During the early years of Atlantic City boxing, the fight game was bustling. An array of ring talent, from club fighters to champions, came to the shore to compete at thriving venues like the Northside’s Waltz Dream Arena and Convention Hall on the Boardwalk. Although ring action was plentiful, the biggest fights were still happening elsewhere. However, everything changed once gambling came to town. As casinos popped up along the Boardwalk, Atlantic City fights got bigger and bigger. By the late 1970s, boxing was on the rise, and within a few years, business was booming. Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson ushered in the city’s peak era in the late 1980s, a time when more than just fight fans turned their attention to Atlantic City for some of the biggest sporting events ever. A decade later, Arturo Gatti ushered in another rise in AC’s prominence with a series of thrilling appearances in the city. Although AC never again topped the impact of those days, boxing action at the shore remained vital for decades to come.
John DiSanto and Matthew H. Ward have co-authored a book that tells the story of Atlantic City boxing from 1865 to 2020. The image-driven book includes more than 200 photos, many of them previously unpublished and seen for the very first time. This book is now available for sale and can be ordered directly from the authors (ACBoxingBook.com) or your favorite bookseller including Amazon.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
John DiSanto is the founder of PhillyBoxingHistory.com and the Briscoe Awards and is the chairman of the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame. Matthew H. Ward is a historian and journalist who specializes in boxing, Jersey Shore, and Philadelphia history.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Boxing in Atlantic City, released on November 1, 2021, is a 128-page soft cover book that includes 230 photographs. The cover price is $23.99.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Arcadia Publishing and History Press is the nation’s leading publisher of books of local history and local interest. Arcadia has an extraordinary catalog of more than 15,000 local titles and publishes 500 new books each year.
