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| Jimmy Dave Matthew Alex Stewart June 1981 |
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| Davey Sr. |
1940 Dave "Davey" Hilton II is born in Edmunston N.B, although some articles refer to him as a Scottish immigrant. He fights as a featherweight, almost always in Canada. Articles variously say that he's from Quebec City, Saint John NB, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Montreal and even St. John's Newfoundland.
No article quotes him during the course of his boxing career, which first appears in newspapers in 1959 as he challenges for the featherweight championship of Canada. Hilton wins and holds the title for over eight years until he's unable to continue in the category after gaining weight.
Hilton, later known as Davey Hilton Sr., signs with veteran manager Harry Sheppard, who says “If Hilton doesn't get anywhere I'm through with the game, the future for boxing seems to have passed.” Hilton fights in South Africa and London in 1961 and 62, losing on both occasions. Hilton is charged with drunk driving in the USA in 1961 but his legal troubles don't prevent him from fighting in Syracuse and Burlington until they're uncovered in the mid-1980s.
Hilton surrenders his featherweight title after holding it longer than any other Canadian fighter. Hilton fights as middleweight in November 1971 in Miami and is not heard from in the ring again. Hilton retires after going 72-0 as an amateur and 136-14 as a pro. He finally gets quoted in an article for the first time in December 1979. "The night before I went in against Luis Rodriguez I got drunk. I had him at one point but I was too tired. He still only decisioned me nobody ever put me down for the full count but still I shouda been better,” Davey Sr. told Tim Burke.
The kids: Firstly, Johanne, then Davey Jr. born in Dec. 1963, Alex, Matthew, Stewart then lastly Jimmy. All have the middle name Stewart, to honour the Stewart clan they belong to, including Stewart Stewart Hilton. Davey Hilton was strict and hit the boys when he deemed fit, including Alex who was hit the most.
1966 Davey Sr. starts bringing Davey Jr., 3, to a gym next to the Rialto theatre on Park. He'd bring the others when they turned three as well. They had their first exhibition matches at the age of five. Each child quit school at the age of 12.
8 Oct 1977 Davey Jr, 90 lbs and Matthew Hilton, 80 lbs, star in a Ireland-Canada amateur boxing exhibition at the Verdun auditorium. Both beat their opponents with ease. Davey Sr. trains his sons as well as young Eddie Melo, 18, of Toronto, a sensation at the time. Montreal lawyer Morden "Cookie" Lazarus later describes them, "you'd see them in the gym walking single file behind their father like little ducks. And polite! They were the politest boys you'd ever want to meet."
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17 May 1979 Gazette sports columnist Tim Burke pens his first of countless Hilton-hype articles, which continue until the brothers start getting into legal troubles.
Dec 1979 Davey Jr. turns 16 years old. He weighs 125 lbs and has a 116-2 record. He venges his two losses by beating the two guys who bested him. Alex weighs 142 and has a 80-2 record. Matthew, 13, is 61-0 with 39 first round KOs. Dad says he once tried to separate a fight between Dave and Alex at home and took 15 minutes of effort to stop it.
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30 April 1980 Davey Jr, aged 16 , wins the intermediate boxing championships in Belleville. Ont. He beats challengers from BC, Ontario and Saskatchewan and is picked outstanding fighter of tournament.
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10 Feb 1981 Dave Jr makes pro debut at Paul Sauve Sports Center on Pie IX. Matthew, 15, beats an opponent on the undercard. Alex, 16, loses in second round to Frank Nolan, 20.
Dave beats a 24-year-old Peurto Rican. "He looked so old with that moustache. Davey looked like a baby beside him,” said Davey's mother Jeannie. Tim Burke columnist / cheerleader suggests that the brothers do their fighting on the road in New England, New York, Florida and the UK. “The pressure would be infinitely less away from his home town. Victories wouldn't be overblown, defeats wouldn't be confidence-shattering traumas”
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25 Aug 82 Matthew, now almost 17, decides to turn pro like older brother Davey and Alex after a 106-0 amateur career with 76 KOs. Tim Burke declares him “maybe best amateur fighter ever turned out in this country." Burke and Davey Sr. urge him to remain amateur for a while longer. Matthew rejects the idea. “I'm sorry Mr. Burke I've made up my mind I want to become a pro like my older brothers. I want my father in my corner."
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| Matthew, Alex, Davey Sr, Davey Jr |
20 Oct 82 A bout at the Paul Sauve Arena features Dave and Alex and attracts the largest-ever crowd at the venue with 7,311 on hand and a gate of $130k, with another 1,000 fans turned away at the door. The boys' great-grandmother Ellen White, 79, comes from St. Catharines Ontario to watch. “Montrealers are hooked on boxing again,“ Tim Burke announces.
