Coming off the smashing success of their second Atlantic City show, Boxing Insider Promotions is back at the Tropicana later this month.
This time Atlantic City native Larry Goldberg is adding a community touch to the lineup.
Following a stacked professional card set for Nov. 16, Boxing Insider and Tropicana will join the Atlantic City Police Athletic League to put on a special event the following afternoon.
An all-amateur card entitled Battle at the Shore will be held in the same Tropicana showroom in cooperation with the state Attorney General’s Youth Outreach Program for New Jersey Amateur Boxing.
“This is huge for us," said Atlantic City Police Lt. Willie Santiago, who has been with PAL for 11 years. "It is our biggest fundraiser of the year.
"Larry Goldberg really stepped up to the plate for us, donating the venue and the championship belts for the kids,” added the 17-year police veteran.
The amateur showcase is sanctioned by USA Boxing Mid-Atlantic and will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17.
Some of the best amateur boxers from New Jersey and beyond will be competing.
“I am proud to be working with Lieutenant Santiago and the folks from the Police Athletic League program," Goldberg said. "They have been helping kids in the community for a long time.”
The long-venerated AC PAL boxing program that has produced a whole stable of accomplished fighters over the course of more than 30 years, is overjoyed at the prospect.
“I’m so excited for the kids who will get to box in a pro setting for the first time in front of their families and friends," Santiago said. "We’re going to have 15 to 20 kids participating and two of my former students, Justin Figueroa and Francisco Rodriguez, will be helping with handing out the belts.
"This is an event we would like to have annually and show that the city supports amateur boxing, with the longer term goal of one day hosting the Golden Gloves, in Atlantic City,” he added.
Santiago spoke with BreakingAC from Florida, where he was with a contingent of PAL kids attending a STEM program designed for kids to get experience outside of their normal daily lives.
Goldberg has made it a focus of Boxing Insider not to just put on shows every few months in Atlantic City, but to partner with those in the community with an eye toward giving back, or paying it forward.
“This PAL event is pure," he said. "It is 100 a charity event. I’m proud to assist in any capacity.
“This is my home. Programs like the Atlantic City PAL give the next generation the tools they need to succeed, and I am excited to help with this fundraiser," Goldberg added. "We hope this is the first of many shows we can do together.”
Many promoters have come through Atlantic City over the years, but few, if any, have made it a point to share their success with the local community.
As an Indie promoter with deep local roots, Boxing Insider is looking to change that by putting on multiple shows throughout the year, providing a consistent platform for fighters in the area to showcase their talents to the world.
This will be their third show in 2024, and they are looking to continue that into the new year.
Since they were here last, Boxing Insider Promotions was named promoter of the year by the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame. They were the first promotion to bring boxing back to New York after the pandemic, and the first to bring it to the Tropicana after a seven-year absence.
They have been the most active promoter in Atlantic City for this current year.
If they keep up this pace, it is not hyperbole to think Boxing Insider Promotions could be very well be in the running for New Jersey's Promoter of the Year in 2025
Tickets for the PAL event are $40 and are available through the PAL, as well as the door of the Tropicana showroom.
The first 100 ticket buyers to the PAL event will also receive a complimentary ticket to the professional card that takes place the night before.
A hundred percent of ticket sales is going to the PAL.
The professional shows starts at 7 p..m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Tropicana Showroom.
The card features three Atlantic City fighters: Francisco “Sisco Kid” Rodriguez, who came up through the AC PAL program; junior middleweight Justin Figueroa, and undefeated heavyweight prospect Bruce Seldon Jr.
The Atlantic City trio sport a combined record of 18-0.
Two other rising stars are also on the pro card.
Welterweight Avious Griffin (15-0, 14 KOs) and Baltimore bantamweight Dominique “Dimes” Crowder (17-0, 10 KOs) will put their undefeated records on the line in a pair of eight-round bouts.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, and run from $63 to $203.50.
The card will also be streamed live on DAZN.
