Genoa – «Goodbye Matumba, that's what I called you, like your character in the film. You were a fantastic friend, I will never forget you again, have a good trip champion.” Nino D'Angelo thus remembered his friend Davis Yawethe sixty-year-old Italian-Ugandan boxer who passed away on Tuesday in Genoa, whose Funerals will be held on Saturday 13 January at 11.30am at the church of Santa Fede in Corso Sardegna, in the Marassi neighborhood where he had lived for years, training in the gym in via Cagliari. The Neapolitan singer had met him during the filming of “Uno scugnizzo a New York”, a 1984 film: Yawe had been chosen to play the part of an African-American boxer.
D'Angelo, had you remained in contact with Yawe all these years?
«But yes, we have known each other for forty years and when I came to Genoa, the last time last winter, we saw each other. We had seen each other after my show at Politeama, together with my son, we laughed and joked together, what a pain to know of his passing. He was a friend and a great talent: a gentle giant, as they say, but also beautiful.”
How did you and a young Ugandan boxer end up shooting a film in New York?
«The director and the production chose him because in addition to being a real boxer he was also a handsome boy, with an impressive physique. And on the screen we made a beautiful pair of opposites. Then he was almost my age, I'm a few years older. We bonded, even though he spoke little Italian but he understood very well. In fact, he started speaking Italian with us. And when we went out after the set the Americans mistook him for an American. For all my fans he is Matumba.”
Was the film successful when it came out?
«It came out after “Jeans and a T-Shirt” and before “Popcorn and Chips”, it's the period of the most representative films of that era for me, which did very well. In fact, this year I will do a show at the Maradona stadium to celebrate that period and I wanted to invite Davis too, maybe I will remember him during the show.”
After shooting the film, however, Yawe dedicated himself to boxing, not to the set.
«But he wasn't an actor, even though he was natural in front of the camera, he made the film without studying and without many problems. But he wanted to be a professional boxer and he succeeded, he was successful.”
Did you follow his meetings?
«I'm not an expert, but I knew he had won light heavyweight titles and even during filming, when we filmed the fights, you could see that he had talent. He was also unlucky, he didn't have an easy life: he was left a widower with a young son, Michael. Who now lives in New York, he's the street urchin now”
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