There are stories based on true events, and then there are stories based on some shit that actually happened, like the trailer of an upcoming peacock series so boldly announced.
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Robbery is an original series inspired by a real-life 1970 armed robbery that took place on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic comeback fight, an event that transformed Atlanta, Georgia into the “black mecca,” according to the show’s description. The star-studded series, which premieres exclusively on the NBC streamer on Thursday, September 5, 2024, is a scripted adaptation of the iHeart podcast Fight Nightwhich describes the real-life robbery that made headlines and changed an entire city.
Find out the true story of this brazen robbery before the series premieres.
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WARNING: Spoilers follow.
What happened during the Atlanta robbery?
On October 26, 1970, crowds flocked to Atlanta to watch one of the most famous boxing matches of all time, marking Ali’s epic comeback against Jerry Quarry, also known as “The Great White Hope,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Celebrities like Sidney Poitier and Diana Ross were just a few names on the elite guest list who joined the other diamond-bedecked spectators and showed up in Rolls Royces delivered from New York City, according to the podcast’s description.
But it was a private after-party hosted by Atlanta resident Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams that became ground zero of a brazen underworld robbery that would go down in Atlanta history. There, guests in possession of engraved invitations were met by a handful of masked men armed with sawed-off shotguns who surprised hundreds of partygoers — some of whom authorities believe were part of Atlanta and New York’s underworld. The robbers then herded the victims into the basement and forced them to strip down to their underwear. They stole no less than $1 million (about $8 million today) in cash and valuables, according to the Atlanta outlet.
On the case was JD Hudson, one of the Atlanta Police Department’s first black detectives. Hudson said it was a race against time to find out who was behind the robbery before New York mobsters got to him first, according to an interview with Hudson played on the podcast.
Eventually, a Georgia state grand jury indicted McKinley Rogers Jr. and James Henry Hall on armed robbery charges, The New York Times reported in 1970. Hammond was taken into custody, while Rogers (whose real name was James H. Jackson) and Hall (whose real name was James Ebo) were gunned down in the Bronx in the early hours of May 8, 1971, The New York Times reported later that month.
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According to witnesses, the fugitives – and a third person – were killed when two men fired 11 shots into their stolen Cadillac. Inside the vehicle, NYPD officers found loaded weapons, fake IDs and $700 in cash.
When journalists asked him years later when his investigation ended, Hudson replied, according to the podcast, “When everyone was dead.” Fight Night.
Newspapers reported at the time that Chicken Man, one of the main characters in the crime, died days after the robbery. The death was reportedly the result of a “contract killing,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Years later, however, Hudson told podcasters that Chicken Man was actually alive and well and living a changed man… a pastor, to be exact.
An online obituary indicates that Williams died in 2014.
The creation of the podcast
Atlanta-based iHeartRadio podcaster Jeff Keating learned the story of the robbery two decades ago while he was still struggling as a screenwriter, according to The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionHe first heard the story from his father before going to the library and studying the case further using the microfiche.
Keating later teamed up with Atlanta producer Will Packer, who learned of the story when he heard it on local radio.
Both men currently serve as executive producers Fight Night: The Million Dollar Robbery.
Packer said in an interview about the podcast in 2020 that “fans of true crime and newcomers to the genre will love it,” The commercial appeal.
Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight and the impact on Atlanta
The robbery occurred in the wake of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and prompted Keating to enlist the expertise of Dr. Maurice Hobson, a professor of African-American history at Georgia State University, according to the Atlanta newspaper.
Hobson pointed to then-Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.’s efforts to transform Atlanta into a “sports and entertainment destination.” “This fight was a way to showcase the new American South in a city that was on its way to boom,” Hobson explained.
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He pointed out that the black community suffered from poverty and many of them had to earn a living through hard work. At the time of the robbery, many black Atlantans were looking for opportunities in New York City, which was called Atlanta’s “Great Migration.” This was one of the reasons why people from the northern state supported Ali’s struggle so strongly.
Hobson said, “Atlanta was an up-and-coming area” and “some people wanted to come here and make their mark.”
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Robbery
The series features a game of cat and mouse between two of the main characters.
“Suspected of masterminding the crime, Chicken Man is determined to clear his name. To do so, however, he must convince his old nemesis JD Hudson, one of the city’s first black detectives in its desegregated police force, who is tasked with bringing those responsible to justice,” the show’s description reads.
The show stars Kevin Hart as Chicken Man, Don Cheadle as Det. JD Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson as New York crime boss Frank Moten, Taraji P. Henson as Chicken Man’s business partner Vivian Thomas, Terrence Howard as aspiring crime boss Cadillac Richie, and Chloe Bailey as a well-informed waitress named Lena.
Don’t miss Fight Night: The Million Dollar RobberyPremiere on Thursday, September 5, 2024, exclusively on peacock.
