A bright light has dimmed. The spotlight has faded. With other venues and no local stars, Atlantic City has lost the exciting atmosphere of the fight town it once was.
Mike Jones, 21-0 with 17 wins coming by knockout is the best bet for Atlantic City. A tall, strong welterweight from Philadelphia has fought his last 4 fights in Atlantic City. This will be his 5th straight fight in Atlantic City, on the biggest stage ever. He has headlined cards at Bally’s, shared the night with a win on the Martinez-Pavlik undercard and is now headlining a Russell Peltz promoted show at Boardwalk Hall.
Boardwalk Hall, a great arena for boxing, has seen better days. The late Arturo Gatti would pack the hall for many of his wars. Atlantic City was the East Coast boxing capital. Since Gatti, Boardwalk Hall has not had a consistent star that would draw crowds for their wins and losses. Kelly Pavlik brought some life to Atlantic City but quickly lost his star power once dominated by Bernard Hopkins.
Coming from Philadelphia, Mike Jones, also known as M.J. is Atlantic City’s next great hope. He is a fan friendly fighter and a fast rising star. He faces Irving Garcia (17(8)-4-3) this Friday. Not only is this the first time he is headlining Boardwalk Hall, Jones-Garcia is also the headlining fight on Showtime. M.J. is 6’0” with a wide, muscular back that throws brutal combinations of powerful, stiff punches. He is ranked as high as #2 within the sanctioning bodies.
With a win over Garcia, Jones can propel himself into big money fights. It has been rumored that a showdown with Andre Berto looms in the future with a win this Friday. An intriguing fight would be against Golden Boy prospect Saul Alvarez and would launch the winner deep into welterweight stardom.