By the 1970s, Atlantic City had suffered a tremendous amount of decay and economic decline. There were a number of reasons for this, including neglect. Also, so much had changed in America after World War II. Travel was easier. And tourists found more attractive places to spend their tourist dollars.
A number of majestic hotels had been built in Atlantic City’s heyday, and it was sad to see them practically vacated.
There was really only one thing that was seen as a viable remedy.
In 1974 there was a referendum on the ballot to allow statewide casino gambling, but it was rejected by the voters of the state of New Jersey. The proposal was tweaked to address the possible objections, and in 1976 a new bill that legalized casinos in the Garden State but limited them to Atlantic City did indeed pass.
Two years later, the first casino was opened – Resorts International. Obviously more followed.
The casinos had to have some form of live entertainment. And since they were in such proximity to each other they were very competitive about it.
Resorts International, which had a head start, was the early leader in boxing on the boardwalk. They presented the first show at an Atlantic City casino on November 4, 1978, as lightweight Howard Davis Jr., who had won Olympic gold just a couple of years before, won a ten-round decision over Luis Davila.
The number of shows picked up the next year. This not only included a win by Gerry Cooney over Leroy Boone), but also brought the first world championship fight at an A.C. casino, as Matthew Saad Muhammad won a 15-round decision over John Conteh in defending his WBC light heavyweight title.
In 1980 the number of shows doubled from 12 to 24, and in 1981 it more than doubled, to 49. Everybody got into the act, as the Tropicana, Bally’s, Playboy, Resorts, Golden Nugget, Caesars and the Brighton (which was later renamed the Sands) all hosted fight promotions.
And in 1983, over 5000 fans in a tent next to Harrah’s Marina Hotel & Casino watched WBC champion Larry Holmes stop New Jersey native Scott Frank in five rounds in what was the first heavyweight title fight in Atlantic City.
Boxing proved to be an ideal form of entertainment. It was already known that the sport drew the kind of people who liked to gamble in casinos. It was also relatively inexpensive to host, and experienced and responsible people were there to actually organize things. In other words, the individual casinos did not have to put the events together themselves. And in many cases, not only did the shows attract local and regional press coverage, they also got televised nationally, which provided quite a bit of marketing value.
It did not take long for things to really explode. From 1982 to 1985, Atlantic City had 521 boxing shows. That’s more than two per week. There were numerous superstars and world championship fights; too many for us to list here. Even as the pace slowed in the four years subsequent to that, there was still an average of more than one event per week.
And all the television networks covered the A.C. fights at one point or another. Whether it was CBS, NBC or ABC, ESPN, Sports Channel, USA or Fox Sports, HBO or Showtime, everybody made trips to Atlantic City.
And every promoter of note plied his or her trade on the boardwalk. Don King, Main Events and Bob Arum (Top Rank), the three major players at the time, were fixtures. So was Russell Peltz, famous for his shows at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, who made the short trip over from an established market that had lessened in importance to the new, emerging market that was getting all the action.
Las Vegas had developed a reputation for attracting the “big fights.” But it was clear during this period of time that Atlantic City had surpassed Sin City as the mecca of pro boxing in America.
And still, there was an ambitious hotel-casino operator who wanted to take things to a new level, stealing all the thunder from Las Vegas with the most feared man on the planet in tow.
Here’s a hint – he later got himself elected.
