Beach volleyball and the Isle of Palms just seem to go together. You need only observe the crowds that gather at The Windjammer every summer to know this is true. Yet there was a time when boxing was the main attraction. Not just on the island, but throughout Greater Charleston.
Local boxing clubs faced off at County Hall on upper King Street. Sailors competed against each other at the Charleston Naval Base. The Citadel’s boxing team was legendary, coached by “Matty” Matthews, patriarch of the Clay Matthews professional football family. Many young men applied to the military academy just for the chance to fight on his team.
There were teams around town for younger boys, too and in the 1970s, the Green Machine hailed from the Isle of Palms. Tim Scalise grew up on the island and boxed for six years, beginning when he was just 5.
“We wore green trunks of course and I had a green satin robe,” Scalise mused. “We sparred in a little building at the old playground on 27th Avenue. It wasn’t really a gym and we didn’t have a ring. But we had our weekend matches at Moultrie High School in Mount Pleasant.”…