Boxing Historic City

THE HISTORIC CITY. Atlantic City, NJ, the crowned king of the Jersey Shore. Incorporated on May 1, 1854, the city has a long and diverse history of which I will only skim the surface in this installment of The World Boxing Review's pre-fight blog, counting down to Saturday night when Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer fight for all the marbles in the Women's Middleweight division.

Anyone who has ever seen a Monopoly game board knows the streets of this city (build a hotel on Park Place!). The famous Boardwalk was first built in 1870 to keep the sand out of the lobbies of the many rooming houses along the beach. This was before the hotels came in the 30's. At one time, the boards stretched for seven miles from Longport and through to the neighboring towns of Ventnor and Margate. In 1944, the Great Atlantic Hurricane (before we named them) destroyed much of the structure. This period saw the rise of the first grand hotels, the largest one being the Marlborough-Blenheim, on the site of what is today Bally's. The Claridge, host of the annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame festivities, opened in 1930 and was known as the "Skyscraper by the Sea".

Another famous by-product of Atlantic City was the accidental discovery of salt water taffy. As legend tells it, taffy maker David Bradley, back in 1883, sold some taffy to a little girl that had been damaged in a flood and had been soaked in salt water. The girl loved the candy, the mom loved the name and a classic confection was born. Today's salt water taffy contains no salt water. 

Yet another aspect of the city's landscape are the numerous piers that jut out to the ocean. The Steel Pier, where the TV show American Bandstand debuted, was the most famous of them all. Things changed in AC back in 1976 when gambling became legal and last year, sports betting won approval. Two new casinos opened last year and boxing venues are happening all over town. 

I spent many a vacation day with my mom and brother at the resort. We stayed at a large, long gone hotel named The Shelburne and I still have the picture I took of the Diving Horse, falling into the sea from a great height at the Steel Pier. I also saw some great performers of the day. 

Tomorrow, I will continue this look at Atlantic City history, focusing on the Boardwalk Hall, site of Saturday's historic title fight. I will also look back at some of the great fights that this town has seen.

Bob Murray

The WBR