Thursday, April 14, 2011
Sports Ben's Sports Take: Professional boxing in Atlanta?
Posted by Ben Bussard on Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM
I'm not sure how many of you follow those bloodthirsty sports like mixed martial arts, ultimate fighting and extreme baby death match, but does anyone remember good ol fashioned regular boxing?
If you do, then here's your chance to see it in person right here in the ATL—and you won't have to walk down a back alley and through a metal detector in order to do so.
In just over two weeks, April 29th to be exact, the newly renovated Macy's building on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta (now called 200 Peachtree building) will host the Georgia Boxing Championship, a Las Vegas-style boxing event that is marketed towards a slightly higher-class audience than some of the other, seedier boxing venues here in Atlanta.
This isn't the first time that the 200 Peachtree building has hosted a professional boxing event as the first installment of the Georgia Boxing Championship was held back in late February in front of a sold-out crowd.
One of the boxers who will be fighting in the GBC main event is Cape Verde native and Atlanta resident Paul Delgado, who has fought in numerous other events that have been put together by local boxing promoter Greg Barckhoff.
In addition to the Georgia Boxing Championship series, Barckhoff is the creator of Atlanta's most popular boxing event The Big Rock Out, which will be held for the fifth time on December 2 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
- Sports Fan Properties
- Delgado (left) fighting against Chris Gray in The Big Rock Out 4 back in December
Delgado says that fighting in these local events makes him feel right at home, which of course he is.
"I definitely feel like I fit right in to the whole theme of the event and I feel real comfortable," he said. "(Barckhoff's) shows are something that my fan base really appreciate and come out to support. I feel right at home and it’s definitely my backyard here with these shows that Greg’s putting on."
From a boxing standpoint, Delgado says that these shows are something that fans can enjoy, but they can also serve as great opportunities for emerging boxers.
"It just gets you prepared for the next steps in your career," he said. "(Barckhoff) does a great job with the lighting and all this other stuff [and] if a fighter’s not accustomed to it then goes on the road and sees it for the first time, it can frighten the living daylights out of you if you’re not accustomed to it.
"But it definitely helps you prepare yourself for the next steps in boxing and Greg does a great job in allowing fighters to see the bigger picture of what boxing should look like here in Atlanta."
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