Suffolk Theater to host first boxing event June 5
Move over Madison Square Garden. Boxing is coming to the Suffolk Theater.
The 82-year-old art deco theater in downtown Riverhead has been sanctioned by USA Boxing and has its first bout scheduled for June 5.
The event, billed as “Fight Night at the Suffolk Theater,” will consist of 10-to-12 boxing matches featuring boxers from the East End and beyond, and weight classes from flyweight through heavyweight, according to the theater. The event kicks off at 8 p.m.
“Our intention from the start was to provide a broad range of entertainment options for our patrons on the East End,” Suffolk Theater owner Bob Castaldi said in a release.
Tickets range from $20 to $45.
The bouts will be organized by the Suffolk Theater along with Cutchogue resident Justin Blair, who is the president of Friday Night Fights, and Ray Cuadrado, the vice president of USA Boxing Metro.
The boxing ring will be on the dance floor of the theater, not the stage, according to Nicole Evers, the theater’s director of private events.
“This is us trying to broaden the horizons,” she said.
If the event goes well, there could be other boxing events at the theater in the future, she said.
“We do a variety of great shows here, but I love boxing, and what could be more exciting than setting up a ring in the middle of this glorious theater to bring all of the excitement of live boxing to the East End,” Dan Binderman, the general and artistic director of the Suffolk Theater, said in a release.
Mr. Binderman said the introduction of boxing to the schedule for the theater “demonstrates our commitment to providing programming suitable for everyone on the East End.”
The Suffolk Theater recently held another athletic competition — a fitness competition called The Tribal Games, which marked the theater’s first foray into sporting events.
