NEW YORK – This Sunday’s third annual New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (NYSBHOF) induction and awards dinner, sponsored by Ring 8, is officially a sold-out event.
NYSBHOF and Ring 8 president Bob Duffy reports that 450 people will attend the festivities this Sunday afternoon (12:30-5:30 p.m. ET) at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York.
NYSBHOF Class of 2014
Boxers
WBC/IBF Super Featherweight Champion
Tracy Harris Patterson – New Paltz
WBC/WBA Welterweight Champion
Billy Backus -Canastota
WBC Featherweight Champion
Kevin Kelley – Flushing, Queens
WBC Featherweight Champion
Juan LaPorte – Brooklyn
World Heavyweight title challenger
Gerry Cooney – Huntington
Two-time World Middleweight title challenger
Mustafa Hamsho – Brooklyn
1976 Olympic gold medalist
Howard Davis, Jr.- Glen Cove
Deceased
Two-time World Heavyweight Champion
Floyd Patterson- Brooklyn
World Lightweight Champion
Lou Ambers – Herkimer
Three-time World Welterweight Champion
Jack Britton – Clinton
World Featherweight Champion
Terry McGovern – Brooklyn
Non-Participants
ESPN boxing commentator and trainer
Teddy Atlas – Staten Island
Promoter
Lou DiBella (DiBella Entertainment) – Brooklyn
Boxing historian and Showtime analyst
Steve Farhood – Brooklyn
Trainer and Sunnyside Gardens matchmaker
Gene Moore – Queens
Boxing writer/historian
Angelo Prospero – Rochester
Deceased
Trainer/cutman
Whitey Bimstein – Manhattan’s Lower East Side Trainer
Cus D’Amato – Bronx & Catskill
Trainer & 1st Chairman NYSAC
William Muldoon – Belfast/Caneadea-Westchester County
Manager
Tom O’Rourke – New York City
All living 2014 inductees have confirmed their attendance, including those below who commented about being honored.
Howard Davis Jr.: “I feel privileged to be inducted in my home state of New York. Being inducted into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame is a great honor and I’m proud to be standing next some of the great names in boxing.”
Teddy Atlas: “For seven years, starting as a 19 year old, I spent seven days a week in an upstate gym training fighters with the only reward being the seemingly exaggerated yet energizing words of an old man saying, ‘You will train world champions someday and be in the Hall of Fame.’ He just never said it would be together. Congratulations, Cus, and thanks for the help…..and the words.”
Steve Farhood: “Being inducted into the NYS Boxing Hall of Fame is special to me because I take great pride in being a New Yorker. Dare I say that for better or worse, I’m about as New York as anyone can be.
“I’m also thrilled that among my fellow inductees are fighters I covered, such as Gerry Cooney and Mustafa Hamsho, and longtime friends, such as Teddy Atlas and Lou DiBella.
“I was born in Brooklyn, and I’ve lived in Manhattan since the age of 12. I’ve been based in New York City for all 35 of my years in the boxing media, and be sure that I’m not planning to move any time soon.”
Bill Backus: “I am so happy to be chosen as an inductee to be put in the NYSBHOF. I was born and raised in the state of New York and 44 of my 75 fights were in New York.”
Gerry Cooney: “This is an honor and a pleasure. I’ve met so many great people through boxing. Boxing kept me off the streets and kept me ion the straight and narrow. I’m grateful for all the places and people I’ve met through boxing. All of the pieces fell together.”
NYSBHOF plaques are on display at the New York State Athletic Commission and Waterfront Crabhouse. Ring 8 also plans to build a monument in Long Island City with every NYSBHOF inductee’s name inscribed.
The 2014 inductees were selected by the NYSBHOF nominating committee members: Jack Hirsch, Bobby Cassidy, Jr., Don Majeski, Henry Hascup, Ron McNair and Neil Terens.
In order to be eligible for NYSBHOF induction, all boxers needed to have been inactive for at least three years, and all inductees must have resided in New York State for a significant portion of their boxing careers.
Go on line at www.Ring8ny.com for additional information about the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame.
CLASS of 2012: Carmen Basilio, Mike McCallum, Mike Tyson, Jake LaMotta, Riddick Bowe, Carlos Ortiz, Vito Antuofermo, Emile Griffith, “Sugar” Ray Robinson, Gene Tunney, Benny Leonard, Tony Canzoneri, Harold Lederman, Steve Acunto, Jimmy Glenn, Gil Clancy, Ray Arcel, Nat Fleischer, Bill Gallo and referee Arthur Mercante, Sr.
CLASS of 2013: Jack Dempsey, Johnny Dundee, Sandy Saddler, Maxie Rosenbloom, Joey Archer, Iran Barkley, Mark Breland, Bobby Cassidy, Doug Jones, Junior Jones, James “Buddy” McGirt, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Bob Arum, Shelly Finkel, Tony Graziano, Larry Merchant, Teddy Brenner, Mike Jacobs, Tex Rickard, and Don Dunphy.
