By Lyle Fitzsimmons
It’s not at all his fault, but I’m going to blame Edward Brophy anyway.
The executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame presumably had zero impact on when my parents met, married and decided to have children, so my blessed arrival on day No. 45 of Richard Nixon’s presidency was also in no way determined by anything he or his minions had control over.
But make no mistake, when I received an envelope over the weekend that had originated from his 13032 postal code, it was him who made me feel every bit of my 45 years, seven months and two days.
As it has each year since I became a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, Mr. Brophy’s enveloped correspondence again contained the hall of fame voting ballot that gives me a small sliver of influence on the fighters that will and will not be included for induction the following year.
The 2015 ceremony, by the way, is pegged for June 14.
And if you haven’t been a part of an induction weekend in Canastota, do yourself a favor.
Anyway, in a swerve from past ballot years, the timeframe constituting old-timers up for consideration has been greatly expanded, and now includes those whose final bout was as recent as 1988.
For all those walking with me through the early steps of middle age, I’ll let that sink in a bit.
1988.
We were in college. We had jobs. We had cars. We had girlfriends. In fact, come to think of it, we had all the preliminary trappings of eventual adulthood, minus the mortgage and the kid and the tanking 401K.
And now, we’re all old-timers.
I can’t speak for the similarly creaky masses, but when I hear the phrase “old-timer,” I still conjure black-and-white movie visions of Joe Louis pounding the fight out of Max Schmeling in their 1938 rematch. Or, at the very least, the image of my grandfather-in-law, Granville Cowden, standing alongside Jack Dempsey in the framed restaurant photo that hangs about five feet from where I sit as I write this.
When I was a young fight fan, the matches that occurred 30 years prior seemed so old that they might as well have been witnessed by dinosaurs. Now, the guy who was the main-event attraction in the first live fight card I ever attended – Ray “Boom” Mancini – is on the IBHOF ballot.
That card, incidentally, was 30 years ago this past June in a long since demolished arena.
And had he not returned for two end-of-career losses in 1989 and 1992, he’d be an old-timer, too.
But lest I spend too much time in a nostalgic self-pitying funk, there’s work to be done. Alongside the relics of my youth whose last fights came no later than the final full year of the Reagan Era, there are no fewer than 30 names up for consideration as “modern” inductees – meaning their last fights came somewhere in the 20-year stretch between Jan. 1, 1989 and Dec. 31, 2009.
Twenty of the 30 are first-timers for possible IBHOF induction. So, in keeping with a yearly tradition that’s yielded in an intermittent stream of hate mail for suggesting anyone named Arturo Gatti has no business in the hall without a paid admission, here’s an open look at my ballot for those fresh faces.
My voting criteria, while admittedly not as scientifically precise as some colleagues, is simple.
Was the fighter among the best in his peer group for a prolonged stretch of time? Not a one-year star or a popular guy who got TV time solely due to persona or style, but was he one of those guys – for at least a handful of years – who simply had to be on a short list of the best fighters in the world?
If the answer is yes – think Mayweather and Pacquiao – he’s got my vote.
If the answer is no – think Butterbean and Kardashian – he’s got my apologies.
And with that, gentlemen, start your vitriol.
Paulie Ayala
Career: 1992-2004
Record: 35-3 (12)
Titles at: 118, 122
VOTE: NO
Nigel Benn
Career: 1987-1996
Record: 42-5-1 (35)
Titles at: 160, 168
VOTE: NO
Riddick Bowe
Career: 1989-2006
Record: 43-1 (33)
Titles at: Heavyweight
VOTE: YES
Chris Eubank
Career: 1985-1998
Record: 45-5-2 (23)
Titles at: 160, 168
VOTE: NO
Leo Gamez
Career: 1985-2005
Record: 35-12-1 (26)
Titles at: 105, 108, 112, 115
VOTE: NO
Genaro Hernandez
Career: 1984-1998
Record: 38-2-1 (17)
Titles at: 130
VOTE: NO
Julian Jackson
Career: 1981-1998
Record: 55-6 (49)
Titles at: 154, 160
VOTE: NO
Rocky Lockridge
Career: 1978-1992
Record: 44-9 (36)
Titles at: 130
VOTE: NO
Ray Mancini
Career: 1979-1992
Record: 29-5 (23)
Titles at: 135
VOTE: NO
Buddy McGirt
Career: 1982-1997
Record: 73-6-1 (48)
Titles at: 140, 147
VOTE: YES
Sung-Kil Moon
Career: 1987-1993
Record: 20-2 (15)
Titles at: 115, 118
VOTE: YES
Michael Moorer
Career: 1988-2008
Record: 52-4-1 (40)
Titles at: 175, heavyweight
VOTE: NO
Orzubek Nazarov
Career: 1990-1998
Record: 26-1 (19)
Titles at: 135
VOTE: NO
Vinny Pazienza
Career: 1983-2004
Record: 50-10 (30)
Titles at: 135, 154, 168
VOTE: NO
Lupe Pintor
Career: 1974-1995
Record: 56-14-2 (42)
Titles at: 118, 122
VOTE: NO
Gilberto Roman
Career: 1981-1990
Record: 54-6-1 (35)
Titles at: 115
VOTE: NO
Gianfranco Rosi
Career: 1979-2006
Record: 62-6-1 (18)
Titles at: 154
VOTE: NO
Meldrick Taylor
Career: 1984-2002
Record: 38-8-1 (20)
Titles at: 140, 147
VOTE: YES
Fernando Vargas
Career: 1997-2007
Record: 26-5 (22)
Titles at: 154
VOTE: NO
Ratanapol Sor Vorapin
Career: 1990-2009
Record: 59-8-1 (48)
Titles at: 105
VOTE: NO
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
WEDNESDAY
IBF middleweight title – Biloxi, Miss.
Sam Soliman (champion/No. 5 IWBR) vs. Jermain Taylor (No. 15 contender/No. 44 IWBR)
Soliman (44-11, 18 KO): First title defense; Tenth fight in United States (7-2, 1 KO)
Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KO): Eighth title fight (4-2-1); Held IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO belts at 160 pounds
Fitzbitz says: I’d love to see Jermain win. But I’m far more hopeful that I don’t see him hurt. My guess is that half of those wishes come true against a 40-year-old without gigantic power. Soliman by decision
SATURDAY
IBF junior middleweight title – Cancun, Mexico
Carlos Molina (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Cornelius Bundrage (No. 1 contender/No. 5 IWBR)
Molina (22-5-2, 6 KO): First title defense; Second fight in Mexico (0-0-1, 0 KO)
Bundrage (33-5, 19 KO): Fifth title fight (3-1); Held IBF title at 154 pounds (2010-13, two defenses)
Fitzbitz says: I’ve seen Molina fight live a few times and he’s always won, but I’m not quite as wild about him as some. Still, because Bundrage is no monster at 41, I think he’s got enough. Molina by decision
Last week's picks: 2-0 (WIN: Barthelemy, Gonzalez)
2014 picks record: 70-22 (76.0 percent)
Overall picks record: 617-216 (74.0 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
