The International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., will be closed at least through the end of March to limit the spread of the coronavirus. But its executive director, Ed Brophy, is hoping the annual Hall of Fame Weekend can still be held on schedule from June 11-14.
“Hall of Fame weekend is still on for mid-June,” Brophy told The Post on Thursday. “But we’ll continue to follow the rules and regulations of the county and the state and monitor all the different guidelines and watch what happens day-by-day and week-by-week as we go through March.”
The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame announced Thursday it was rescheduling its induction dinner from April 19 to Sept. 20 at Russo’s On The Bay in Queens.
“It would not have been fair to the honorees, their friends and guests and the general public to wait any longer,” said NYSBOF president Bob Duffy. “I must commend the ownership and management at Russo’s On The Bay for working with us during this crisis to give us a date that will hopefully work for us all.”
The Hall of Fame induction is a much more elaborate event, at which boxing’s past champions from around the world can relive their glory.
This year’s induction class includes former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins of Philadelphia, multi-division champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and multi-division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley of Pomona, Calif.
This is also an historic year because the first class of female fighters will be enshrined. Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker will be inducted in the modern era category while 90-year-old Barbara Buttrick of England, who fought in the 1950s, represents the trailblazer category. The non-participants scheduled to be inducted include promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and the late Dan Goossen, journalist Bernard Fernandez of Philadelphia and author Thomas Hauser.
“It’s an historic class with the first females to be enshrined and have their plaques in the museum,” Brophy said. “Ticket sales for the weekend had been good since the fall when we made the announcement of the inductees. We’re still right on target for have a special weekend. We’re going to continue to monitor the next week and a half and the beginning of April and determine what is happening. Everything is day-to-day. It’s hard to forecast out to June. But the best position we can be in is to maintain our plans that are well underway and keep moving forward.”
The museum closed on March 17 in the midst of a year of resurgence in the sport. With boxing now prevalent on network television and live-streamed on other platforms, business has improved at the Hall of Fame.
“With so much activity in boxing with the networks and the apps, it’s been busy,” Brophy said. “There’s been a spin-off at the Hall of Fame. Fans have been visiting more frequently and talking about the current fighters because they’ve seen them so much on these different networks. The momentum of boxing had been wonderful for everybody in boxing. Now every major sport has settled down with no activity. Everybody is anxious and hoping we can get this under control and enjoy the sport they all love.”