Perhaps it would be wise to build an additional wing at the International Boxing Hall of Fame to house all the new members who will be inducted this weekend.
The presence of Floyd Mayweather Jr. is enough to make Sunday's ceremony one of the most anticipated in years. And if you add the likes of Roy Jones Jr., Andre Ward and Bernard Hopkins — as well as several trailblazing women — it's easy to guess that the boxing arena in the small town of Canastota, New York, will fill up quickly.
The last two ceremonies have been cancelled due to the pandemic. Thus, the selections corresponding to three different years have been brought together, a group of 27 boxers and 36 new members, which is attractive even for those who are only occasional followers of this sport.
That includes a new women's category, spearheaded by Laila Ali and Christy Martin, who rose to fame in the 1990s when she appeared in prelims for some Mike Tyson fights.
Organizers say all but one of the enthroned fighters will be present. Wladimir Klitschko, a former heavyweight monarch, is in Ukraine along with his brother Vitali, resisting the capital Kyiv during the war launched by Russia.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and a former heavyweight champion, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
There will be so many boxers that the event will be held in a nearby casino, not in Canastota. Instead of fighting in a ring with fists, the honorees will have to fight to get enough time for their speeches.
It is the most meaningful ceremony in the hall's history that honours the greats of boxing.
One of the best of all time, perhaps the one with the most significant defensive virtues in history. His 50-0 record speaks to perfection, but Mayweather may perhaps be best known for how he capitalized on his career better than his predecessors. He got about 200 million dollars for facing Manny Pacquiao in the fight with the juiciest purse in history. Mayweather made a similar fortune from facing off against UFC gladiator Conor McGregor, and his record as king of pay-per-view TV will stand for a long time. Is he the best in history, as he claims? No, but that does not prevent him from appearing among the candidates.
I was hitting him. At the 1988 Olympics, a controversial decision deprived him of a gold medal. He ended up winning titles in four different categories. One of those titles came in the heavyweight division in 2003 when he beat John Ruiz. But the drastic move from light heavyweight took its toll on Jneos, who lost three of his next four fights at 175 pounds. The legacy was further diluted because he fought another 15 years with grey results.
One of two towering Ukrainian brothers to emerge from the Soviet boxing system. His career was nearly over in 2004 when he fell to Lamon Brewster. He recovered to dominate the heavyweight division for nearly a decade, fighting most of the time in Germany, where he had a large following. Less-savvy fans didn't like his cautious style, but Klitschko showed he could get into the punching game as well, knocking down Anthony Joshua before 90,000 people in London before losing in 2017 in their last fight.
His story is as interesting as his fights were. He acted in several functions that involved Tyson. She was a formidable boxer who was constantly on the move. Her bloody fight against Deirdre Gogarty in 1996, before a Tyson fight, made many fans give women's boxing credence. Martin was shot by her husband and trainer, serving a prison sentence. She will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame by Laila Ali, who bore the weight of her famous father and went 24-0 at a time when few took women's boxing seriously.
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