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07/26/2006 Archived Entry: "International Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend ‘07"
International Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend ‘07
By Dave Iamele
Photos © Marianne Iamele
July 2006
"Little Hands of Stone" Michael Carbahal celebrates his induction.
OK boxing fans, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover this month, so let’s get ready to rum … oops, I think someone’s already copyrighted that saying. How about let’s get ready to read? Anyway -
The weather may have been lousy, but everything else about HOF weekend was marvelous as usual. Here’s what made this year’s celebration stellar for me:
"Chiquita" Gonzalez partakes in the annual fist casting.
Thursday – For at least the past six years of so, one of my best friends and a long-time boxing fan has been making the drive out to Canastota for the “opening round.” We enjoyed a couple of fine cigars and cocktails and my shutterbug wife again captured our HOF get-together on film. (Actually, everything’s digital now, but you get the point.) Both modern, living inductees and former ring foes, Michael Carbajal and Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, were already on the grounds and signing autographs right from the get-go, and early-bird fans eagerly gathered around the diminutive pair in swarms. Initially, Gonzalez looked a bit “shell-shocked” by all the attention, but as the weekend wore on, he recovered nicely.
Once as “Chiquita” raced by, I congratulated him on his induction, and when his translator relayed my message to the former champ, he replied without braking stride “thank you,” which may very well be the extent of his English. If he didn’t already have a nickname, I think “Speedy” would be appropriate.
Leon Spinks enjoying the enormous crowd reaction.
Friday – As the dreary weather continues, my not-to-be deterred group split our time between ringside lectures and workouts on the HOF grounds and the warm, dry sanctuary of Graziano's fine restaurant and lounge, where many a fistic tale was being told and retold over a cold beverage.
The highlight of the day, and arguably the entire weekend, was the 30th anniversary party for the ’76 Olympic boxing team at the Rusty Rail. Despite the uncouth nonappearance of Michael Spinks, fans got more than their monies worth during this once-in-a-lifetime event. Shobox announcers Steve Farhood and Nick Charles MC'd the show with flair and an obvious appreciation and excitement for the celebration. Hell, Nick Charles even bought me a beer and of all things wanted to have a Utica Club! Bless his heart.
After film clips showing the highlights of each team member’s performance, the boxer would get up and say what their experience meant to them and what the atmosphere was like back in our Bicentennial year. Even Pernell Whitaker’s impromptu, unwanted, and incoherent rambling speech(es) couldn’t tear the spotlight from these classy champs.
For me, the surprise of the night was witnessing the ovation that Leon Spinks received from the sold-out crowd. I can honestly say that he got a warmer, louder, more heartfelt round of applause (with cheers of “Leon” ringing out) than even Sugar Ray Leonard. I think Sugar Ray was a little bemused by the whole thing. How did such an incredulous thing come to be? I’ll tell ‘ya how: Leon attends HOF induction weekend year in and year out, and he’s a fan favorite. He signs a beautiful autograph (Ray Leonard’s looks like an EKG reading), he poses for photos, and is just an all-around man of the people. It’s no secret that Leon’s had a tough life, but he shows up every year, and although he’s never been inducted and may never gain entry into the Hall (even though he beat Ali in only his 7th pro bout), he never grouses about it. On the contrary, he’s pleasant and upbeat and a great guy to be around.
Pernell Whitaker illustrates the amount of class he displayed at the '76 Olympic team anniversary party.
Saturday – Personally, for all the big-ticket items available on Saturday, I’d rather shell out $10 and attend the collector’s show at the local high school. Don’t get me wrong, the cocktail reception and banquet are great events and worth their ticket prices, but I really dig seeing all that swell old boxing stuff. When’s the last time you read a sentence with both swell and dig in it? I transcend generations, baby! Anywho, I bought a nice set of boxing cards that even included a Randall “Tex” Cobb card! Now, he would be a great guest at the Hall. I did an interview with him a few years back when he was a guest speaker at Utica College, and I was dumbstruck by his philosophy of achieving your goals by overcoming obstacles and keeping focus. It was so bizarre; it was like Gorilla Monsoon quoting the Tao.
Sugar Ray Leonard watches his Olympic highlights.
Back to the show. I purchased a cool, wooden 3-D boxing picture frame from a table with an “everything here $5” card on it. Since the dimensions of the interior of the viewing surface of the frame make it ideal for a nice, life-size photo of your thumb, it now displays an old “cigarette boxing card” from the 1930s of local boy Lou Ambers, “The Herkimer Hurricane.”
The day was capped off by having my Cyberboxingzone editor join me at home to take in one of the evening’s boxing PPVs. We were in the minority in choosing Miguel Cotto vs. Paulie Malignaggi over Antonio Tarver vs. Bernard Hopkins, but I considered it a sound investment when I watched the reply of Hopkins’ surprising victory over Tarver a week later on HBOs rebroadcast of the bout prior to Winky Wright’s draw against Jermain Taylor. I have to give thanks to Mike for the Dramatics’ albums (still in their original plastic) and his excellent Marciano vs. Ali superbout DVD that he finally gave me. You’re the best, Tommy Pinto!
