‘He Went Right Down': Champion Boxer Stops Would-Be Burglar in His Garage

Frankie Scalise said he discovered the intruder lurking in his garage and sprung into action

Lights out took on a whole new meaning for a would-be burglar on Chicago’s South Side Friday.

Frankie "Time Bomb" Scalise, a two-time Golden Gloves fighter and owner of the Bridgeport Boxing Club, was returning home from dinner with his wife around midnight — the same night a thief decided to break into his garage.

“I hit the button, it starts going down, I hear the motor going, he said.

Scalise’s wife went into the home while Scalise went back to the garage to fix the door, not knowing someone was lurking inside.

“Open the door and I look and here’s this guy and he’s watching my wife go into the house,” Scalise said.

Scalise said without hesitation, the boxer in him came out.

“I walked straight at him, straight right hand, right on the chin,” Scalise said. “And he went right down.”

Police patrolling the area heard the commotion and pulled up to the scene.

Police confirmed that around midnight Friday they responded to the scene in the 3600 block of South Emerald Avenue. They said the suspect was highly intoxicated and was transported to Mercy Hospital where he was treated and released for a minor laceration to the head. 

Still, he didn’t press charges against the man because he did not get away with any belongings and Scalise’s family was not harmed. 

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