BoxRec

The collection of the late boxing historian, Hank Kaplan was found at Brooklyn College...It is estimated to be worth at least $3.1 million dollars...

There was an article in today's New York Times...I can't remember all the items but the ones that stand out was a gold cigarette case owned by Max Schmeling and the trunks Muhammad Ali wore when he was training for Leon Spinks...

There was also lots of old newspaper clippings...

I read the article. The photo slideshow that accompanied it online was good, too.

Did you notice how boxing was referred to as a "niche sport" with a "small but devoted" fan base? Ouch.

thomconn wrote:I read the article. The photo slideshow that accompanied it online was good, too.

Did you notice how boxing was referred to as a "niche sport" with a "small but devoted" fan base? Ouch.

I have the NBA and the NFL...Boxing needs stars...It's always needed stars to expand beyond the hard core fan base but now with PPV boxers earns ten times as much with ten times less people watching... I once saw the difference between PPV fights and old televised Ali and even Holmes fights and the difference in people watching were staggering...

Hank left his collection to Brooklyn College who will start a research bxoing center unlike anything that exists up to now. It should open in about a year and it has an incredible amount of data. Hank had original letters from Jack McAuliffe, Jim Corbett, Loughran and others, some 200,000 photos, hundreds of boxing books, videos, handwritten notes of interviews, magazines and memorabilia. His newspaper clipping file was over ninety boxes.

In the many years that I knew Hank I saw and handled his collection many times. The two car garage in his home was used for the clip and photo collection. He had rows of wooden shelves from floor to ceiling, stacked with labelled shoe boxes or manila folders all labeled properly. The studio inside his home contained hundreds of books, many one of a kind and memorabilia hung from the walls. His den had a table with dozens of papers, clippings and photos waiting to be filed. His dining room table was often the depository of some files to be looked over.

And boxing was everywhere in that house. A Joe Louis clock, a John L ceramic statuette, artwork. It was paradise.

I miss Hank.