Crowded dais as HOF inducts three classes
The International Boxing Hall of Fame might have to build a new wing to host all the inductees after this weekend's ceremonies.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. alone makes Sunday's event one of the most anticipated in years. Add in fighters like Roy Jones Jr., Andre Ward and Bernard Hopkins — as well as some pioneering women — and the boxing hall in tiny Canastota, New York, figures to fill up quickly.
The last two ceremonies were canceled because of the pandemic. So there's a three-year class of 27 fighters — and 36 honorees in total — that should appeal to even the most casual boxing fan.
That includes a new women's category headed by Laila Ali and Christy Martin, who shot to fame when she was featured on some of Mike Tyson's fight cards in the 1990s.
Organizers say all the fighters are expected to be there except one. Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is in Ukraine alongside his brother, Vitali, helping run the capital city of Kyiv during the ongoing war against invading Russia. Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv and also a former heavyweight champ, was inducted in 2018.
Here's a look at some of the inductees:
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. >> One of the all-time greats, and certainly one of the best defensive fighters ever. His 50-0 record suggests perfection but Mayweather will probably best be known more for how he capitalized on his career better than any fighter before him. He invented the Money May persona, but the money was very real, including the estimated $200 million he made to fight Manny Pacquiao in the richest fight ever. Mayweather also banked similar money to fight UFC's Conor McGregor, and his record as a pay-per-view king may stand for a long time. Is he the greatest fighter ever as he claims? No, but that doesn't stop him from being in the conversation.
BERNARD HOPKINS >> The Executioner was certainly one of the greatest middleweights of all time, with a record 20 straight defenses of the middleweight title he won in 1995. Hopkins would later move up to 175 pounds, and set a record as oldest champion when he beat Jean Pascal at the age of 46 to win the light heavyweight title. Two years later, he won the title again at the age of 48. Hopkins made his biggest payday when he stopped Oscar De La Hoya with a body punch in their 2004 showdown, then won again when he joined De La Hoya as a shareholder in Golden Boy Promotions. Not only a great fighter, but a great talker, especially when it comes to his career.
ROY JONES JR. >> In his prime he was a masterful blend of speed and power, so shifty that opponents struggled to even hit him. Jones had a gold medal stolen from him in the 1988 Olympics, but went on to win titles in four different weight classes.
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO >> One of two hulking heavyweight brothers who grew up in the Soviet boxing system, Klitschko's career nearly ended in 2004 when he was stopped by Lamon Brewster. He would come back from that defeat to dominate the heavyweight division for nearly a decade, fighting most of the time in Germany, where he had a big fan base. More casual fans didn't like his careful style but Klitschko showed he could brawl, too, when he dropped Anthony Joshua before 90,000 people in London before being stopped in 2017 in what would be his last fight. Klitschko has been in Ukraine with his brother, Vitali, since Russia invaded their country.