25 Dec. 82 Dave Sr., 42, suffers a heart attack. Frank Cotroni was the first to see him at the hospital and "cried like a baby," "He was wonderful to us," Davey Sr. said. Doctors recommend Davey Sr. not work as a corner man. “There's more pressure on me not being there waiting in a hotel room smoking a whole pack of cigarettes. I'm at home there. I'm going to die, that's the perfect place for me to die with my boys.”
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28 Jan 83 “Davey Hilton, 19, could pass as twin of brother Matthew, 17, the way to tell us apart is that I have to shave every two days he has to shave once a week," said Dave. Stewart, 14, is aiming to win a Golden Gloves title while Jimmy, 11, is also fighting, but brothers warn him to "stop below-the-belt tactics.”
4 Feb 83 Tim Burke lobbies for Hiltons to fight at Forum. Dave Sr. says, “The Forum, for boxing, is the Madison Square Garden of Canada, your boy fights in the Forum and they hear about it all over the world. He fights in the Paul Sauve and they say 'what the hell is that?'” Promoter Henri Spitzer says that the Forum wants 20 percent of the gate or a flat rate, while the Paul Sauve costs just $5,500. Any match with less than 12,000 at the Forum would lose money.
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| Matthew and Davey Sr |
15 Feb 83 Dave Jr suffers a broken jaw in a fight against Sammy Gervins. He knocks Gervins down three times and won in a unanimous decision. "The pain was bad. I'm going to get some crazy glue to keep my left hand up by my chin."
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8 April 83 Davey Jr. becomes father for the first time, naming his daughter Jeannie. The couple name Montreal mobster Frank Cotroni godfather. Davey marries Anna Maria Gatti on 17 April, with Cotroni prominent in attendance.
18 Nov 83 Hilton brothers train with boxing legend Cuz D'Amato in the Catskills, New York. "They have the will to win, determination, competitive spirit and good minds. A kid won't make it if he's stupid. Boxing is 75 percent mental and emotional and 25 percent physical," he says.
24 Nov 83 Large newspaper advertisements for A Gold and Sons feature photos of the six Hiltons men wearing sweaters.
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| Spitzer, Stewart, Matthew, Youppi, Jimmy, Dave Sr. Dave Jr. Shoofey, Alex |
4 Dec 83 Davey, Alex and Matthew fight at the Forum, attracting 20,000 in heavy snow. It's declared the largest-ever crowd for a sports event at the Forum. Davey's headlining bout against Mario Cusson ends in the third round as both boxers clash heads and the fight is declared a draw. The other brothers win their bouts. Many vicious fights in the stands, one which saw an elderly man kicked into a pulp. Dave Sr. says “I wish I was in the same position as my sons this week. I had the same chances they're getting now but it wasn't meant to be. They work harder and are more serious than I was.
7 Dec 83 Tim Burke, in his newspaper column, urges Dave Sr. to “pace yourself. Your gifted sons need you now more than they ever have," and he urges Dave Jr. to "show up for the post-fight press conference the day after.”
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1 Feb 84 Dave Jr. commits to a rematch with Cusson "I'm still ashamed all those people paid so much money and came away with nothing. This time i'll take him out in five or six.”25 March 84 Davey Jr. beats Cusson in 29 seconds of the first round at the Forum. Davey becomes welterweight champion. Alex wins his bout on the same card. Gossip columnist Thomas Schnurmacher reports on Davey's movie preferences and hobbies. “Earlier this week I played street hockey with my brothers and friends in Rosemount. It's fun and kills time.”
June 1984 Alex, Davey and Matthew break training in the Catskills to perform their training routines in front of 450 inmates at Archambault penitentiary north of Montreal. The brothers join the inmates on the lawn for a barbecue. Davey declares "I'd rather spend three weeks here than two in the Catskills."
July 1984 Alex, Davey and Matthew win bouts.. Tim Burke says of Davey: “now he's set to take on the world.” The three brothers were supposed to get introduced to a baseball crowd at the Olympic Stadium in a game being televised across North America but they and their father are too hung over or drunk to get there on time.
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25 Jan 85 Stewart Hilton, 16, quietly now has a 72-5 record. Matthew Hilton beats Francisco Dejesus and confesses to a weakness. “I can't stay away from cakes and donuts, the gooy-ier the better."
January 1985 Don King negotiates with Dave Sr. to become exclusive promoter for the Hiltons. Frank Cotroni takes part in the negotiations from jail where he is fighting (eventually successfully) an extradition order. Shoofey and promoter George Cherry urge them not to sign with King but Cotroni urges them to sign after King pays for his lawyers. King wins out and the Hiltons sign.
