charter.

Zito served as president of the Nomads chapter for ten years.

On May 2, 1985, 133 Hells Angels members and associates were arrested on racketeering and drug trafficking charges after a series of law enforcement raids in fourteen cities across the United States.

He first met Gatti in 1996 and accompanied the boxer to the ring for several high profile fights.

Zito was seen with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Dwayne Johnson at the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson pre-fight party on June 8, 2002 at the Memphis Pyramid.

Reflecting on his boxing career in 2003, Zito said: "I tried to follow in my father's footsteps... but didn’t have the desire and willpower to train 100 percent for the fight game. I didn't take it serious enough... When I found out I was fighting I'd go to the gym like two days before the fight. I never trained. I never got out and did my roadwork. I had so many distractions in my life, growing up at the same time. I think I could have been champion if I stuck with boxing."

In 2003, Zito began his career as a broadcaster with a role as a sideline reporter on Monday Night Fights broadcasts on HBO.

He further stated in a 2006 interview: "I got married young, at 17, and I had other things on my mind, but I wish I had gone pro, I would have been a good fighter".

Zito began studying martial arts at the age of 18 and earned black belts in six different disciplines, including jujutsu.

He claims to have broken his nose nine times and his hands eight times.

The combat sports reporter Thomas Gerbasi wrote that Zito "has achieved celebrity status in the fight game" as "a fixture at fights in and around the New York Tri-State area", remarking that "to the fighters, he's one of the guys".

He developed friendships with Arturo Gatti, Vinny Pazienza and Mike Tyson.

He was also a correspondent at the Affliction: Day of Reckoning mixed martial arts event on January 24, 2009.

He met Sandy Alexander, the president of the New York City chapter of the Hells Angels and a professional boxer, while they both trained at the Gramercy Gym on East 14th Street in Manhattan.