Hall of Fame calls for former area pro boxer

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

One day late last year, Chuck Mussachio’s cell phone started blowing up.

“A bunch of people started to call me and I was getting all these text messages,” he recalled. “So I knew something was up.”

Shortly thereafter, Mussachio fielded a call from Ray McCline, the president of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame.

“It was a surprise,” Mussachio said. “He called me and told me I was getting inducted.”

Mussachio, a 1998 graduate of Wildwood High School, is one of 18 former fighters and officials from the world of pugilism set to be inducted into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame during a three-day event this weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the resort.

Mussachio, now 43 and an employee of the Lower Cape May Regional School District, enjoyed a 13-year professional boxing career. He went 19-4-2 during his career, once winning the United States WBF Light Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Anthony Ferrante.

Mussachio fought the majority of his fights in Atlantic City or Wildwood. He enjoyed a massive following from Cape May County fans, which made him attractive to area boxing promoters.

Mussachio, more of a technician than a bruiser as a boxer, had a certain flair of the moment. He usually entered the ring to Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” while wearing a fedora hat. His father, Al, served as his longtime trainer. Mussachio said his fans often gave him the jolt of energy he needed with their cheers during difficult moments in a match.

Mussachio stopped fighting in 2017, although he said he never truly officially announced his retirement.

“It should be fun this weekend,” he said, “and this kind of solidifies this as being the end. I mean, I’ve known it’s been over for a while now but I had been doing this for 27, 28 years and it’s a little bittersweet now it has all come to an end. But it’s nice to know your hard work is getting recognized.

“I think my career went as well as it could have for what I put into it,” Mussachio added. “For a long time there I was doing it while I was working multiple jobs at the same time and then I was trying to do all the training at the same time. My career was a bit up and down but I had a lot of fun doing it and I had some success, too. It was great to spend a lot of time with my dad along the way. I made a lot of friends all across the world. I wouldn’t take it back for anything. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

This year’s Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame’s class also includes former world champions Julio Cesar Chavez, Lennox Lewis and James Toney, all of whom are also members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

“It’s going to be a star-studded, red-carpet type of thing,” Mussachio said. “That’s going to be pretty cool to be a part of.”

Mussachio, a football and basketball player as a high school student at Wildwood, honed his skills as a young boxer at the now-defunct Wildwood Boxing Club that was located on Park Boulevard near Maxwell Field. He fought in many amateur boxing cards as a youngster and eventually boxed at the college level at Lock Haven University before turning pro as a 25-year-old in 2005. 

“I have to thank each and every one of my fans who showed up at my fight nights to cheer me on towards my dream of being a world champion,” Mussachio said. “My career wouldn’t have been half as long if it wasn’t for the amount of support everyone in Cape May County and all my fans gave me throughout my career. It was tremendous.”