Boxing, once the heartbeat of New Haven, was barely a blip on the radar in the city by the 1970s. While Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier kept the sport thriving nationally, the only boxing action at the New Haven Coliseum was live simulcasting of the big fights.

Shady deals and thieving promoters led to the state general assembly banning live boxing events in 1965, a decree that was lifted in 1973. On March 19, 1978, the Coliseum played host to its biggest boxing card, headlined by a young Sugar Ray Leonard.
Read Chip Malafronte's complete story.