Today in history: Looking back on “Lightning” Lonnie Smith’s win over the favored Billy Costello for the WBC super lightweight championship

Denver—“Lightning” Lonnie Smith violently struck down Billy Costello on Aug. 21, 1985, for the WBC super lightweight championship. The latter had an undefeated record, the more respected experience and more of Madison Square Garden’s crowd on his side, but he didn’t have the speed to hang with someone whose skills lived up to his nickname.

Smith had a 20-1-1 record and was taking a big step up in competition against someone with a shattering left hook, but he was never phased. He was a quick-footed fighter, and his opponent was flat-footed.

Smith even jumped nonstop with eagerness moments before the bell rang when the referee brought the two fighters together for instruction. They had sparred a year earlier, and Costello’s people stepped in before heavy damage could be done. Yet he feasted, dropping Smith with a hard overhand right in the first round as a punch was being loaded up.

Smith ate two more torpedoes from each hand, but signs of Costello’s impending doom were there because he kept getting tagged by a quick left jab. That didn’t change in round two, and the fight turned permanently in Smith’s favor when he connected on a straight right, hurting Costello and zapping his legs the rest of the round. 

Smith’s first knockdown was set up by another piercing right hand, allowing him to enter the airspace with a left hook. The second came with 26 seconds left in the round as Smith’s left hook found Costello’s jaw. 

Smith’s strategy returned to jabbing and moving, confusing the veteran pugilist and frustrating the crowd that wanted an inside brawl. It paid off in round five, maneuvering around Costello and dropping him a third time with a left hook. 

Smith’s movement, which he studied from his friend and sparring partner, Muhammad Ali, frustrated his rival, who became desperate to land punches.

Costello only lasted until the eighth round. Before it got ugly, Smith showed off, too. He told Five Reasons Sports Network, “I knew I had him and it was getting ready to be over with… every time I feinted him, he would do the same thing.”

Costello tried to launch a strike at the body, but caught a ferocious right uppercut to the chin, falling a fourth time. He was walking away from the ref when the count hit seven and eight, but he was allowed to keep going. That only lasted eight more seconds because Smith inundated him with blows from both sides on the ropes.

The scene in the ring captured joy in one corner as Smith excitedly high-fived his group and proclaimed in front of the cameras that he would be the greatest, and pain in another as Costello got checked out.  

Smith never received a cent of the loot ($250,000) owed to him for that fight. His representation was connected to organized crime. He later got a judgment to rule in his favor in December 1988, but the wiseguys declared bankruptcy.

Smith and Costello hung out at dinner the night following their bout and it wasn’t awkward. Smith said, “Everything was cool, man. He didn’t take any grudges out that I beat him. I’m pretty humble. We just shook hands and hugged and after that, he went his way, I went mine.”

Costello died on June 29, 2011, of lung cancer. His first loss came to Smith after 30 wins, and his second defeat was two fights later to Alexis Argüello. He didn’t fight for six years, but returned, winning nine straight before retiring for good with a 40-2 record. 

Smith’s title defense was against René Arredondo eight and a half months after beating Costello, but any hope of success was derailed by a thumb injury.

He took the fight because he accepted money under the table. “I knew I had to make sure the fight was gonna go so it wouldn’t get canceled and the mobsters [wouldn’t] get at me,” Smith said. He was then stopped in the fifth round by Arredondo.

Smith would get back in the ring 29 more times in his career, with his last appearance in June of 1999. That span had 23 wins, five losses, including one to Julio César Chavez, and one draw. 

Forty years later, “Lightning” Lonnie Smith lives the good life, kindly engaging with everyone who wants a piece of his time. He’s very proud of his achievements, bringing his belts when dropping by places like the Athletics and Beyond Family Wellness Center, to counsel the youngsters about boxing.

On Saturday, Aug. 16, Smith hung out with the public at an amateur boxing event in the Central Park area. Additionally, his alma mater, Manual High School, honored him in 2022 for his career, much to his surprise. 

(Aug. 16, A&B Brawl in Central Park)

When looking back on the fight with Costello and everyone else on his résumé, Smith doesn’t hold any hard feelings against anyone. “I know this is just a sport, and may the best man win.”