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The Ring
Magazine Article.
There was a time
when NYC was considered the Mecca of boxing. While all the fabled fight
joints- Stillman’s Gym, St. Nicholas arena, Sunnyside Gardens- have
disappeared, many of the fighters who plied their craft inside those
venues are still around. And yes they still have a home.
 It's the
Waterfront Crabhouse in Long Island City, Queens, which is where
Ring 8, the New York City chapter of the veteran boxers association
holds its monthly meetings. “It’s nice to get together and see familiar
faces to sit down and talk about the good old days", says Bobby Bartels,
a former main event welterweight and now the president of ring 8. "We
laugh we kid each other. I can walk in and say to a guy, what are you,
punchy? And we get a good laugh. But only a fighter can say that to
another fighter. Nobody else".
Indeed, boxing is a unique fraternity, and the monthly meetings provide
the fighters with an evening during which they return to the spotlight.
While the camaraderie is heartwarming, the organization's purpose
extends far beyond that of a social club.
"Our goal is to help the indigent fighter", said Bartels, "we help out
whenever we can the motto here is boxers helping boxers'
The organization is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and its legacy of
good deeds goes back decades. But for all its noble endeavors, the club
was fading until Tony Mazzarella, who owns the Waterfront Crabhouse
Restaurant, offered to host meetings in 1993. Since then Ring 8
has thrived. It has approximately 5400 dues-paying members, and one
third of the memberships are fighters.
In addition to the membership benefits, the organization also helps with
expenses such as rent, utilities and groceries on a per-need basis.
 The meetings
begin informally, at the restaurants bar where Mazzarella has assembled
on to the finest collections of boxing memorabilia south of Canastota.
The crowd mingles until the official start of the meetings, which are
held upstairs in the catering facility, where Mazzarella and his staff
provide a hot buffet.
"It’s very gratifying to be involved", said Mazzarella, a former member
of the New York State Athletic Commission and now a promoter." a guy
will walk into a meeting, rush across the room to another guy and say “I
fought you 40 years ago in Sunnyside”. You hit me with a helluva hook in
the second round' and the next thing you know they are slapping each
other on the back. To me that is a special bond that you don't see too
often"
A visit to a meeting offers a true slice of the big apple. There are
guest speakers each month, and at any given meeting, one could find
themselves seated amongst a Pulitzer prize-winning columnist, a former
member of the New York Knicks, a U.S. congressman, or a movie director.
The main attraction, tough, is the fighters. They have great stories to
tell and it doesn't take much to get them rolling. All the fighters are
approachable and will often sign autographs and pose for pictures.
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