"THE
OFFICIAL BOXING HALL OF FAME OF MINNESOTA
AS ENDORSED BY THE MINNESOTA STATE BOXING COMMISSION"
PIONEERS • OLD-TIMERS
• MODERN • EXPANDED
Hall
of Fame Categories
The Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame places a great importance on the inclusion
of participants from all eras, with no particular era more important
than the other. To help us do this, our Executive Board along with our
voting electorate, employ the use of four major categories; and though
we may opt to induct varying amounts of Inductees per category each
year, these four categories remain the rubric that guides our voting.
They are:
The
Pioneers (Last bout in or prior to 1910)
Most of the fighters and boxing characters from this era are long-forgotten.
Even the list of boxing historians who can speak on the lives, careers,
and contributions of this group of people is a short one. But does that
make the blood they spilled any less painful or their knockouts any
less real? Of course not. It should be noted that most fought with just
2 ounce gloves and often engaged in fights to the finish; many of which
lasted for hours until one man wilted. Their fights were real fights,
and so were their accomplishments, and that is why we honor them. SEE
PIONEERS
The
Old-Timers (Last
bout no earlier than 1911, no later than 1945)
These are the fighters that set the groundwork and laid the foundation
of Minnesota Boxing History. This is the era where boxing rivaled only
baseball in sporting circles, and where the finer points of "scientific"
boxing became the new standard, much as we see today. Numerous superstars
of the sport became world-famous for their skills, and Minnesota was
home to many of the best of them. It should be noted that during this
era of boxing history, many states would not allow "official decisions"
to be rendered in matches. This was due to a plethora of reasons (mostly
political), such as to discourage gambling and corruption. It would
be difficult for a spectator to wager on a fight if there was no official
winner (other than by knockout or disqualification). On the same note,
it would be more difficult for a boxer to "throw" or "fix"
a fight, (unless he was willing to be knocked out) if there was no official
winner to be announced. The general consensus in determining winners
of bouts, was left up to the fight writers assigned to cover the fights
from the designated newspapers; hence the term "Newspaper win".
Some historians do not count these fights on a boxer's record, but most
do, as the bouts were real, and the consensus is that one cannot fault
a boxer for fighting under the rhetoric and laws that governed his era.
SEE OLD-TIMERS
The
Modern Category
(Last bout no earlier than 1946)
The Post-WWII era of boxing all the way up to the present. The era of
Robinson, Marciano, Leonard, and Ali; and all the way up to the present
day, this era represents the largest sector of boxing history, and it's
one we continue to see unfold in our everyday lives, as history's pen
continues to write for our future generations of fight fans. SEE
MODERN
The
Expanded Category
This category is a special one. It is one that honors and recognizes
those whose contributions to the sport have been made not from inside
the ring, but beside it. Managers/Trainers, Administrators/Doctors,
Journalists/Historians/Photographers, Promoters/Matchmakers, Referees/Judges/Timekeepers,
& Announcers/Broadcasters. SEE
EXPANDED