By Keith Idec
New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame president Henry Hascup has announced the NJBHOF’s Class of 2012.
The 14-member class includes ring announcer Joe Antonacci, judge Lynne Carter, junior lightweight/lightweight Sal Cenicola, heavyweight Lou Esa, junior welterweight Ricky Meyers, bantamweight Don Nisivoccia, junior middleweight/middleweight Pat Prisco, judge John Riley, junior welterweight/welterweight Ivan Robinson, championship belt-maker Ardash Sahaghian, lightweight Tony Santana and light heavyweight James Scott. Referee Mark Conn and judge Robert Grasso will be inducted posthumously.
The Class of 2012 will be enshrined at the NJBHOF’s 43rd annual dinner and induction ceremonies Nov. 8 at The Venetian in Garfield, N.J. For tickets ($80) to the event, contact Hascup at 973-471-2458 or hhascup@yahoo.com .
Philadelphia’s Robinson (32-12-2, 12 KOs) defeated the late Arturo Gatti twice in 1998. The first of those two fights, both of which were contested in Atlantic City, was voted “Fight of the Year” and “Upset of the Year” by The Ring magazine.
Scott (19-2-1, 11 KOs), a native of Newark, N.J., made headlines by becoming a light heavyweight contender as an inmate at Rahway (N.J.) State Prison. He fought 11 times inside that maximum-security correctional facility from 1978-1981, including several nationally televised fights, most notably a career-ending, 10-round unanimous decision loss to Dwight Muhammad Qawi in September 1981.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
