Shea also hosted three title bouts

September 28, 2008

Baseball was not the only sport in which a world championship was hosted by Shea Stadium. Three world title fights were held in Flushing and future Hall-of-Famers Jose Torres, Carlos Ortiz, Ismael Laguna, Emile Griffith and Nino Benvenuti fought at the ballpark. The ring was set up at second base and ringside seats were on the infield.

The first fight card was May 21, 1966 when Torres successfully defended his light heavyweight title against Wayne Thornton. From a business standpoint, the event was a failure. The New York Times reported the attendance at 12,000 while The Ring magazine had it 4,300. Part of the reason for the poor attendance was that Muhammad Ali fought Henry Cooper the same day and that fight was transmitted back to the states via closed-circuit television.

On Aug. 16, 1967 Ortiz regained his lightweight title with a stirring decision over Laguna that drew 19,480 to Shea. "Any time you fight in a big stadium like that you know it's special," said Ortiz, who is from Manhattan.

The final bout at Shea was its most significant. On Sept. 29, 1967, Griffith regained the middleweight title from Benvenuti. The first match, held earlier that year at the Garden, was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring. The rematch drew 21,376 to Flushing, about 2,000 more than the old Garden could have handled.