Iconic venues in NYC that have hosted boxing ahead of return to Madison Square Garden

Independent

a day ago

Boxing returns to Madison Square Garden this weekend, with Richardson Hitchins' IBF super lightweight clash against George Kambosos Jr headlining an evening of the sweet science in the Big Apple.
Whilst the Garden has become the Mecca of boxing for many fans, New York City as a whole is littered with many iconic venues that have staged big fights over the decades.
Here is a rundown of some of the stops in NYC boxing has paid a visit to.
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To many, Madison Square Garden is a sporting Mecca.
Described as the world's most famous arena, MSG is home to NHL franchise the New York Rangers, as well as the NBA's New York Knicks.
Aside from sport, the Garden is also a dream venue for musicians, with artists such as Elton John and Billy Joel labelling the arena as their favourite to perform at.
However, the biggest crowds the venue can currently hold are for fight nights, with 20,789 able to watch boxing at the Garden.
MSG has long been entwined with boxing – even though the venue has been relocated many times over the years.
The third incarnation of the famous arena saw Joey Giardallo's seventh-round knockout of Willie Tory in 1954, in what was the first boxing match televised in colour.
The Garden will always retain its lofty place in the history of the sport, having hosted the 'Fight of the Century' in 1971.
Still regarded as one of the biggest fights in boxing, the bout between undefeated heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier more than lived up to expectations, going the full distance with the latter ending up on top.
Barclays Center
Madison Square Garden is not the only NBA home that frequently hosts boxing.
The Brooklyn Nets ' arena, Barclays Center, is far younger than its Manhattan-based counterpart, opening in 2012.
19,000 punters can watch boxing here, and it has hosted plenty of world title fights despite its infancy as an arena.
In just the second card hosted at Barclays Center, 48-year-old Bernard Hopkins became the oldest champion in the history of the sport when he claimed the IBF light heavyweight belt with victory over Tavoris Cloud.
St. Nicholas Arena
Originally an ice rink, St. Nicholas Arena would become one of the first proper homes of boxing in the USA.
With legal venues for boxing scarce in the States, the rink started hosting fights in 1906, staging cards until its closure in 1962.
Frequent boxing action could be enjoyed by those in attendance at the rink and to others watching at home; so frequent were fights that NBC transmitted a show called Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena during the 1940s.
Plenty of big names threw punches at the venue, including Jack Johnson and Rocky Graziano.
On one of the final cards hosted at the rink, a young Muhammad Ali, still going by his birth name of Cassius Clay, secured a knockout victory over Billy Daniels.
Radio City Music Hall
Although standing for almost a century, Radio City Music Hall does not have as much storied history with boxing as other venues in New York City.
In fact, it took 68 years for the first night of boxing to be staged at the concert venue, with Roy Jones Jr headlining a card in January 2000.
Jones retained his WBC, WBO, IBF, and IBO light heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision victory over David Telesco, with Jones not dropping a round on the judges' scorecards.
In 2013, the second and currently last card was staged at Radio City, with another world title clash.
Cuban super bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux unified his WBA belt with Nonito Donaire's WBO title thanks to a unanimous decision win.
Yankee Stadium
Boxing has been a part of the schedule at Yankee Stadium since its inception in 1923.
63,000 watched on as former heavyweight champion Jess Willard secure his last win as a professional.
Joe Louis frequently fought at the home of the Yankees – in between fights at Madison Square Garden, highlighting both venues' importance to boxing during the first half of the 20th century.
Muhammad Ali would headline the final card hosted at the old Yankee Stadium, edging out Ken Norton via a tight unanimous decision.
Boxing would return to the home of the Yankees in 2010, shortly after the new stadium was constructed.
Miguel Cotto stopped the previously undefeated Yuri Foreman in the ninth round, picking up the WBA super middleweight title in the process.
That, until now, remains the most-recent fight staged at Yankee Stadium.
Times Square
Just over a month ago a new venue played host to boxing, with the iconic tourist destination of Times Square converted into a ring for The Ring 's debut promotion, featuring Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Ryan Garcia.
Fighters' ring walks were replaced by a fleet of NYC yellow taxi cabs whisking boxers from nearby hotels, giving the event even more of a fever dream feel.
Whilst the ambition show was admirable, the open air venue saw a limited capacity, leading to a subdued atmosphere, which perhaps led to subdued performances inside the ring.