BATB Remembers Abe Pollin -- The Boxing Fan!

By now you know that longtime businessman and the owner of the Washington Bullets/Capitals and the visionary behind two state-of-the-art arenas in the Beltway region -- The Capital Centre/USAir Arena and the MCI/Verizon Center -- Abe Pollin passed away today from Corticobasal Degeneration, a rare neurological disease at the age of 85.

Over the next few days, much will be written and said about Mr. Pollin's charitable donations as well as his contributions to professional basketball and hockey and how those sports helped revitalize the areas those arenas served.

As is usually the case in the mainstream media, the sport of boxing will be overlooked and it really shouldn't in this case because the Beltway Boxing scene owes a great debt to Mr. Pollin because he was a true boxing fan. Here is a card-by-card recap of boxing, courtesy of Abe Pollin.

Boxing first came to the Capital Centre on May 21, 1974 when world heavyweight contender Oscar Bonavena defeated Baltimore heavyweight Larry Middleton by 12-round unanimous decision. Bonavena was ranked seventh in the world at that time, Middleton was ranked eighth.

There were two cards in 1975. On July 23, former world champion Emile Griffith won a 10-round unanimous decision over Baltimore's Leo Saenz Floyd Mayweather, Sr. also fought on this card. On August 26, DC legend Johnny Gant fought Harold Weston to a 10-round draw. Also on that card was Olympic bronze medalist heavyweight Duane Bobick.

In 1976, The Capital Centre hosted two cards in April and both featured future heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. On April 5, Holmes scored a second-round TKO over Fred Askew.

But it was the card on April 30 that made the Capital Centre a major player in the boxing world. The April 30 card featured a title defense by "The Greatest" -- Muhammad Ali. Ali won a 15-round unanimous decision over Jimmy Young in a bout many people thought Young may have pulled out. Holmes won a 10-round unanimous decision over Roy Williams. And if that wasn't enough, Ken Norton was on the card and he stopped Ron Stander in the fifth round. Two fights later, Norton would lose a disputed 15-round decision in his third bout against Ali in September of 1976 in Yankee Stadium.

The next year, DC Boxing Hall of Famer "Irish" Mike Baker headlined a card on April 14, stopping Hyattsville, MD's Ralph Palladin in the eighth round for the Maryland/DC Middleweight title.

But it was May 16, 1977 that was a very special card -- one that served as a turning point in my personal life. Muhammad Ali returned to the Capital Centre for a successful 15-round title defense against Alfredo Evangelista. In attendance that night was a 13-year old boxing fan who was hooked by the thrill of a live boxing card. That fan was me, attending my very first live boxing event. Also on that card were two future hall of famers -- Roberto Duran and Alfredo Escalera. Both were victorious on that night.

On June 21, 1977, Ronnie McGarvey of Hillcrest Heights, MD captured the NABF Featherweight championship with a sixth-round TKO over Miguel Meza. This was one bout after McGarvey made an unsuccessful try at Escalera's WBC Super Featherweight crown in Puerto Rico. On that same card, Ralph Palladin won the NABF Middleweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Gene Wells.

Sugar Ray Leonard would make his first appearance in the Capital Centre on April 13, 1978 stopping Bobby Hayman in the third round. A number of local boxers fought on this card including Lou Benson, Mike Baker, Roland Pryor, Keith Broom, O'Dell Leonard and Johnny Gant. All were victorious.

On November 21 of 1978, Gant would return and win by 10-round TKO over Sammy Ruckard in the main event of a card that would feature victories by Ray Leonard's brother Roger as well as locals Leo Saenz, Steve Hughes, Otis Hooper and Henry Bunch Bey. But it was the Gant victory that set up one of the biggest all-Beltway matchups ever.

The date was January 11, 1979. Sugar Ray Leonard was starting to make his ascension up the welterweight ranks. Johnny Gant was the quintessential hard-nosed veteran. In that bout, youth overcame experience as Leonard scored an eighth-round TKO to win his first regional title -- the Mid-Atlantic Welterweight title.

The number of boxing dates in a year started to dwindle as the seventies became the eighties, but the impact of the cards seemed to increase. By the time the eighties came, Sugar Ray Leonard was WBC Welterweight champion. On March 31, 1980, Leonard made his first title defense against England's Davey "Boy" Green. The bout was carried live on ABC. In the fourth round, Leonard scored one of the sickest knockouts ever, landing a crushing left hook that knocked Green out before he hit the canvas.

In an interesting note on the undercard, Johnny Gant challenged Roger Leonard and lost an eight-round unanimous decision. Also on this card, DC super Bantamweight Derrik Holmes scored a first-round knockout over Issac Vega. The victory propelled Holmes to a WBC Super Bantamweight title shot against Wilfredo Gomez in August of 1980. Holmes was stopped in the fifth round in Las Vegas.

It would be 15 years before boxing would return to the Capital Centre. When it did return, the Capital Centre had a new name -- the USAir Arena. Boxing would return with a vengance bringing a Don King-promoted show that featured the greatest array of Beltway talent ever put together on one show.

The date was April 29, 1995 and the card was "The Beltway Brawl" highlighted by Vincent Pettway's incredible sixth-round stoppage of former three-time world champion Simon Brown. Ten Beltway Boxers were on this show, including former WBC Welterweight champ Maurice Blocker, future WBA Middleweight champ William Joppy as well as Lyndon Paul Walker, Antonio "Starchild" Reese, Ed Griffin, "Dangerous D" Darryl Lattimore and Tim "Da Bamma" Hillie. But many who were in attendance will never forget Darryll Tyson's epic battle with Freddie Pendleton that in hindsight (and Don King even talked about it as did Showtime guest commentator Mike Tyson) should have been on the telecast along with Pettway-Brown and Bernard Hopkins first world title victory over Segundo Mercado. To this day, this was the greatest boxing card I have ever covered.

A few years later, Mr. Pollin opened the MCI Center (now Verizon Center) and boxing played a big part in its development as well. On April 24, 1999 Don King returned to the area and presented the "Triple Jeopardy" card that featured Sharmba Mitchell defending the WBA Junior Welterweight crown against Reggie Green, Keith Holmes regaining the WBC Middleweight title against Hacine Cherifi and Mark Johnson winning his second of three world titles, capturing the vacant IBF Junior Bantamweight crown over Ratanachai Sor Vorapin.

Exactly five months later -- September 24, 1999 -- Holmes made a successful defense of his WBC title against local rival Andrew Council while William Joppy stopped Julio Cesar Green in the seventh round to regain the WBA Middleweight title. There was hope that Holmes would meet Joppy in another MCI Center bout to unify the middleweight titles but it never happened.

More than five years later, boxing would make its final appearance in an Abe Pollin-owned building, but it would be a card that many would remember for years to come. The date was June 11, 2005 and the card would feature Mike Tyson's last appearance in a boxing ring, losing by sixth-round TKO to Kevin McBride as well as victories by Laila Ali and Sharmba Mitchell.

Abe Pollin was responsible for many successful revitalization projects in the Beltway region. He brought pro basketball and hockey to the DC area and helped reshape the commercial districts in two parts of the area. Mr. Pollin's legacy should also include his love of the sweet science, a love that led to some of the most important bouts in Beltway Boxing history.