Presentation by author and Enfield Historical Society president Peter F. Sorenson.

Return with us to the time when Thompsonville, Connecticut, was the boxing center of the Northeast.

We will begin back in February 1929, at Wawel Hall, located on the second floor of the Polish National Home in Thompsonville, at the corner of Alden Avenue and Church Streets, where the Independent Amateur Boxing Club of Thompsonville promoted eight bouts of three rounds each.

As the Great Depression takes hold of the nation, amateur boxing takes hold of Thompsonville with additional indoor bouts scheduled during the months of September and October, drawing enthusiastic fighters from local neighborhoods and regional cities.

Experience the anticipation of greater Thompsonville as Gregory M. Sapsuzian, Jr. builds a new 3000-seat outdoor arena on Belmont Avenue, working with matchmaker Ernie Bourque, whose Boxing Club had produced boxing matches at Wawel Hall.

Consider Joe De Maria, the first local pugilist to enter the ring, who knocks out his opponent in the second round and becomes the matchmaking standard bearer for the arena in later years.

Recall local amateur fighter Angelo “Kid” Lamagna as he battles to make a name for himself inside and outside the ring, later bringing the sport to local boys of all ages. Hear about the fights of Thompsonville sluggers Lou Blondie, Al Nabbo, Johnny Vargus, and Vito Tallarita.

Hear about future champion Sugar Ray Robinson’s first fight in the Thompsonville arena, competing under the pseudonym “Ray Roberts”, where he loses to Springfield Massachusetts featherweight Charlie Baginski.

Consider another champion Hartford fighter Willie Pep as he meets Puerto Rico’s greatest ring product, Eddie “Primo” Flores in the Belmont Arena for a scheduled eight rounder in 1941.

Although the war years take their toll on the sport, it rebounds at both the Belmont Arena and at the competing Mount Carmel Boxing Arena – with both upping the quality of the other.

Share in the sadness of the demolition of the Belmont Avenue VFW Arena in 1955, putting an end to one of the most exciting sports periods in Thompsonville history.

Peter Floyd Sorenson was born in Sleepy Hollow, New York in 1957. He moved with his parents and two sisters, Gail and Judy, to the small town of Sherman, Connecticut at age three. He spent his youth there before heading off to college in New Haven, Connecticut. He currently (and for the foreseeable future) resides in the quiet town of Enfield, Connecticut, in a 1919 Colonial home with his wife Lyn and their dog Oscar.