For Former Levittown Boxer, A Chance to Tell His Story Off Broadway
Bobby Cassidy Sr.’s life changed for the better on Jan. 28, 1974.
At the time, it looked like it could be a day that destroyed him. His divorce from his wife was finalized that day, on their anniversary. He showed up for a fight against Jorge Ahumada – the undercard to the second Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier heavyweight championship – after a day of, as he put it, “drinking myself to death.”
He was knocked out that day. Soon after, he decided enough was enough, and gave up drinking. He’s been sober ever since.
Now, at 67 years old, the long-time Levittown resident is sharing his story of survival in a play titled "Kid Shamrock" that will open a 10-day off-Broadway run this Friday.
"It can reach a lot of people [when you're] the one who nearly drank himself to death for two-and-a-half years because I lost a fight," he said. "I was having a pity party in my own brain, and that was the last straw, in a sense."
To call Cassidy’s childhood rough would be putting it mildly. He bounced around various Queens neighborhoods as a toddler before his stepfather settled on Levittown. His mother and father were, as Cassidy called them, "stone cold alcoholics.” Once his stepfather came into the picture, he beat Cassidy every day.
Cassidy learned quickly that he was a good fighter and used street fighting to escape his surroundings. "I was in about 80 street fights," he said. "I loved the elation. People would say 'That's Bobby Cassidy, he knocked out the other guy.'"
The street fighting had to stop, however, when Cassidy knocked an opponent through a window and was arrested. A judge gave him the option of training professionally or going to prison. Naturally, he chose the former, where he learned to hone his craft.
"They didn't like fighting me because I was a southpaw,” he said. “I had tremendous power in my left hook."
Cassidy originally planned to fight in that year's Golden Gloves tournament before turning pro, but it was canceled. As a result, he took a risk and turned pro without an amateur fight. He started the difficult transition by knocking out his first opponent in 38 seconds, and won 18 of his first 19 fights.
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Bobby Cassidy Sr.'s story will be told off-Broadway in "Kid Shamrock." Chris Cassidy Bobby Cassidy Sr.'s life changed for the better on Jan. 28, 1974. At the time, it looked like it could be a day that destroyed him.