(Canastota, NY – Dec. 2014) The International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum announced Dec. 4 the newest class of inductees to enter the Hall.
Living inductees include heavyweight champion Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe, featherweight champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed and lightweight champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini in the Modern category; light flyweight champion Yoko Gushiken in the Old-Timer category; booking agent / manager Rafael Mendoza and referee Steve Smoger in the Non-Participant category; and editor / journalist Nigel Collins and broadcaster Jim Lampley in the Observer category.
“I’m ecstatic! As a kid, this is what I dreamed of. I’m just so happy,” said Bowe. “For me, hard work and determination got me in the Hall of Fame.”
“We’re extremely excited about the Class of 2015 and are very much looking forward to paying tribute to the new inductees in Canastota next June,” said Executive Director Edward Brophy.
Mancini said he was “humbled and I’m honored.”
“To be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame with so many of my friends and heroes is overwhelming,” Mancini said.
Lampley said he was surprised and delighted to learn of his election.
“I look forward with great excitement to making my first trip to Canastota this summer to accept the honor on behalf of my family, my friends, and everyone at HBO and at ringside who has helped to support my long, lucky tenure in boxing,” Lampley said. “I couldn’t be more appreciative.”
The 2015 Hall of Fame Weekend is scheduled for June 11 to 14 in Canastota. . The highlight of the weekend will be the Official Enshrinement Ceremony on the Hall of Fame Museum Grounds on Sunday to welcome the newest members
The Hall of Fame also released names of posthumous honorees: Masao Ohba and Ken Overlin in the Old-Timer Category; and publicist John F.X. Condon in the Non Participant Category. Inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians.
For more information on the events planned for the 2015 International Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend, please call the Hall of Fame at (315) 697-7095 or visit online at www.ibhof.com.