International Boxing Hall of Fame Will Do Mega Unification Induction in June 2022

When word started seeping in that coronavirus would be making it’s way to America, and make the rounds, and leave a trail of carnage, speculation began. How long will this issue last? A year, and then we should be able to be over it? Those thoughts came into my head when I learned the news from the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 

I saw many theories from “experts,” but it seems, looking back, that many of the predictions about how long the United States would be dealing with the pandemic were too optimistic. I recall that I would see pandemic experts sharing that it would take two years for the virus to wreak havoc and get dealt with, to where we could get back to a version of “normal.” And I’d want to dismiss them, for being too dire, but then I’d remember that those experts had a surer handle on the issue than I did. 

All that was in my mind when I learned that Ed Brophy and the International Boxing Hall of Fame would be putting off the 2021 induction gala weekend, and instead move the festivities to June 9-12 of 2022. 

Bless Brophy, I appreciate his “better safe than sorry” mindset regarding COVID, and that he isn’t blowing off a level of risk that could arise if he decided to go ahead with the June 2021 induction gala. 

His laudable caution comes with a price, too. The Hall has been negatively impacted, because they aren’t getting the traffic they normally do, and their revenue has dropped off precipitously. That’s why I am posting the link to their website here, so if you choose, you can send a contribution to aid them in the time of need.

And hey, if you want to get your appetite whetted for what that 2022 unification event will look like, Roy Jones Jr would be a likely entrant, being that he’d satisfy the three year requirement for eligibility.

Here is the release sent out by the IBHOF people:

INTERNATIONAL BOXING HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES ANNUAL JUNE INDUCTION WEEKEND WILL PAUSE FOR ONE MORE ROUND WHILE FIGHTING  COVID-19 AND WILL CELEBRATE NEW INDUCTEES JUNE 9-12, 2022

The International Boxing Hall of Fame – Turning Stone Resort Casino Will Host  2022 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend That Promises to be Biggest Event Yet

​CANASTOTA, NY –FEBRUARY 2, 2021 – The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced today that due to the many unknowns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic between now and June and the remaining months of year, the 2021 Induction Weekend will be postponed until next year. 

Next year’s celebration is scheduled for June 9-12, 2022 and will be themed a Hall of Fame Weekend Induction Trilogy. The event will honor the Classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 when an international event the scale of the Induction Weekend can be done safely and without restriction in “Boxing’s Hometown.”

“Following last year’s Induction Weekend cancellation, the Hall of Fame recognizes the importance of pausing another round of induction celebrations,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy. “However, the word trilogy is synonymous with boxing and if there is one sport and one location that could have the perfect setting for an Induction Trilogy, it is the sport of boxing and the place is Canastota.”

 “It is so important to honor inductees with all the bells and whistles that the Hall of Fame Weekend is known for, including the intermingling between celebrities and boxing fans, and provide each inductee with the recognition they each so richly deserve,” continued Brophy. (Click here to learn more about the Hall from Brophy.)

The intermingling was tremendous in Canastota for the June 2011 induction, when Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Kostya Tszyu, Nacho Beristain, Joe Cortez and Sylvester Stallone made the cut. (Photo by Jeff Julian)

 The annual voting procedure takes place in the fall of each year and the Class of 2022 will be voted on and announced later this year.

 The Class of 2020 includes boxers Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Frank Erne, Paddy Ryan, Barbara Buttrick, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker; promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and Dan Goossen and journalists Bernard Fernandez and Thomas Hauser. 

Promoter DiBella will be part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction unification weekend in 2022.

The Class of 2021 includes boxers Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward, Laila Ali, Ann Wolfe, Marian Trimiar, Jackie Tonawanda and Davey Moore; cut man Freddie Brown, physician Dr. Margaret Goodman, trainer / manager Jackie McCoy, journalist George Kimball and television executive Jay Larkin.

The official 2022 Hall of Fame Weekend Induction Trilogy schedule of events and ticket purchasing information will be released later this year and will be the most highly anticipated event in Hall of Fame history.

Roy Jones Jr fought Mike Tyson in an exhibition in November 2020 but his last pro fight, versus Scott Simon, came in February 2018. He'd therefore be eligible for entry into the next IBHOF class.

For more information please call the International Boxing Hall of Fame at (315) 697-7095 or visit on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.