BoxRec

2005 IBHOF inductees!
Two-time featherweight champion Bobby Chacon, two-time junior welterweight champion Duilio Loi, featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, and junior middleweight champion Terry Norris will be named to the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. Non-boxers included matchmaker Don Fraser and writer Bert Sugar. The induction ceremony is June 12.

Great to see Barry McGuigan entered into the Hall of Fame

Nice one Barry, I hope he enjoys the trip.

I wonder if Chacon will make the trip? I've heard he is in a bad way.

KOJOE90 wrote:I wonder if Chacon will make the trip? I've heard he is in a bad way.

Or Terry Norris.

stujones wrote:

KOJOE90 wrote:I wonder if Chacon will make the trip? I've heard he is in a bad way.

Or Terry Norris.

Norris, Chacon and McGuigan were all very good exciting fighters but are they really Hall Of Fame standard?

The IBHOF is a great idea and a wonderfull institution but by having a number of new inducties every year means that eventually standards will slip and dilute the whole thing.

True, McGuigan was good - all time great he is not. And he's a little Sky TV sell-out wanka these days...

Mcguigan was a very talented fighter who beat an all time great and while he may not have been an all time great himself he was certainly in some of the best fights i'Ve seen and so deserves his recognition I feel... as for Chacon if you look at the opposition he faced, the amount of classic fights he competed in and the obstacles he overcame to win world titles at two weights and almost 10 years apart, theres no doubt for me that he was an all time great... perhaps not as talented as Olivares and Arguello but just as much a warrior, perhaps even more so.... I've never seen a braver fighter than Bobby Chacon.
As for Barry being a sellout these days I think thats a bit harsh... I don't like the direction SKY has gone but its not Mcguigans fault... at the end of the day he does a pretty good job I think...

silkov wrote:Mcguigan was a very talented fighter who beat an all time great and while he may not have been an all time great himself he was certainly in some of the best fights i'Ve seen and so deserves his recognition I feel... as for Chacon if you look at the opposition he faced, the amount of classic fights he competed in and the obstacles he overcame to win world titles at two weights and almost 10 years apart, theres no doubt for me that he was an all time great... perhaps not as talented as Olivares and Arguello but just as much a warrior, perhaps even more so.... I've never seen a braver fighter than Bobby Chacon.
As for Barry being a sellout these days I think thats a bit harsh... I don't like the direction SKY has gone but its not Mcguigans fault... at the end of the day he does a pretty good job I think...

Well said

Regards Terry Norris: he's still very popular in the US. He got absolutely mobbed in the MGM Grand mall when people where cramming out from DLH - Hop. So much so he had to take shelter in a clothes shop. I didn't recognise him at first as his head was completely shaved bald, and in all honesty when I think of him I picture his face as it was in his 90's hey-day. People were clamouring for their picture with him. Unfortunately I was practicing stealth photography with all the fit latina birds milling around to queue for a picture, but one thing I will say is that he didn't look one pound over the jr middleweight limit. In fact, he honestly could've passed for a welterweight. And he didn't look frail, looked ripped. Must still train.

Terry Norris is certainly Hall of Fame standard,

I think McGuigan to deserves it not only for his boxing inside of the ring but his work involved with boxing outside. Not only with the commentating but also the PBA.

Yes, he seems to have done a lot for the pba and has always been a good spokesman for boxers saying that they should have more help when their careers end etc..... all of which makes that sell out accusation rather stupid really!...

Hardly. He did a fantastic job with the PBA dont get me wrong which makes it all the more crazy that he's turned into a Sky puppet like the rest of them. He's not as bad as the others but he still doesnt tell it how it is. The way he has talked up Hatton opponents etc has been comical.

On a lighter note does anyone have a copy of Sky footage (forget which fight but about 7-8 years ago) and they cut to a break but the camera stays on and McGuigan starts F-ing and blinding and going mad. Highly amusing apparently.

Has anyone ever been to the HoF weekends at Canastota?

I am thinking about going as it is just after the book fair in the US and I can drive up from NYC.

Is it worthwhile and is it easy to get tickets to the various events? I would hate to turn up and not be able to see anything

Thanks in advance for any advice

Slapsie

Hall of fame fighters aren't just inducted for their greatness, but also their impact and how exciting they are.

I must admit I'm a little surprised McGuigan has got in there, but good luck to him, I've always liked McGuigan, he has his moments of bias, and of course as a Sky sports employee he has to moderate his opinions.

Wasn't he one of those who lost a load of money on the LLoyd's underwriter thing? I know for a fact McGuigan said he would be skint if it wasn't for the Sky Job, so what do people expect him to say as a Sky employee?

I think McGuigan does try to be critical at times, less so these days, but he does still speak his mind, albeit in muted tones.

Yes talent aside, Barry deserves his place. He was huge in the 80's - fights televised in the USA, the whole of Ireland cheering him on - he was fantastic for boxing.

Fought a real world champ, and won a real world title too.

I think he lost a lot of money to his exmanager Eastwood over some things he wrote in his 2nd biography... seem to remmember that he had to sell his house or something like that... so all in all he needs the SKY job for his livelihood so you can't expect him to suddenly say ' OH Enzo's a wee bit crap I think!'... again its the whole problem that many fighters face... Mcguigans big fight paydays are almost 20 years ago now (christ that makes me feel old!) and money is much easier to spend than earn!... all in all I think he's kept his integrity!...

I also think greatness can be measured in the excitement etc that a boxer generates throughout his career... would anybody here argue with Gatti and Ward being placed in the hall of fame in a few years time?...

Arturo Gatti is a CERTAINTY for the hall of fame. All-time great, almost certainly not, though of course that could change before the end of his career.

Look through the IBHOF inductees, far from all of them were all-time greats, although many of them were great to watch.

True. It is definitely becoming more diluted by the year though.

silkov wrote: ... would anybody here argue with Gatti and Ward being placed in the hall of fame in a few years time?...

Well, you could argue that a boxer not good enough to win a world title doesn't belong in there....

Isn't Charley Burley in there though, and he never won a world title.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Isn't Charley Burley in there though, and he never won a world title.

He deserves to be, as well as Langford. But being barred from fighting for the world title, due to the colour of your skin, is a lot different than just not being good enough to win one.

Burley wasn't barred because of his colour he just didn't have the right connections. Langford was of course barred because of the colour line.

Burley was the "Colored welterweight champion" though, so I don't imagine he got too many favours in his time.

I’m glad to see Barry McGuigan in there, can’t really say he or some of the more recent ones really deserve to be there though, because they induct every year the pool is drying up and out of necessity they have to water it down some to make up the numbers.
I personally think every 10yrs would be a better option, I mean how often does a really special boxer come along?....once, maybe twice in our lifetime… if we`re lucky.

Burley and Langford deserve their place without a doubt; they were so much involved and a part of their era’s even though they didn’t get their chance.