Feb 1985 Davey Sr. beats up his pal, Hunter's Horn co-owner Martin Conroy, who had intervened to prevent Hilton from attacking another bar patron. Conroy breaks a leg in the fall. Davey Sr. quits drinking for good.
15 March 85 Davey wins a fight in Las Vegas on the undercard of the Larry Holmes and David Bey heavyweight match.
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| 1982: Spitzer, Cotroni, Davey Jr, Alex, Davey Sr. and Matthew |
7 June 85 Davey wins another Las Vegas belt and retains something called the Continental Americans Welterweight title. He's now 21 and is 23-0-1 as a pro.
8 June 85 Don King talks of holding a match between Davey and champ Aaron Prior at the Olympic Stadium or the Forum.
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14 Aug 85 Davey, now rated three in WBA rankings, breaks a leg and finger in a trail bike accident on his brother Stewart's bike behind their home in Rigaud. He expresses growing disillusionment with promoter Don King. The Pryor fight is put off as Pryor had become a "walking zombie." He notes that the brothers had been making much more money under the management of Henri Spitzer.
22 Oct 85 The Hilton family lawyer Frank Shoofey is shot dead in his office on Cherrier Street. A drunk Davey Jr., the very next day, walks into a Crescent St. bar with a rifle threatening to kill every Italian in the place. Police find the rifle in Davey's car but nobody comes forward as witness. Davey is charged with drunk driving. Davey is eventually fined $400 fine and loses his drivers license for 90 days. He's now 20 pounds overweight.
Nov 85 Alex enters a bar at the Sheraton Center on Dorchester and fires a gunshot in the lobby. He returns and fires another shot. He turns himself in to police the next day. He has five other alcohol-related cases before the courts already, including one which he was charged with shooting out windows at a hotel on Metropolitan Blvd. He gets a relatively lenient three month jail sentence for the entire affair in May 1986.
Nov 85 Alex is in jail, Davey Jr. is drunk but Matthew is still going strong, winning a fourth-round KO a week after Shoofey is killed. Davey Sr. flatters Matthew's efforts. “Matt has gone farther than Dave and Alex because he's most dedicated. He made up his mind a long time ago about what he wanted and that as a world title. And he does nothing that will hurt his chances. The others don't seem to want to pay the price that Matthew does.” Only 3,500 show up at the bout, far less than the at least 8,000 they'd hoped for. Matthew comments. “I have a lot of responsibility now. I've got to do well to make people forget about some of the mistakes Davey and Alex have mde. I'm no angel myself but I can't afford to do anything wrong now. Not only have I got to make people forget about the bad things but if I do good it'll be a good example for the boys.”
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| Davey Sr, Dave Castilloux, George Cherry and Jean Richard |
March 86 Matthew knocks out Wilfred Benitez in four rounds. Davey still hasn't fought since last June and wants out of contract with Don King. He's still ranked the top five WBA welterweight. He notes that his contract called for purses of $20,000 for first two bouts in 1985 followed by $50,000 for each subsequent appearance. Instead he was offered $5,000 an undercard bout. Davey vows to wait until January 1987 to fight, as his contract expires at that time. Davey remains mostly drunk and doesn't fight again until 1989.
9 May 86 Alex, 21, faces a series of minor criminal charges involving shooting guns, brawling, drunk driving, threatening his sister-in-law, and so forth.
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Stewart and Davey Sr. |
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Diotte |
10 Sept 86 Stewart Hilton, aged almost 18, dies in car crash that also kills his girlfriend and mother of his child, Lucie Diotte, also 17. Diotte was in Grade 11 at a French language high school. The couple left behind an eight-month-old son. The two had planned to marry within a few weeks. Stewart had no license and was speeding when he crashed a Mazda into a bridge abutment near the family home in Rigaud. Hundreds attend the funeral and the four remaining brothers hauled the casket. Don King, who managed Stewart's career, attended. Stewart was 4-0 as a pro and 70-10 as an amateur.
22 Jan 88 Davey slated to fight in Atlantic City on Tyson-Holmes undercard. “I have a lot of regrets. I've been mixed up for a year and a half or two. My bike accident, my brother being killed. I had too many friends in town and was spending too much time hanging out in discos. “
June 26 87 Matthew wins a 15 round decision over Buster Drayton to take the IBF world junior middleweight crown. He is paid $400,00 and keeps in good shape. He wins a title defence in October but then loses it in November 1988, his first pro loss. He receives $375,000 for his efforts. Promoter Don King loses interest in Matthew, who feels he has lost his discipline. King's employee describes Matthew as "uncotrollable" and "a monster." Matthew moves over to Bob Arum who also loses interest after Matthew misses several appointments. Matthew had earned over $1 million boxing but was now 45 pounds over his fighting weight.
