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Here's Inaugural Class of NY State Boxing Hall of Fame

Published

13 years ago

October 25, 2011

The Sweet Science

'Sugar' Ray Robinson leads New York State Boxing Hall of Fame

Inaugural Class of Inductees

NEW YORK (October 25, 2011) – The newly-founded New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (“NYSBHOF”), sponsored by Ring 8, held a press conference today at famed Gallagher's Steakhouse in Manhattan to announce its inaugural class of inductees.

The late, great “Sugar” Ray Robinson, arguably the greatest boxer of all-time, leads a star-studded list of 12 boxers and eight non-participants who will be inducted into the NYSBHOF at its inaugural induction dinner, which is tentatively scheduled for next March in New York City.

Boxers joining Robinson are “Iron” Mike Tyson, Jake “Bronx Bull” LaMotta, Carmen “Upstate Onion Farmer” Basilio, Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe, Carlos Ortiz, Mike “Bodysnatcher” McCallum, Vito Antuofermo, Emile Griffith, and the late Gene “The Fighting Marine” Tunney, Benny “The Ghetto Wizard” Leonard and Tony Canzoneri.

Non-participant inductees include judge/HBO analyst Harold Lederman, coach/instructor Steve Acunto, trainer/cut-man Jimmy Glenn and, posthumously, trainers Gil Clancy and Ray Arcel, Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer, New York Daily News boxing reporter/cartoonist Bill Gallo, and referee Arthur Mercante, Sr.

“The concept for the New York State Hall of Fame was the idea of one man who had the insight to contact the state, Tony Mazzarella,” Ring 8 president Bob Duffy said. “The idea was around for a while and a group of us got together about 14 months and got this going.

“We plan to do this every year. Our first introduction dinner will be at Russo's On The Bay in March of 2012. We have a wall at Waterfront Crabhouse which will list our Class of 2012 and another at the New York State Athletic Commission. We started this to honor New York fight people.”

The inductees were selected by a six-member NYSBHOF nominating committee comprised of Jack Hirsch, Steve Farhood, Henry Hascup, Bobby Cassidy, Jr., Ron McNair and Neil Terens.

All boxers had to be inactive for at least three years and all inductees had to have resided in New York State for a significant portion of their careers.

POST CONFERENCE QUOTES

Tony Mazzarella (NYSBHOF President): “A dream is happening and with your help together we the dream is becoming reality. We are recognizing all who put on the gloves in the state.”

Bob Duffy (Ring 8 President): “We're all volunteers and moving forward. It all starts with the Nominating Committee. Jack Hirsch stepped forward to lead it. This is a dream for New York fighters and that dream has become a reality. Because of the number of boxing people in New York, we can't make everybody happy. It would be easier if this was a smaller state. It's not about being friends of a friend. If you belong, you will be in.”

Jack Hirsch (NYSBHOF Nominating Committee): “It's good to see so many good people in this business here and I see some future Hall of Famers. This is a celebration more than a press conference. The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame is only for New York people. Selecting was a difficult task and it will be even more difficult in years to come.”

Steve Farhood (NYSBHOF Nominating Committee): I want to thank Ring 8 because without Ring 8 we wouldn't be here. I have tremendous respect for this organization. It really does take care of its own. This is an extension of that love. When we think of New York State, in terms of boxing, we think of a little place up the street, Madison Square Garden because it's played such a huge part of boxing. Gleason's Gym is another shrine. And New York is the media capital of the world. Now, New York hasaa Boxing Hall of Fame and I'm happy to be part of it.”

Henry Haschup (NYSBHOF Nominating Committee): “This is a great honor to be here to announce the first class of the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame.”

Harold Lederman (Class of 2012 inductee): “This is such an honor for me to be here, an unbelievable honor. What a fabulous idea to form the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame. New York has more fighters, better fighters, and is still the Mecca of boxing. It's such an honor to be in the same class as Sugar Ray Robinson, Tony Canzoneri and Benny Leonard. It'll get better and better each coming year, bringing people to the forefront for what they did in New York and Madison Square Garden. I'm so honored to be in this first class. I've asked myself how did I get in the same class as Sugar Ray Robinson.”

Vito Antuofermo (Class of 2012 inductee): “I'm so glad to be in the first induction class. Me and Jack (Hirsch) go back to the first day I stepped in the ring.”

Jimmy Glynn (Class of 2012 inductee): “I want to thank everybody for being here. God bless and thanks. I had Vito when he first came here (Bronx). I sent him to a gym in Brooklyn where he lived.”

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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