Future Hall of Famer Erik Morales casts his impression.
Sunday – The grand finale!! My brother-in-law and I always manage to snag a few choice autographs during the parade each year. In ’04 I got the hard-to-get champion Azumah Nelson. I mean it was then or wait ‘til the next time I’m in Africa. This year I got Erik Morales over the protestation of an over-zealous security gal.
The volunteers do a great job every year, but some of them go a bit power-crazy. This lady was yelling at kids to get back. “No autographs!!!” she would bellow. Folks, to put it in proper perspective, we don’t view the parade from the main drag, we wait on a side street that the cars carrying the boxers turn off onto in order to shuttle them to the hall for the induction ceremony. So, on this little side street, there are maybe 20 to 30 people in total. What does this lady think, there’s going to be a riot, or what? Half the people are little kids, for crying out loud. Luckily, the boxers generally ignore these ridiculous fools and sign the autographs for the fans. I’ve even seen a few jump out of the convertible and join the fans in the street to sign and pose for photos. Oh man, that really gets ‘em.
Livingstone Bramble takes in '07 inductions.
Anyway, on a more positive note, the inductions themselves are really special. Every inductee has his own unique way of expressing his gratitude, joy, and excitement to join boxing’s best in the Hall of Fame. Some fighters bring long, typewritten speeches that they obviously have put much thought and many hours into. Others prepare nothing in advance and instead speak on what comes into their minds as they are overcome by the moment; and they, too, speak from their hearts. Some remarks are brief thank-yous, and many speeches are accompanied by tears. That may sound corny to some, but only to those who have not been there in person to hear these proud athletes speak at their crowing moment of ultimate glory. In no other sport does an athlete sacrifice so much by literally risking his life every time out. Many of these men have led very disciplined lives of constant training and have endued long separations from families and loved ones. You can almost feel and share their hardships and triumphs.
This year, Michael Carbajal got a little misty-eyed and his voice cracked when he spoke of his brother Danny. When Carlos Palomino gave his induction speech in 2004, tears covered his face as he spoke about serving in Viet Nam and having missed watching some of his children grow up because he was away either at war or in training or traveling around the world to fight. How many people in the crowd shared similar losses or empathized with the former champion? Quite a few, I would say, judging by fact that grown men around me were almost as emotional as Palomino himself. If the Hall doesn’t already record induction speeches each year, they really should start. With today’s modern technology, storage space for something like that is not a factor anymore, and I would imagine the cost would be minimal. Heck, they could put them on their website and charge a small downloading fee to hear them. I’d like to hear last year’s speeches that live were mere fragments of speech lost in a severe rain storm. Think about it, Ed, it could someday bring in a nice (small) cash flow. Which brings me to …
Next Year
'76 team members share the spotlight.
If you’re old enough to read this column, than you know what they say about opinions. Well, the same is true about ideas. That being said, I’ll give you what I think would be a natural for an event in ’07 if boxing still is “suspended” at The Turning Stone: Ready? A boxing-celebrity poker tournament. I mean, come on, we’ve got the International Boxing Hall of Fame bringing in around 50 boxers, and we’ve got a casino that can’t/won’t host live boxing. So, the next logical event would be a celeb poker tourney! What guy that fancies himself a card sharp won’t want to throw down with Marvelous Marvin Hagler or George Chuvalo? How about with Lou Duva and Angelo Dundee? Or Iran Barkley and Buddy McGirt? I’m always scanning the boob-tube for boxing, and nearly every channel this side of Nickelodeon has some kind of televised poker tournament with either “celebrities” like Ben Affleck or every-day schmoes like me.
'07 inductee and the world's foremost boxing historian, Hank Kaplan.
So, what’s it going to take? Boxers and boxing personalities … check. Let’s see … cards, chips, tables … I think The ‘Stone could rustle up those items with no problem. Charge an entry fee, give the guy a bunch of chips with a chance to win some cash prizes, sit him down with the prior-mentioned celebs, and start dealing. I think after maybe a year or two the Boxing Celebrity Poker Tournament would grow to be a big hit with fans, and I think boxers would be calling Ed Brophy to ask to play. I think some of the younger guys like Zab Judah or Floyd Mayweather would get kick out of it, and some of the older guys like Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, and Bob Foster might even know a couple of old-school tidbits about poker. I bet many a training camp had its share of late-night poker games.
So, remember, you heard it here first! Do you think I can get them to call it “The First Annual David Iamele Boxing-Celebrity Poker Tournament”? I wouldn’t bet your lunch money, kid!
Carbahal, Gonzalez, and Kaplan display their brand-new induction rings.
Originally appeared in the Utica Observer-Dispatch on July 18, 2006 as “Boxing Hall of Fame weekend full of more memories.” Reprinted with permission.