31 April 1991 Davey and Matthew Hilton rob a Dunkin Donuts on St. John's Blvd in DDO of $164 while driving a black Ford Taurus driven by a man named Robert Dooley, 46, at 2:30 a.m. They get caught and plead not guilty to charges of armed robbery, wearing a disguise for purposes of committing a crime, possessing an unregistered .22 calibre rifle and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. They change their plea to guilty in April 1992. Dave Sr. says "You try to do your best but they're 25 and 27 years old I can't tell them to go to bed and what time to get up in the morning. I'm shocked." All three brothers were sentenced to six months for the holdup.
Nov. 1991 Davey, Matthew, and Alex, out on parole for his previous crime, attempt a comeback all fighting on the same card at the Verdun Auditorium but it attracts little interest.
Dec. 1993 Alex charged with attempted murder in Cornwall, Ontario after a pair of homes in Akwesasne were robbed of $16,000 by five armed bandits. Alex and Davey Jr. were arrested at a local hotel. The case dragged on until March 1995 when it got dropped due to lack of evidence.
29 March 1994 Matthew, 28 and Jimmy 22, are found guilty of assault causing bodily harm following a fight outside a Pointe Claire bar in the summer of 1993. The duo beat three tourists from New Brunswick in a parking lot outside Cheers Bar on 9 June 1993. Matthew was on parole at the time for his role in the 1991 robbery. He spent five months in jail following his 1993 arrest and was released in November of that year. Davey Hilton, 30, was also charged but was only located five months later in Cornwall, Ontario. Jimmy began the incident by accusing one of the three men of being an undercover police officer. The man was a miner. Matthew allegedly tossed the first punch. The three brothers beat and kicked one of the men until he lost consciousness.
June 1997 Rising boxer Stephane Ouellet of Jonquiere beats Alex Hilton at the Molson Center. Alex resigns from the fight in the eighth round due to injury.
5 Aug 1998 Davey Sr., 63 and Jimmy plead guilty to assaulting a customer in a dispute in a Wal-Mart in LaSalle. Jimmy was sentenced to six months in prison and Davey Sr. ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Jimmy was the only brother to not box professionally. Jimmy had a criminal record of assault after beating three tourists in Pointe Claire in 1994 and breaking his parole the next year.
November 1998 Davey squares off against Ouellet at the Molson Center in front of 18,000. Davey knocks Ouellet out in the 12th round. He earns $107,000 for the fight.
July 1998 Alex Hilton is tried for 17 charges stemming from sexual assaults and beatings in Bordeaux Prison. Hilton was inside serving six months for assault and parole violations. Hilton and fellow-inmate Peter Laurie were accused of sexually assaulting Russel Jenson, 23, a convicted child molester, on three occasions. Alex did ot participate in the offences, which included fellatio, sodomy and masturbation. Alex is also charged with three others in the beating of Thomas Kiddie who spent five weeks in hospital with a ruptured spleen. Hilton is sentenced to five years in December. His lawyer Jeffrey Boro blames Hilton's problems on a bad marriage. "At 21 when he got married, that's when the problems started. He wasn't able to deal with it." Judge Pierre Brassard described Hilton as a "vicious and heartless," who had failed to take advantage of clemency from previous judges.
May 1999 Davey has a rematch against Ouellet and wins in a third round TKO.
September 2000 The two battle for a third time and Ouellet wins a 10 round decision. Earlier in the day authorities had served Davey with legal documents on impending charges against him.
Dec 15, 2000 Davey Jr., now 37, beats Dingaan Thobel of South Africa in a split decision victory at the Molson Center, with many thinking that Hilton benefited from generous local judges. Hilton is rewarded the WBA super middleweight championship, making him the second world champion in the family.
14 Feb 2001 Davey Jr. on trial for sexual assault against minors. His brother Jimmy rambles on in a contradictory way in a manner that did little to help Davey's case.
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| Jeanne Hilton |
19 June 2006 Davey Hilton is released from La Macaza Prison after serving two-thirds of his seven year sentence for sexual assault, with eight months added in 2003 for refusing to submit to an alcohol test in 1997.
Dec 2004 Alex Hilton, now 40 and the only remaining active boxer in the famliy, prepares to face opponent Adam Green at the Bell Centre. Alex's coach for 10 years, Ron Di Cecco, (1949-2020) weights 525 lbs and later got down to 250 lbs.
30 Sept 2010 Davey Jr is arrested for the fifth time in three years on charges of violence against his ex Joanna Colavecchio. His brother Jimmy is also charged with threatening the woman.
*Most photos from La Presse, as posted on the BANQ site.
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