The International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum announced today the members of the Class of 2020.
Inductees include champions Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and “Sugar” Shane Mosley in the men’s Modern category; Barbara Buttrick in the women’s Trailblazer category and “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” Christy Martin and “The Dutch Destroyer” Lucia Rijker in the women’s Modern category. Non-participants and observers to be inducted include promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and Dan Goossen and journalists Bernard Fernandez and Thomas Hauser.
Lightweight champion Frank Erne in the Old Timer category and Paddy Ryan in the Pioneer category will also be honored. Inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians. Biographies on the Class of 2020 can be found on www.ibhof.com
“We’re extremely excited about the Class of 2020 and are very much looking forward to honoring the newest class of inductees, which includes the first ever female boxers to be enshrined,” said Executive Director Edward Brophy.
The 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend will be held June 11-14th in Canastota, NY. Many events in “Boxing’s Hometown” of Canastota throughout the four-day celebration, including a 5K Race / Fun Run, golf tournament, boxing autograph card show, VIP Cocktail Reception, Parade of Champions and the Official Induction Ceremony on the Hall of Fame Museum Grounds, are scheduled. The Hall of Fame Weekend evening events include Friday night’s Fight Night at Turning Stone and Saturday’s Banquet of Champions. Both events will take place at Turning Stone Resort Casino in nearby Verona, NY.
COMMENTS UPON RECEIVING INDUCTION NEWS
“I’m glad I’m entering the house of greatness past and present. Thanks to boxing I became a greater inspiration to the world.”
– Bernard Hopkins
“This is great. I feel very happy and excited to receive this news. I am looking forward to being in Canastota for my induction. I am so happy.”
– Juan Manuel Marquez
“I’m so happy and honored. I’ve worked my whole life for this. Even when I started as a kid at 8 years old I knew this is what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be. I have accomplished my goals to be one of the greats and go into the Hall of Fame, so this is a great honor.”
– Shane Mosley
“I just wanted to be a fighter and fit into the world of boxing and this is a dream come true. I’m always excited to come back to Canastota but to come back this year will be very special.”
– Christy Martin
“This is very moving. It makes me feel emotional. As I entered normal life after boxing there is a memory of boxing that is in my heart and soul. There is really a strong connection I have to that era and I am really honored to be reminded of that time because sometimes there is a time in your life where everything comes together – mind, body and spirit – and definitely my boxing career aligned all three of them to be the best I could be on all levels. I’m very grateful for that and grateful to be recognized.”
– Lucia Rijker
“This is wonderful news. It means a lot to me. After I started out with everybody against me back in the 1940s, it is nice to be recognized. I’m looking forward to being in Canastota in June.”
– Barbara Buttrick
“It’s such an honor to be joining my husband, father-in-law, and many of the boxers Main Events has developed and worked with over the years, including Pernell Whitaker, Arturo Gatti, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Hector Camacho and Mike McCallum, in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Over forty years ago, when I started working in boxing, this was unfathomable. We had to threaten lawsuits more than once just to get me admitted into weigh ins. And now, to follow in the footsteps of my idols, Aileen Eaton and Lorraine Chargin, as the third woman to be inducted as a non-participant and with the first class of female boxers, will never stop amazing me. Thank you so much to the IBHOF and the voters who made this possible!”
– Kathy Duva
“When I was a kid, watching Nino Benvenuti on the tube with my grandfathers and my dad, and following Ali fights with a transistor radio under my pillow, I wanted to be a part of it. Boxing thrilled me like nothing else. But I never dreamed that I would one day be in the IBHOF with my heroes, the greatest fighters who ever lived, and so many storied men and women who would become colleagues and friends. I’m humbled and I’m truly grateful for this recognition, an affirmation that I gave my best to a sport I love.”
– Lou DiBella
“My wife Sandi and I want to say on behalf of our family, we thank everyone that voted for him for this honor. For over 40 years, I watched Dan give everything he had to this sport because he loved it. He loved our fighters and loved seeing them in the ring…and win. He is missed, but now he is immortalized as a Hall of Famer and it is so well deserved.”
– Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions / brother in law of Dan Goossen
“This is the best news I’ve had in years. Aside from being very, very, very emotional right now upon hearing the news, I am just so happy for Dan getting this recognition. Anybody with big aspirations in the boxing game that has worked for decades in it, the ultimate compliment and payoff is not money or fame, it is the recognition you get for your work and I’m thankful that he is getting recognized for that. I’m very thankful and proud of my brother and very thankful for the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the recognition because it really is the pinnacle of being recognized by your peers.”
– Joe Goossen, boxing trainer / brother of Dan Goossen
“Boxing is about fights and fighters and to a lesser extent about fights and writers. People like Jerry Izenberg and Dave Anderson are people I have admired at the highest level of my profession and I guess this honor is saying I move into their company and it is very humbling.”
– Bernard Fernandez
“There were times when I fantasized about this happening. But I really didn’t think it would. Right now, all the clichés ring true for me. I’m thrilled, gratified, and very moved by this honor.”
– Thomas Hauser
