BIG TIME BOXING IS BACK IN BROOKLYN! (PHOTOS)
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 18 Oct 2012
Paulie Malignaggi.
Brooklyn, NY ? The borough of Brooklyn is teeming with a rich history of boxing tradition. It is a favorite site of boxing fights during the Golden Era of the sport.
The legends of the sport like Jack Dempsey, Rocky Graziano, and Sugar Ray Robinson to name a few all fought here at one point in their career.
Many of the sports? most accomplished and popular fighters are born in the most populous borough of New York. Heavyweight greats like Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Michael Moorer, Shannon Briggs and Riddick Bowe hail from Brooklyn.
The present era boasts of world champions like Zab Judah, Luis Collazo and Paulie Malignaggi.
WBA Welterweight Champ Malignaggi will lead a host of Brooklyn fighters this Saturday in a nationally televised card via Showtime Sports at the brand new Barclays Center in Atlantic and Flatbush Avenue.
He will defend his WBA title for the first time against Pablo Cesar Cano in scheduled Quadruple header at the new arena. The 31 year old who started boxing at the famous Gleason?s Gym at six years old has mixed feelings of fighting in front of the hometown crowd.
?You always feel a little bit more when you fight at home. You want to perform for the fans, your people, and your family. But at the same time, you also enjoy the moment. It might be a little bit of added pressure but it is also a little bit of added fulfillment and enjoyment to this on a stage in Brooklyn,? admitted Malignaggi.
Other Brooklyn fighters that are slated to see action this weekend include former Welterweight Champ Collazo who now fights in the Middleweight Division, hot middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs, former world title contender Dmitriy Salida and 154 pound prospect Boyd Melson.
The card will also feature New Yorkers like number one rated WBO middleweight Peter ?Kid Chocolate? Quillin who fights for the WBO Middleweight belt and light middleweight Eddie Gomez from the Bronx.
This will be the inaugural boxing offering of the newly built Barclays Center Arena which is situated right in the heart of the city.
Golden Boy CEO and former boxer himself, Oscar De la Hoya sees this as the start to reliving the great boxing tradition of the city and promised to bring more fights here in the future.
?This will be exciting. It?s going to be great. You have a brand new arena so why not bring big time boxing to Brooklyn. You guys deserve it, we are going to do our very best to build off this and bring the championship fights to Brooklyn,? De la Hoya announced yesterday during the public and media workout of the participants of this Saturday?s event.
?We want to bring the fights to the fans. We want to spread out all the title fights we do. Not only in Vegas, not only in L.A. but we want to come back here in Brooklyn and bring you big time boxing,? added De la Hoya who is a gold medal Olympian and holder of many world titles in the sport.
It has been eighty one years ago since the last world title fight was held in the Borough of Lights. This Saturday four world title fights will lit up the Brooklyn skyline in its biggest stage.
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com
Kid Chocolate.
Danny Jacobs.
Dmitry Salita.
Oscar de la Hoya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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