Eastern Parkway Arena

{{short description|Former arena in Brooklyn, New York}}

File:Joey Maxim vs Floyd Patterson 1954.jpg

Eastern Parkway Arena was a sports venue located in Brownsville, Brooklyn.{{cite web|author=Tim Smith|date=October 13, 2012|title=Barclays Center raising the stakes for big-time boxing in New York, putting the heat on Madison Square Garden|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/zone-brooklyn-climbs-back-ring-article-1.1182711|website=New York Daily News}} First operated as an indoor roller rink,[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ah8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22eastern+parkway+arena%22+skating+rink&pg=PA36 "RSROA NE Regional Success in All Ways' Big Attendance Gets Eastern Parkway Off Financial Hook, Skating is Solid"], Billboard, June 16, 1951, p. 36. in 1944 it was bought by dress manufacturer Emil Lence and his father John Lence, who converted it to a boxing club in 1947.[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/19/obituaries/emil-lence-76-dies-was-boxing-promoter.html "Emil Lence, 76, Dies; Was Boxing Promoter"], The New York Times, June 19, 1993.[http://50.56.218.160/archive/category.php?category_id=23&id=6508 "On This Day in History: June 16; From Skating Rink To Boxing Club"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812040719/http://50.56.218.160/archive/category.php?category_id=23&id=6508 |date=2016-08-12 }}, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 22, 2006. The arena was located on Eastern Parkway at the intersection of Howard Avenue.{{cite news |date=November 28, 1947 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-eastern-parkway-arena-to/3040435/ |title=Eastern Parkway Arena To Open Doors Monday Night |work=Brooklyn Eagle}}

Under the supervision of matchmaker Teddy Brenner, the arena became known as the "House of Upsets" for its competitive matches.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9n0cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3396%2C5101117 "Eastern Parkway Arena Rates 'House Of Upsets' Cognomen"], United Press in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 31, 1953.Murray Rose, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D-wgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LHIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4065%2C1174709 "Gene Smith Is Victim Of Parkway House Of Upsets"], Associated Press in The Day, April 7, 1953. Brenner used the arena to feature young fighters such as Bobo Olson, Gene Fullmer, Walter Cartier, and most notably Floyd Patterson,Jerry Kirshenbaum, [https://www.si.com/vault/1969/07/21/609878/boxings-great-white-hoopla "Boxing's Great White Hoopla"], Sports Illustrated, July 21, 1969. who fought there twelve times between 1952 and 1955, winning them all except a highly controversial 1954 loss by decision to Joey Maxim.{{cite book|author=Alan H. Levy|title=Floyd Patterson: A Boxer and a Gentleman|url=https://archive.org/details/floydpattersonbo0000levy|url-access=registration|date=22 September 2008|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-3950-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/floydpattersonbo0000levy/page/30 30]–44}}

The arena was known for hosting Boxing from Eastern Parkway, a weekly broadcast on the DuMont Television Network from 1952 to 1954, followed by another year on ABC until May 1955, when ABC failed to renew its contract with the arena after picking up the rights to show fights at the International Boxing Club.{{cite book|author1=Tim Brooks|author2=Earle F. Marsh|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&pg=PA174|date=24 June 2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-48320-1|page=174}}[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5wQsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=esYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1251%2C4906110 "Eastern Parkway Finished"], Associated Press in TimesDaily, May 17, 1955. The arena hosted a few more fights in 1958 and was later torn down.Martin Kane, [https://www.si.com/vault/1958/05/26/577770/tv-talent-hunt-finds-some "TV talent hunt finds some"], Sports Illustrated, May 26, 1958.Patrick Rosal, [http://grantland.com/features/boxing-return-brooklyn-brownsville-thirst-boxing/ "Boxing’s Return to Brooklyn and Brownsville’s Thirst for Boxing"], Grantland,

October 22, 2012.