New York City’s Ridgewood neighborhood straddles both northern Brooklyn and southwestern Queens. One of New York’s best-known fight clubs, Ridgewood Grove, was built one block just over the borderline that separated the two boroughs. It was actually in Queens but newspapers and sportscasters invariably placed it in Brooklyn. And of course Brooklyn liked it that way. The club was built in 1926, seating almost 4,000. Its actual name was the “New� Ridgewood Grove, because it replaced a well-known picnic grove and dance hall/boxing club a few blocks away, Ridgewood Grove, which was razed to be replaced by a playground. The full name “New Ridgewood Grove� was carved not once but twice into the front facade of the building. After a while, however, no one bothered with the whole mouthful.

The Grove’s inaugural boxing show took place on Nov. 6, 1926. Featherweight Davey Abad battled an unbeaten youngster, Tony Canzoneri, who was already becoming a drawing card. It was Tony’s 18th birthday, his 32nd professional fight, and his first ten-rounder. When he wound up on the short end of the decision, it was also his first defeat.

Almost every home-grown fighter of any consequence appeared in the Ridgewood Grove ring at one time or another — Paul Berlenbach, Al “Bummy� Davis, Ruby Goldstein, Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta, Sugar Ray Ro-binson, Charley Phil Rosenbereg, Sandy Saddker, Petey Scalzo and Al Singer, among others. Canzoneri was popular at the Grove when he was on his way up, before he became world featherweight and lightweight champion. He was just as big a draw there years later when he was on his way down.

New York City boxing fans were lucky in those days, particularly on three nights of every week. Saturday was the Grove’s night, Monday was St. Nick’s night and on Friday, they flocked to Madison Square Garden. Three great fight clubs!

Wrestling matches were also presented weekly. Well-known grapplers always packed the house — especially stellar attractions like 315-pound Frank Leavitt, who called himself Man Mountain Dean, Queens-born Dave “Butcher Boy� Levin, barefoot acrobatic Argentinean Antonino Rocco, former Notre Dame fullback “Jumpin’ Joe� Savoldi and the mythic Ed “Strangler� Lewis.

Strangler Lewis (real name Robert H. Friedrich) was 5-foot-10 and weighed about 270 pounds. Born in Wisconsin in 1890, he wrestled for a living for 40 years from 1907 to 1947, performing throughout the world before finally retiring from the ring when he was in his mid-50s. An amiable bear of a man, always smiling except during working hours, he claimed he had appeared in more than 6,200 matches and lost only 33. In Omaha, on the Fourth of July, 1926, Strangler Lewis and Nebraska’s own Joe Stecher fought what may be the longest wrestling match on record, grappling 5½ grueling hours to a draw. At the peak of his fame, in the ’20s, the Strangler was as well known from coast-to-coast as Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey.

Lewis suffered twice from blindness. He lost his sight early in his career after a siege of trachoma, a form of conjunctivitis, but soon recovered and credited the recovery to prayer. He lost his sight again late in life, this time, permanently, but did not complain.

“This is just another test to prove the omnipotence of God,� he said. “I have come to realize a true sense of values through this tribulation. I’m going through a beautiful experience.�

On Aug. 7, 1966, Ed “Strangler� Lewis, blind and broke, died in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Muskogee, Okla. He was 76 years old. By his own admission, and with few regrets, he had squandered off the estimated $4 million he had earned in the ring.

After 30 years of boxing and wrestling, Ridgewood Grove closed its doors in 1956. Television antennas started sprouting from rooftops in the late ‘40s and by the mid-’50s TV screens had taken their toll on live attendance. Since fight fans could see three or more fights a week for free and without leaving their living rooms, they stopped patronizing local clubs. In 1982, boxing returned to the Grove, but on an irregular basis and not for long. The last bout in the old arena was staged on March 8, 1985: 32-year-old ex-middleweight champ Vito Antuofermo, nursing a comeback, scored a third-round knockout over young Mark Allman.

For years the Grove languished in a state of disrepair, boarded up and abandoned. Then in Sept. of 1997 a four-alarm fire gutted what was left of the legendary arena, at long last allowing the ghosts of gladiators past to finally rest in peace.

— Vernon Parker

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