Boxing Capital of the World
Nevada legalized boxing in 1897 and held its first big fight where Bob Fitzsimmons took away the heavyweight championship title from James J. Corbett in Carson City.
In the 1970s, Las Vegas was proclaimed the Boxing Capital of the world. You’d run into great champions all over the city like Joe Lewis, Billy Conn and Joey Maxim. What fight fan didn’t stop by Johnny Tocco’s Gym to see who was working out? Every Tuesday at the Silver Slipper’s second floor ring it was like a who’s who of boxing. You sat next to big stars watching renowned fighters duke it out in some of the biggest fights in boxing history—Hagler vs. Hearns, Tyson vs. Berbick, Leonard vs. Hearns, Bowe versus Holyfield—to name only a few.
Watching boxing on TV can’t compare to experiencing a live fight. It was an exciting part of my Las Vegas…a time I’ll never forget.
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