The $1 billion Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino, Trump's third and largest casino in Atlantic City, opened in 1990 to much fanfare, but months afterward, the towering casino proved too big a bet and began defaulting on interest payments. In 1987, Trump Plaza hosted six of the seven world title fights in Atlantic City and landed the heavyweight match between Spinks and Gerry Cooney at Boardwalk Hall.
The casino hosted its first fight in 1985, a year when Atlantic City was home to 142 boxing promotions. Trump, a member of New Jersey's Boxing Hall of Fame, also had the moxie to outbid Las Vegas. He entered the casino game in 1984, when he opened the Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel next to Boardwalk Hall. Promoters said financial backing from a casino was one of the few ways to lock up heavyweight mega-fights in the seaside venue. Long the sport of hustles, boxing found a perfect partnership with the casino industry. Atlantic City's iconic Boardwalk Hall, originally called Convention Hall, had hosted occasional fights dating to the 1930s. were held in casino ballrooms, promoted by Philly's Frank Gelb, also an inductee. Atlantic City pretty much knocked out Philly's big fight scene." "It wasn't until later that you realized it was choking out boxing in Philadelphia. "It was nothing but excitement at the time," said John DiSanto, who operates. 18, 1979, featuring Philly brawler Matthew Saad Muhammad, a light heavyweight who is also an inductee into the city's first Hall of Fame class. Resorts, the first casino, opened in 1978 and began hosting matches soon after. A year prior, according to, there was one boxing promotion in the entire city. The foundation for Atlantic City's boxing legacy was laid in 1976, when New Jersey voters passed a referendum to legalize gambling in the struggling resort town. "Donald Trump was very good for boxing in New Jersey," said Larry Hazzard, New Jersey's longtime boxing commissioner. Trump got into boxing when the sport was blessed with heavyweights in their prime - such as Tyson and Evander Holyfield - and also a few - such as George Foreman - who hit their prime twice. "He was putting on the biggest events in boxing. "Listen, he paid me $11 million to fight that night," Tyson said recently by telephone. Trump didn't make the cut. The president's legacy in Atlantic City is mixed, but fans, fighters, promoters, and historians said that, for a brief time, Trump made boxing great again. Tyson, 50, returns to Atlantic City this weekend as part of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame's inaugural class. As Buffer spoke, Trump - whose name was emblazoned on the ring and many other flat surfaces in Atlantic City - pointed to himself.
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