Born in Jersey City and raised in Union City, New Jersey, Joe Botti has been involved in the sport of boxing since 1977. He has boxed as an amateur and trained and managed amateur and professional fighters. Botti founded and directed the Union City Boxing Club from 1989 to 2013. Under Botti's direction, the Club won 7 first-place state team trophies. In 1995, the N.J. Golden Gloves Association named Botti coach of the year. He has trained 34 N.J. Golden Glove champions and multiple successful professional boxers. Botti's boxers have been featured on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, and MSG networks. In 1993, Botti promoted the first ever USA Boxing sanctioned female amateur boxing match in the NY-N.J. tri-state area. He is a member of the Ring 14 Veteran Boxer Association and the Hudson County Boxing Association. Botti was voted into the N.J. Boxing Hall of Fame in 2023. Botti's first book, Joe Jennette: Boxing's Ironman was a fascinating story about one of the 20th Century's greatest boxers. Botti currently is working on his third book, on the life and boxing career of International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Don Elbaum. Botti served as a police officer from 1997 to 2021, earning numerous awards and retiring at the rank of Captain. He studied at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J.