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Boxing Hall of Fame
The Boxing Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for the history of boxing worldwide.

The Boxing Hall of Fame opened in the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas December 10, 2012 as part of SCORE! an interactive multi sports hall of fame attraction. SCORE! is located next to the Titanic and Bodies exhibits on the mezzanine level of the Luxor.

Intro
The Boxing Hall of Fame is unique among major league sports halls of fame in that only the athletes are inducted – no promoters, managers, trainers or any other “non-participant”. The Baseball Hall of Fame, Football Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Fame and Hockey Hall of Fame have each inducted non-participants such as game officials and managers.

The Boxing Hall of Fame brings the legends of the ring up close and personal. Boxing history is rich in tradition. And it is recognized so by the press. The person voted athlete of the 20th century most often is Muhammad Ali. The overwhelming choice for the 19th century was the heavyweight champion of the world, John L. Sullivan, The “Boston Strong Boy.” That means that the athlete of the century for the past two centuries has been a boxer.

The Boxing Hall of Fame website - boxinghalloffame.com - contains a vast library of photos, video, stories and blogs. It is an excellent reference for anyone doing research on boxing or any particular boxer.

Location
Las Vegas was selected as the location for the Hall of Fame for three reasons: First, boxing is a major spectator sport in Las Vegas. Second, Las Vegas has an extremely large number of tourists. Finally, the SCORE! attraction demonstrated tremendous support for establishing the Boxing Hall of Fame at the Luxor Hotel on the strip in Las Vegas. By putting it next to the other national hall of fame exhibits located in SCORE! the Boxing Hall of Fame is in great company. This high traffic location places a magnificent spotlight on this great sport. The hundreds of thousands of visitors walking through each year will be able to compare the legends of the ring to those of baseball, football, basketball and the other mainstream sports. Boxing is certain to measure up to these other mainstream sports.

Advisory Board
Critical to the success of any sports hall of fame is its advisory board. The advisory board of Boxing Hall of the Fame is made up of historians and journalists whose reputations and knowledge of boxing history place them in an excellent position to oversee the induction process.

Tracy Callis

James R. Carlin

Don Cogswell

Dan Cuoco

Bernard Fernandez

Jeff Flanagan

Henry Hascup

Jack Hirsch

Bruce Kielty

Gordon Marino

Carole Myer

Tony Triem

Jim Trunzo

Shelley Williams

The Boxing Hall of Fame contains a vast library of photos and video. These, as well as all new items, must be identified and cataloged accurately.

Film, Video and Photo Authentication

JJ Johnston

Neil Terens

Phil Gueneri

Sal Rappa

Fight films and tapes
Over fifty years ago, boxing legend Bill Cayton recognized that the new fledgling technology called television required new and exciting programming to attract viewers. Television in that time had little sports programming - the small black and white screens could not effectively display team sports such as football and baseball.

But Bill Cayton believed that boxing was the best suited of all sports to fit the tiny black and white screens of the day. He created the program Greatest Fights of the Century to air broadcasts of classic boxing matches.

To produce this program and many others that followed, he licensed, then later acquired, rights to vintage boxing film footage. For nearly fifty years he amassed and restored a collection of thousands of films going back to 1897. His effort in collecting, restoring, and maintaining these films, many of which were rapidly deteriorating, is credited for preserving modern boxing's heritage and history.

By combing the world to rescue, restore, and present the thousands of films he collected over these years, Cayton created the world's greatest library of boxing films, including some of the greatest, most talked-about and classic sporting events of all time.

Bill Cayton and his associate Jim Jacobs also produced numerous boxing features including academy award-nominated "Jack Johnson" and "The Legendary Champions."

This collection of over 3,000 subjects includes the fights of all the great champions: Gentleman Jim Corbett, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Wilfredo Benitez, Kid Gavilan, and Mike Tyson.

The Boxing Hall of Fame has licensed the rights to display this incredible film collection. Through this collection the Boxing Hall of Fame is proud to display the most historically complete film archive available to any sports hall of fame.

Memorabilia
The Boxing Hall of Fame acquired a vast inventory of memorabilia, only a small portion of which can be displayed at any one time. In addition to posters, art and graphics, the inventory includes 20,000 photographs, boxing theme comics, pulp fiction, postcards, and Police Gazette. Hollywood boxing films have always been a huge draw and the Boxing Hall of Fame has acquired the screen worn clothing of some of the most memorable fight films of all time including: Denzell Washington in “Hurricane,” Will Smith in “Ali,” and Barbara Striesand in “Main Event.”

Exhibit Design
In summer 2011, work began on the Boxing Hall of Fame within the SCORE! attraction. In order to select the display items from the thousands in the Boxing Hall of Fame inventory the first step was to identify a specific theme for each exhibit. With limited space the process was difficult as the history of boxing goes back much further than any other sport.

The Boxing Hall of Fame made a decision to begin with these exhibits

Muhammad Ali

Mike Tyson

Heavyweight Kings

Latin Legends

Origins

Hollywood

Video Display
The selection of which films were to be shown in each exhibit proved to be another difficult task with thousands of fights in the $75 million dollar ESPN Bill Cayton collection.

The Boxing Hall of Fame selected the knockouts of these fights:

Muhammad Ali vs

Archie Moore

Cleveland Williams

Zora Folley

Oscar Bonavena

George Foreman

Joe Frazier

Mike Tyson vs

Reggie Gross

Marvis Frazier

Trevor Berbick

Pinklon Thomas

Tyrell Biggs

Larry Holmes

Michael Spinks

Latin Legends

Baby Arizmendi vs Mike Belloise

Kid Chocolate vs Al Singer

Sixto Escobar vs Harry Jeffra

Carlos Ortiz vs Flash Elorde

Ruben Olivares vs Jesus Pimentel

Alexis Arguello vs Ruben Olivares

Wilfred Benitez vs Maurice Hope

Edwin Rosario vs Romeo Anaya

Origins:

John L. Sullivan Hitting the speed bag

Gentlemen Jim Corbett vs Bob Fitzsimmons

James J. Jeffries vs Tom Sharkey

Joe Gans vs Battling Nelson

Tommy Burns vs Billy Squires

Battling Nelson vs Ad Wolgast

Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard

Induction Process
The advisory board of the boxing hall of fame understands the extreme importance of the induction process so that only the most worthy fighters will be eligible to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. The mechanism for the induction process is now being constructed and will be announced shortly. The inductions will be comprised solely of fighters. There will be no promoters, managers, trainers, or other non-participants.

Inductees

The first group of inductees is expected to be announced in Spring 2013.