“Boardwalk Empire” ended its fantastic five-season run Sunday night on HBO.
Boxing?s boardwalk empire in Atlantic City began crumbling several years earlier, soon after the retirement of late legend Arturo Gatti, following a July 2007 loss to Alfonso Gomez. Capacity crowds of approximately 12,000 packed Boardwalk Hall for nine straight Gatti fights from 2002-07.
Promoters and casino executives have been searching for similar star power ever since.
Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik temporarily displayed such promise, but faded almost as fast as he rose to prominence by knocking out Jermain Taylor in an enthralling title fight seven years ago at Boardwalk Hall. Promoter Kathy Duva, whose Totowa promotional company worked with Gatti throughout his Hall of Fame career, hopes Russian knockout artist Sergey Kovalev can become Main Events? next gate attraction in Atlantic City.
Kovalev must defeat legendary light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins on Nov. 8 (HBO) at Boardwalk Hall to begin that ascent. Whatever occurs when Kovalev and Philadelphia?s Hopkins meet in a 12-round fight for their three light heavyweight championships, the fact that a fight of his magnitude will take place in Atlantic City is considered a victory for a struggling city that has endured four casinos closing since Jan. 13.
Hopkins-Kovalev is perhaps the most compelling, important non-pay-per-view fight of 2014 in the United States, a fact that isn?t lost on Ken Condon, the casino consultant responsible for buying most fights for Atlantic City.
“When we?re able to take a fight away from New York and other competitors, I think it shows people that none of us have given up in Atlantic City,” said Condon, a sports and entertainment consultant to Caesars Atlantic City. “We?re just going through a business re-sizing because the monopoly is over. There are casinos everywhere on the East Coast now. But this is a nationally televised, big fight, which will let people know that we are still alive and well at Caesars Atlantic City and we?re still active in making the city viable and bringing big events to Atlantic City.”
The 49-year-old Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs, 2 NC), the oldest boxer to win a recognized world title, has fought 17 times in Atlantic City, where he made his pro debut 26 years ago. His following from nearby Philadelphia, coupled with interest in the former middleweight champion challenging Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs), is expected to draw a crowd in excess of 10,000.
Tickets to the card cost between $50 and $300 and can be purchased by visiting ticketmaster.com or calling 800-736-1420.
FONFARA FIGHT: Light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara will headline a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader Saturday night in Chicago (9 p.m.; Showtime).
Fonfara (25-3, 15 KOs), a Chicago resident, is scheduled to face Doudou Ngumbu (33-5, 12 KOs) in a 10-round fight at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. It?ll mark Fonfara?s first fight since he lost a unanimous decision to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs) on May 24 in Montreal, where Fonfara floored Stevenson in the ninth round.
The co-featured fight on Showtime will pit Tomoki Kameda (30-0, 19 KOs) against Alejandro Hernandez (28-10-2, 15 KOs) in a 12-round fight for Kameda?s WBO bantamweight title. The telecast will begin with a 10-round super featherweight bout between Javier Fortuna (25-0-1, 18 KOs) and Abner Cotto (18-2, 8 KOs).
Twitter: @Idecboxing
