Even for the layman, names like Jake LaMotta, Muhammed Ali, and Mike Tyson ring a bell when it comes to boxing. All three pugilists spent time training and fighting at Gleason’s Gym at 434 Westchester Avenue in the Bronx. I myself had never heard of the facility until conducting research for this article, and certainly had no idea of its deep link to New York’s Italian-American community.

In fact, it was the cradle of boxing in the Northeast for decades, transforming the lives of errant young men and producing more than 130 world champions in the process. Peter Gagliardi lacks an extensive backstory, but we do know that he arrived in New York from Naples around 1900 with his mother Innocenza and sister Theodora.