When the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHoF) announces its
2007 inductees this January, it is a sure bet that Roberto Duran,
Pernell Whitaker, and Ricardo Lopez will be among the enshrinees.
Who else goes in will be the subject of debate and discussion over
the next few months.
I, myself, do not vote for the IBHoF inductees and have no idea
who is on the ballot. However, here are a few fighters, two writers,
and a photographer that deserve further consideration:
Primo Carnera: At first glance, this incites laughter. The
Italian heavyweight is referenced by writers more as a plodding oaf
than as a heavyweight champion. However, Carnera is the only linear
heavyweight titleholder from John L. Sullivan to Muhammad Ali’s
second championship run who is not in the IBHoF. Carnera won the
title in 1933 with a sixth-round knockout of Jack Sharkey and
successfully defended the belt twice. Included in those wins is a
15-round decision over Tommy Loughran. Those two defenses are more
than Max Schmeling, Jack Sharkey, Max Baer, and James J. Braddock –
all the heavyweight champions between Gene Tunney and Joe Louis –
accumulated COMBINED during their title runs. And not to diminish
these fighters accomplishments, but if the voters consider Baer and
Braddock to be hall-of-famers, then Carnera deserves induction as
well.
Ray Mancini: I know am not the first person to
automatically assume that he was already in the IBHoF, only to be
shocked to find that his name was not among the enshrinees. A
whirlwind puncher, Mancini won the WBA Lightweight Title with a
first-round knockout of Arturo Frias in 1982 and held it for two
years, successfully defending the belt four times. His last
successful defense was a third-round stoppage of hall-of-famer Bobby
Chacon. Mancini also suffered close defeats to Alexis Arguello in
1981, and then – after a four-year layoff – to Hector Camacho in
1989. Since it is already an assumption that he is in the IBHoF
anyway, inducting Mancini would generate little controversy.
Pat Putnam: Writing for Sports Illustrated from
1968 to 1995, the late Putnam may have been the most widely read
boxing journalist in the country during that period. His vivid
recreation of fights and unique angles on stories made for some of
the greatest boxing writing of all time. Who can forget Putnam
incorporating the hole Mike Tyson punched into the wall before his
1988 bout with Larry Holmes into his coverage of the fight. And
descriptions like, “If there’s a better chin in the world than
[Aaron] Pryor’s, it has to be on Mount
Rushmore,” etch themselves in a reader’s memory forever.
Putnam also pulled no punches in describing the fighters he covered.
For his explanation of Ali’s fight-not-to-lose performance against
Ernie Shavers in 1977, Putnam wrote, “For Ali there are no more
pitched battles, only well-spaced fire fights.” But when Ali won the
title for a third time with a 15-round decision over Leon Spinks in
1978, Putnam was the first to praise Ali’s craftiness and to
criticize Spinks and the incompetent preparation by his handlers.
While his writing was unapologetic, it was always fair.
Putnam began covering boxing in 1960 when he worked for The
Miami Herald. When he passed away in 2005, he was writing for
The Sweet Science. His final work, a four-part piece on the
Jack Johnson/James Jeffries 1910 heavyweight bout, was just as
compelling as his articles for Sports Illustrated. Forty-five
years of outstanding boxing journalism is worthy of a place in the
IBHoF.
Neil Leifer: The picture of Ali standing over Sonny Liston
is worthy of induction alone. But Leifer has many outstanding – and
classic – photographs to his credit, including memorable pictures of
Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Evander Holyfield. If
photographers receive greater prominence in the IBHoF, inducting
Leifer makes perfect sense.
F.X. Toole: Granted, he only had one novel and one short
story collection to his credit, but Toole’s writing was true to the
sport. More importantly, it was devoted to the fight game. There are
very few fiction writers who solely wrote about boxing, and the ones
who did do not have the impressive collection of work that Toole put
together. If the IBHoF decides to enshrine a writer whose sole
subject was boxing fiction, it could not choose a better inductee
than Toole.
While these individuals may not warrant induction in 2007, there
may be another year where enshrining them in the IBHoF is reasonable
and feasible. I hope the voters will consider them when that time
comes.
