Russell Peltz and Ray Didinger: A Hall of Fame Friendship 

On the night of October 21 at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia, Hall of Fame boxing promoter J. Russell Peltz signed copies of his new book, “Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye,” for a crowd of boxing enthusiasts. NFL Hall of Fame writer Ray Didinger was there. The two have been fast friends for more than 50 years. In fact, for many years Didinger encouraged Peltz to compile his history of 50-plus years in boxing into a book.

It was September of 1964 and the beginning of fall semester at Temple University in Philadelphia, when their friendship was born. Journalism class brought the two together, but it was their shared interests in sports and the written word that formed what would become a lifelong bond.

“Russell was good right away and by the time he was a sophomore he was already the sports editor at the Temple newspaper, leaving the rest of us in the dust. We both wanted careers in sports writing and we shared a lot of the same interests,” recalls Didinger. Although both Didinger and Peltz (pictured on the left) continued to hone their craft at the school newspaper, Didinger remembers Peltz always looking beyond the printed word.

“He (Peltz) kept saying that writing was okay for that moment, but he really wanted to become a boxing promoter. And this is even after he wound up going to work for the Philadelphia Bulletin while we were still students.” Although Peltz landed what Didinger would consider a dream job at one of Philadelphia’s major newspapers, Didinger could tell that Peltz was locked in on making his goal of promoting a reality. The long-time boxing scribe at the Bulletin, Jack Fried, showed no signs of leaving the boxing beat, hastening Peltz’s departure from the paper.

“I really grew to respect his focus and drive. Most people in college aren’t sure of themselves the way Russell was, including myself. For me, I just thought I’ll just go and write about football for the newspaper till I’m seventy years old and they give me a gold watch,” says Didinger.

As both friends began their careers and life journeys, Didinger recalls their friendship would graduate into a support system.

“We were going in different directions. He was a full-blown promoter so that was his life, his world. I was really young covering football and frankly at times I thought I was in over my head. I knew the history of the {Philadelphia} Eagles, but the older writers knew the coaches and players and had their trust. I still had so much to learn as a real professional reporter.”

Feeling alone in a room full of your peers, particularly inside of writing rooms or on the beat covering a sport, is not uncommon. Especially when you are the youngest member of that fraternity.

“I wasn’t sure that what I was writing was all that good, I wasn’t sure that I had the right perspective. The older writers weren’t all that welcoming and I felt alone a lot. Every time I saw Russell he would tell me ‘you know I read that story you wrote and it was really good.’ I know from our relationship that he meant it, otherwise he wouldn’t have said it. Sometimes he would make suggestions and because he had worked as a copy editor at the same paper I was now working at {Bulletin}, I knew the balance was him being supportive,” states Didinger.

“In as tough a town as Philadelphia he has become so respected, says Peltz.  It’s rare that players respect guys that have never played the game, but I know that both players and coaches listen to him. Ray is beloved in this city and in my opinion is the best football analyst in the country. I watch the Eagles. Sometimes I miss the game, but I never miss Ray on ‘Post Game Live.

He {Didinger} is one of those guys that you can never say anything bad about. I’ve never heard anyone say a negative thing about him. I would see him at the occasional Temple basketball game or at the Journalism reunions and we could have gone years without seeing each other but the connection was still there.”

In October of 2019, 15 years after he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Russell Peltz was honored for his 50 years as a promoter with a boxing show at the 2300 Arena. Naturally, Ray Didinger was there. “I still remember going to his first show at the Blue Horizon to see Bennie Briscoe vs. Tito Marshall. I went to his shows at the Spectrum so, of course, I wanted to be there to help him celebrate,” says Didinger.

True to his nature as a writer, Didinger arrived at the 2300 Arena that night but was hard for Peltz to find. He was in the back row observing the show and not trying to take attention away from the night’s proceedings. “He {Didinger} came in and sat all the way in the back of the arena by himself. I had to go and get him and bring him up front to sit with me ringside, but it was second nature for Ray to be there that night,” recalls Peltz.

Ray Didinger’s own memoir, “Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes, and Heartaches,” was released in May of this year. Didinger was inspired to write the book when the Eagles upset the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl following the 2017 season.

“When you go through life you wind up with a lot of acquaintances and you have few people that are real friends. I always knew if I ever needed anything or to just talk, Russell would be there for me,” states Didinger.

“‘I’m proud and view it as an honor that he is my friend,” says Peltz.

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