Lennox Lewis headlined the 2009 International Boxing Hall of Fame induction class announced on Tuesday and will enter in the modern era category, along with American bantamweight champion Orlando Canizales and South African junior lightweight champion Brian Mitchell.
Three-time heavyweight champion Lewis said he was proud that enshrinement in the Hall of Fame would secure his place in the sport’s history.
“Everybody, when they start something ... always wants to leave some kind of legacy behind,” Lewis said. “I’ve been able to accomplish that. To be put in the Hall of Fame is an accomplishment that seals my legacy. It will always be there in history. People can read about it. It gives me great pride.”
PHOTO: AP
Posthumous honorees included middleweight champion William “Gorilla” Jones (1931-1932), welterweight champion “Mysterious” Billy Smith (1890s) and middleweight champion Billy Soose (1941) in the old-timer category. Nineteenth-century American heavyweight champion Tom Hyer was recognized in the pioneer category.
Inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians. The induction ceremony will be held on June 14 at Canastota.
The 43-year-old Lewis retired in 2003 with a record of 41-2-1, including 32 KOs, and enters the hall in his first year of eligibility.
“He definitely belongs in the top six heavyweights of all time and would have been a threat to any heavyweight champion in history because of his size, his balance and his all-around skill,” said Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, a 1996 inductee. “Lennox Lewis could do whatever he had to do to win a fight. He was a very diversified heavyweight champion.”
Mitchell is the first South African boxer to be inducted in Canastota.
He won the WBA junior lightweight title in September 1986 with a 10th-round TKO of Alfredo Layne and defended his crown 12 consecutive times before he was stripped of it in 1991. He won the IBF championship later in 1991 with a 12-round win over Tony “The Tiger” Lopez.
Mitchell finished his career 45-1-3 with 21 KOs.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS