Bruce Silverglade has been holding the fort for boxing in Brooklyn since he bought Gleason’s Gym 25 years ago. Shortly after buying the gym, he opened an arena a block away to provide a place for boxers who trained at the gym to ply their trade.
The arena didn’t last long. It has since been torn down and high-rise housing will soon go up on the site. But Gleason still stands, supported mainly by white-collar workers who want to test themselves in the sweet science. Since opening the gym, Silverglade has seen interest in boxing decline, not just in Brooklyn, but nationally.
But Silverglade’s perseverance is paying off. Big-time boxing is returning to Brooklyn as the Barclays Center holds its inaugural show, featuring four world championship matches, on Oct. 20. The bouts will be broadcast on Showtime’s “Championship Boxing.”
Danny Garcia will defend his WBA junior welterweight title against Erik Morales in the main event — the first major championship match in Brooklyn in 81 years. And while neither Garcia nor Morales is from Brooklyn, the card has other boxers from the borough, including WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi from Bensonhurst.
The first show is not a blockbuster boxing event involving Floyd Mayweather, Jr. or Manny Pacquiao — the two top draws in the sport. But it is a start.
“It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact on boxing in New York as well as Brooklyn if everything I’ve been told is true,” Silverglade said. “They (Barclays Center reps) said Golden Boy Promotions is supposed to do 36 shows in 36 months there. If that’s true, it’s a tremendous boost to bringing boxing back to New York.”
Forgive Silverglade for having a healthy dose of skepticism to go with his optimism. He has been around boxing long enough to know that promises aren’t always kept.
But the Barclays Center is raising the stakes for big-time boxing in New York. Regular shows at the Barclays will put the heat on Madison Square Garden. “The Mecca of Boxing” — the Garden’s nickname — has scaled back its commitment to the sport in the last three years as heavyweight championship fights have moved to Eastern Europe with Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, the reigning champions. That has left a void in New York that the Barclays is looking to fill.
“There’s enough for everybody,”‘ said Brett Yormark, CEO of the Barclays Center. “Madison Square Garden has a legacy and a tradition with boxing. It’s been around for 135 years. We’re the new kids on the block. We want to become the place in the Northeast to host big-time boxing.”
The Barclays has already poached a grassroots boxing staple of the Garden, signing a deal to host the New York Daily News Golden Gloves semifinals and finals for the next three years. The Garden had been home to New York’s premier amateur championship boxing tournament for the last 50 years.
However, going to Silverglade’s concerns, there are no firm plans for another professional boxing show at the Barclays beyond the card on Oct. 20.
“Our vision is to make sure that we have shows on a consistent basis,” Yormark said. “We haven’t closed on the next show yet. But we’re looking at some time in December.”
There hasn’t been a heavyweight title match at the Garden since Wladimir Klitschko defended his WBO and IBF titles against Sultan Ibragimov on Feb. 23, 2008. The Garden has only had one major boxing show this year and that was in the smaller room, the Theater, with Sergio Martinez defending his middleweight title against Matthew Macklin on March 3. Miguel Cotto is scheduled to defend his WBA 154-pound title against Austin Trout in the main arena on Dec. 1.
Cotto, who has fought at the Garden eight times, is the only boxer in recent times who has consistently sold out boxing shows in New York. If he ever decided to take his act to Brooklyn, the Garden would be in trouble.
No one at the Garden wanted to speak about the new competition the Barclays will bring. But the Garden did issue a statement.
“Having hosted some of the most memorable fights in history, Madison Square Garden has built a boxing legacy that is unmatched and continues to be known worldwide as the premiere venue for the sport,” the statement said. “Every fighter aspires to one day box in the historic arena, and this tradition will continue. We look forward to a great fight between Miguel Cotto and Austin Trout on Dec. 1 and expect a capacity crowd.”
Bobby Goodman, a Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker who ran boxing for the Garden out of the old Felt Forum from 1985-94, said the Barclays has a chance to take over boxing in New York if it takes a grass-roots approach and looks toward the Eastern European audience via Brighton Beach — an audience that the Klitschkos would cater to.
“When I was with the Garden we had the Kid Gloves and the Golden Gloves and we developed boxers from the time that they were 11 until they were champions, with guys like Buddy McGirt, Kevin Kelley and Junior Jones,”‘ Goodman said. “If they did that with the talent from places like Russia and the Ukraine and even China you could have a lot of activity. You could tie that in with the Klitschkos, who everybody says are boring, but they’re dominant in the heavyweight division.”‘
The Klitschkos were interested in being the inaugural boxing event at the Barclays, but they refused to work with Golden Boy Promotions, which has a partnership on promoting boxing with the arena. But that might not stand in the way of one of the Klitschkos fighting there in the future. Both Wladimir and Vitali have identified Seth Mitchell, who is promoted by Golden Boy, as a future opponent if they are going to return to the U.S. to fight.
The Barclays Center has a rich history of boxing in Brooklyn to live up to. George Dixon knocked out Fred Johnson in the 14th round to win the world featherweight championship at the Coney Island Athletic Club in the first title match in the borough on June 27, 1892. Seven years later at the same venue, Jim Jeffries KO’ed Bob Fitzsimmons for the heavyweight championship.
Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, hosted eight world championship matches, including the last world title match held in Brooklyn, that between Maxie Rosenbloom and Jimmy Slattery on Aug. 5, 1931. Rosenbloom scored a unanimous 15-round decision to retain the light-heavyweight title.
From 1930 through the late 1950s, there were as many as 20 locations holding weekly boxing shows in Brooklyn. They were mostly club shows, but the Eastern Parkway Arena in Brownsville had Monday night fights that were broadcast on the Dumont Network. The arena was called “The House of Upsets” during the time that famed matchmaker Teddy Brenner worked there. Many of the matches at the Eastern Parkway Arena ended up as rematches at Madison Square Garden.
“What was developed back then was that the Garden was like the major leagues and we subsidized the clubs,” Goodman said. “If you developed a kid at your club and he was packing them in there, they’d put him on a card at the Garden. He would fight in a six-rounder. It wasn’t unusual for a kid who had 30 pro fights to be fighting in a six-rounder on a card at the Garden.”‘
The Barclays isn’t looking to be a Triple-A to Madison Square Garden’s big leagues. But Silverglade would like to be able to supply some boxers to fill out future cards at the Barclays.
“I’ve talked with both of the Golden Boy matchmakers, who are on the West Coast, about using some of the fighters who work out here,” Silverglade said. “I’ve already worked out a deal to have the fighters who fight on the cards at the Barclays work out here. At some point they’re going to have to put some of the guys who work out here in four -rounders on the undercards.”
Silverglade hopes the Barclays can have boxing shows on a consistent basis, even if it can’t have a monthly show as it initially announced it would two years ago.
“If they get into a regular pattern of using local fighters, it will have a major impact on bringing boxing back to New York,” Silverglade said. “And it will kick the backside of Madison Square Garden, which likes to still call itself ‘The Mecca of Boxing.'”
