Andy Ganigan’s fighting spirit endured to the end, long after much of the rest of him was gone.
On Wednesday, that part of him said goodbye, too. The former Hawaii boxing great died at 59 in Las Vegas after battling cumulative illnesses and brain damage, the result of a brutal and mysterious assault in his native Waipahu two years ago.
Andy Ganigan
"A lot of people know him as a humble guy. When he stepped in the ring, he was a different person. My dad fought to the end," said Bridget Ganigan, one of his six children.
Five weeks ago, Matthew M. Kupa was sentenced to five years probation and 18 months in jail with early release for substance-abuse treatment. Kupa, who pled no contest to first-degree assault, said he’d been drinking heavily and couldn’t recall the incident. Multiple witnesses identified the then-21-year-old as the attacker of the widely known lightweight champ.
Much of what exactly happened at the Waipahu Shopping Village on March 26, 2010, is still unknown — particularly the whys. Ganigan was left permanently debilitated by the incident and needed constant care.
What’s known is that the spirit and legacy of a champion will live on in the minds of family and friends. The hard-punching "Sugar Man" was an inspiration to scores of local boxing fans, and his fights would routinely sell out the Blaisdell Arena in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
Ganigan held the North American Boxing Federation lightweight title in the late 1970s, then picked up the World Athletic Association belt after knocking out Sean O’Grady in two rounds on Oct. 31, 1981, in Little Rock, Ark.
One of the southpaw’s best-known fights was his exciting duel against the renowned Alexis Arguello. Ganigan used his devastating left hook to knock the defending champ down in the first round, only to lose in five. He hung it up in 1983 with a record of 34-5 with 30 knockouts.
Prior to that, the offense-minded boxer out of Waipahu High dominated the local circuit.
"He was a among the toughest one-punch knockout fighters that we had," said Bobby Lee, a retired chairman of the Hawaii State Boxing Commission. "He was important because of his punching power. And then he won that world title, and he fought Arguello, who’s a very fearsome fighter. I think altogether, the powers recognized him as somebody who could really fight.
"He was one hell of a fighter. He was one of the biggest draws in Hawaii."
More than a few people agreed. Ganigan was named to The Ring Magazine’s "100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time" list in 2003.
Current Hawaii boxing great Brian Viloria said he considered Ganigan "an uncle" and role model. He still remembers with clarity the day the retired Ganigan visited the Waipahu Boxing Club to dole out advice to the 12- or 13-year-old upstart.
"Every time I work on certain things, it resonates with me to this day," Viloria said. "I’m hitting the bag or on the mitts. I still can hear him telling me how to put my foot down or how to turn my body a certain way for me to get the best leverage. It feels like it was just yesterday he was teaching me and telling me how to do those things.
"He was the original Hawaiian Punch. That’s the guy who blessed me with that name. I still can’t believe he’s gone."
Ganigan’s peers held him in equal esteem. Eddie Pagba grew up with him from their elementary school days and remembers the tireless training credo that allowed his friend to shine as a teenager. Pagba recalled that while he and his other friends were out having fun, Ganigan had his eye on the prize — a trait that endured.
"You notice, when he goes to the ring, he put his hands on the trainer’s shoulder," Pagba said. "He was so focused, he don’t even look at the crowd and wave at it. … He was just focused until he got into the ring, and all in his mind was ‘win.’ "
For five years overlapping his boxing days in the 1970s, Ganigan was in the Army National Guard. He remained in Waipahu until the incident two years ago, then was taken to Las Vegas to be taken care of.
Over the last two years, Bridget Ganigan was his primary caretaker. Once in a while, she said, the real Andy would emerge from his disoriented state to make jokes or enjoy Hawaiian-style food. One of his final personal triumphs was two months ago, when he felt well enough to visit a Las Vegas boxing gym and meet up-and-comers.
He wanted to be with family in his final days, his daughter said, as opposed to a hospital. Always, he wished he were back in the islands.
"What I think my dad means to Hawaii is that he was proud to be from Hawaii," Bridget Ganigan said. "He was proud to be from an island and win two title belts. He was proud to be from Hawaii, and he was humble.
"Boxing was his life."
Ganigan, a son of boxer Alfred Ganigan, is a Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Services will be held May 26 at St. Joseph Church, Waipahu, with public visitation at 8:30 a.m. and services at 9 a.m.
Andy Ganigan is survived by nine siblings: Alfred, Kenneth, Michael, Joann, Sharon, Brenda, Lee, Sylvia and Ray. He has six children — Bridget, Chad, Gabriel, Andy Jr., John and Kia — and 18 grandchildren. He’s also survived by in-laws Eddie, Jacqueline and Lacie.
