Boxing News – June 27, 2019

36 l BOXING NEWSlJUNE 27, 2019 http://www.boxingnewsonline.net

OF ALL THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT

CHAMPIONS, MARVIN HART IS THE ONLY ONE

WHOSE AUTOGRAPH CAN’T BE FOUND

T all started in 1990

with the first group of

honourees enshrined

into the International

Boxing Hall of Fame

in Canastota, a tiny

village in upstate New

York. On this, the 30th

anniversary, the full impact of how fragile life

is was evident in the fact that Jose Napoles

is the only surviving member of that original

class. But the memories never die. A tour of

the museum and a look at all the plaques on

the wall guarantee the greats of yesteryear will

live on for eternity. Hall of Fame weekend is

far more than just honouring the newest class

of inductees and acknowledging the past ones.

It is a celebration of boxing, a four-day party

so to speak. It belongs at the top of everyone’s

bucket list of places to be. If you’ve never

been, make it a priority to go next year.

Obviously, the first HOF class, led by

the likes of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray

Robinson, was exceptional. In the succeeding

years the strength of the classes varied. Some

felt this year’s group was not particularly

strong, but that is only in comparison to who

has gotten in before. All were in attendance

except journalist Mario Rivera Martino,

who passed away in 2017 at the age of 93.

The other non-fighters were broadcaster/

trainer Teddy Atlas, promoter/matchmaker

Don Elbaum, judge/referee Guy Jutras and

publicist Lee Samuels. The boxers were former

welterweight/super-welterweight champion

Donald Curry, former welterweight champion

Tony DeMarco, former super-welterweight/

middleweight champion Julian Jackson and

former super-lightweight/welterweight

champion Buddy McGirt.

THURSDAY JUNE 6

My six-hour drive to Canastota was a time to

reflect on the previous 26 induction weekends

I had been to. Upon checking into my room

at the Fairfield Inn in Verona, New York – a

10-minute car ride from Canastota – the

receptionist spoke well of the late Bert Cooper

who had stayed at the establishment the year

before. I dropped my bags off and drove to

the museum grounds.

The ringside lectures were in full swing

when I arrived. Antonio Tarver spoke about

Andy Ruiz Jnr’s upset of Anthony Joshua. He

attributed Joshua’s shock defeat to being

surprised by the level of intensity Ruiz

displayed. Tarver, now retired, spoke about

his wealth of knowledge and what he could

contribute by training other fighters. Jackson,

meanwhile, constantly invoked religion as the

reason for his success. He told stories of how

his faith got him through rough patches in

fights.

Elbaum is the ultimate storyteller. He told

of the time he babysat for Ali’s kids and of

having promoted Robinson’s last fight. Elbaum

is fondly remembered for claiming he had

located the gloves from Robinson’s pro debut.

When photographers wanted to take a picture

of Robinson wearing them, he panicked.

Robinson could not figure out why Elbaum put

a stop to it, that was until he noticed that both

of the gloves were right-handed.

I attended the weigh-in for the Zab Judah-

Cletus Seldin fight, due to take place at the

nearby Turning Stone Resort & Casino the next

night. I had picked Judah to win beforehand,

but changed that prediction when the fighters

got on the scales. Seldin looked solid, Judah

weight-drained.

FRIDAY JUNE 7

Back on the museum grounds, we were

entertained by the yearly MC, James “Smitty”

Smith from Las Vegas. Smith took a couple

of crowd polls, asking first who would win a

I

CLASS OF 2019:

[l-r] Atlas, Elbaum,

Samuels, Jackson,

Curry, DeMarco,

Jutras, McGirt

Photo: MIKE GREENHILL

Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jnr fight. The

vote looked split down the middle. Shockingly,

when asked who would win a rematch

between Ruiz and Joshua, the majority of

hands went up for Ruiz.

Paulie Ayala talked of the feud he had with

Johnny Tapia, which was fuelled no doubt by

the two disputed decisions Ayala was awarded

over him. “In 2004 we decided to let bygones

be bygones,” said Ayala. “Johnny was a great

guy.” Ayala spoke of the brotherhood that

existed between former fighters.

Even though he had a fight scheduled

that evening, Judah paid a quick visit to the

grounds. I also spotted Sugar Ray Seales

walking towards the parking lot unnoticed.

Seales was the only member of the 1972 US

Olympic team to strike gold at the Games.

He went into his pocket and took out his gold

medal, putting it into my hand for me to hold.

Don Scott did his yearly seminar on boxing

collectibles and what the value of certain

items might be. “Of all the world heavyweight

champions,” said Scott, “Marvin Hart is the

only one whose autograph can’t be found.”

Unbeaten super-middleweight David

Benavidez sparred nine rounds in a ring set up

on the grounds. It kicked off his training for a

fight later in the summer.

The fist-casting has always been a pet

peeve of mine. All inductees are asked to

participate, but in my opinion it should only

be the fighters.

I introduced myself to former super-

CANASTOTA

DIARY

Jack Hirsch,

now a veteran of

27 Hall of Fame

weekends,

reports from

this year’s event

★HALL★

OF FAME

DAY-BY-DAY REPORT