By Cliff Rold

On June 13, 2010, the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) inducted one of its most intriguing classes in recent years.  It was a year where many who had lingered on the ballot for years, strong in merit but sometimes overshadowed by the fog of time, could cross their fingers.  Two of the three chosen in the modern category were on this scribe’s short list for preferred induction.  Those two, Lloyd Marshall and Jung Koo Chang, received long overdue accolades; 70s action hero Danny Lopez got a fitting thank you for all the memorable leather he exchanged.

2011 is expected to be different, a year when crossed fingers need not bother.  For some, it’s already a foregone conclusion.  Barring any last minute comebacks, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Kostya Tszyu are all likely to garner induction in their first year of eligibility.

The first two are no brainers.  Tyson was the biggest fistic star of his time and, in the second half of the 1980s, the best Heavyweight in the world.  Chavez is the arguably the greatest Mexican fighter of all-time and can make a similar argument at Jr. Welterweight.  There may be some who make arguments about Tyson’s out of the ring issues precluding his induction, but those arguments will almost certainly be overruled.

That leaves Tszyu.

An early perceived shoo-in, give him more than just a glance and there is a healthy argument to be had that maybe 2011 should not be his year.  Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KO) had a Hall of Fame career and deserves to get in… but on the first ballot?

There is some confusion about what it means when the argument is made that a fighter should not get into the IBHOF in their first year.  At least here, it’s not the same as the argument seen in, say, baseball.  It’s not about elitist standards to express degrees of greatness.  Either a fighter is, or is not, a Hall of Famer.  One can change their mind on certain candidates, for or against, as they stay on the ballot, but the beginning of eligibility alone should not influence the call.  The question for new names should be whether there is anyone still on the ballot who has been both long overlooked and who belongs there first.

It’s an important question because, also unlike Baseball, the IBHOF is still relatively young.  Its first induction class was in 1990.  For years, the standard was for the top five inductees to be admitted; that has changed to three.  Almost everyone in the IBHOF today is there without much argument to be had.  Those with whom there is argument aren’t coming out.  It will take time, but eventually it can be assumed that all who belong will get their time.

Especially those who were Hall of Famers before the IBHOF came into existence.

Enter Harry Jeffra.

As noted above, two of the three preferred picks from 2010 made it into the Hall.  Number three was Jeffra and he’s as overdue for his day as Marshall and Chang were in the 2010 class.  From 1954-88, Ring Magazine’s was the prominent Hall of Fame for boxing.  Jeffra was selected to that field in 1982.  Jeffra is also a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, a less celebrated but older Hall than the IBHOF.

Twenty-plus years is too many to be excluded from the IBHOF and Jeffra deserves induction over Tszyu based on head to head merits.

Why?

Jeffra was a two division World Champion when there weren’t four ‘champs’ or more to be found in any given weight class and during a period when there were (mostly) eight, rather than seventeen, classes to conquer. He won the Bantamweight and Featherweight titles in 1938 and 1940 respectively, posting a mark of 94 wins, 20 losses, and seven draws with 28 wins coming inside the route.  Of his losses, 8 came in his last twenty contests over some seventeen years as a pro.

The numbers and titles are impressive enough but stats alone are not what merits Jeffra getting the call before Tszyu.  There is also the question of opposition.  Tszyu, in ultimately unifying the Jr. Welterweight title, faced most of the best around 140 in his time including Sharmba Mitchell and Zab Judah.  Coupled with one of the great amateur careers ever, Tszyu earned the respect he has engendered.

Jeffra similarly beat many of the best around him with wins over the likes of the excellent Jackie Wilson and Phil Terranova.  Jeffra did a little more than that as well.  Jeffra beat a great fighter, an already enshrined Hall of Famer, when both were near the top of their games.

Tszyu beat only one fighter who will go down as great, Chavez, and he did that when Chavez was ancient; when Chavez was not great anymore.  Chavez is also probably the only fighter Tszyu ever defeated who will even appear on the IBHOF ballot.  In his favor, Tszyu won more titles and title fights and was a champion for more of his career, but there were more belts to go around.

Jeffra defeated Hall of Fame Puerto Rican icon Sixto Escobar in four of five contests, defeating Escobar for the Bantamweight title and taking his only loss to Escobar, for the title, in their fourth fight.  Their fifth fight was Escobar’s last, Jeffra garnering the honor of retiring him.

Jeffra also won two of three versus the skilled Joey Archibald, winning and losing the Featherweight honors in the first two fights, along with a decision nod over former Bantamweight king Lou Salica.  Salica has not been voted to the IBHOF but has been on the ballot and can be assumed there again next year.  The great Chalky Wright was one of only two men to stop Jeffra and the only one to do it from late 1935 until Jeffra retired in 1950.  It is superior, in terms of opponent, to both of the men who stopped Tszyu (Vince Phillips and Ricky Hatton).

Jeffra is, of course, not the only longtime ballot regular for whom a case can be made for induction before Tszyu.  Others can make those cases.  That Jeffra is there, along with more strong choices, is an example of the time it has and will take to weigh new names versus old as the IBHOF continues to grow.  

Growth without Jeffra has gone on long enough.

Growth without Tszyu should wait when ballots go out later this year.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com