By Rusty Rubin

If you’ve never been to the LA based World Boxing Hall of Fame, you’re missing a lot. The annual induction ceremonies take place every October, and always features a who’s who of those boxing greats with us and are able to attend.

Every year new fighters are inducted and every year some old greats fall by the wayside and for various reasons can no longer attend.

Missing from action this year was Carmen Basilio, Bob Foster and Arthur Mercante Sr. to name a few.

But that didn’t stop the event from taking place and it was a fun time for all. A couple of inductees were missing in action, Teddy Atlas, Marc Ratner and Joey Archer did not attend.

But those honored Gwen Adair, Ray Mancini, Adolfo Zamora, and Jeff Chandler to name a few were very gracious in their comments.

But for this old scribe the real fun part comes when he gets to meet again all of his old friends from years past, not only those who gave me great memories in the ring but who have become friends outside of it as well.

I look forward to attending this event every year.

Great boxing show scheduled for Caesars Tahoe on Nov. 5, headlined by Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy vs. Scott Pemberton and the blink and you lose match between Rafael Marquez and Silence Mabuza. The fights will be on Showtime TV, but the non-televised undercard appears solid as well and if you can show up to the event early, it should be more than worth your while.

The problem with the Lacy fight seems to be a similar problem we see in the past, when fighters fight their aging sparring partners, it produces little action. However this fight can be different because both of these young men are of very high quality and figure to want this fight badly.

I’ll go with “Left Hook” in this one. Lacy looks the stronger of the two combatants but Pemberton isn’t going to be a pushover.

Marquz – Mabuza is far more problematic as they both have huge punches and while we don’t know enough about their whiskers, we can safely say that the best bet here is the fight does not go the distance.

Don’t blink an eye here folks.***

Please help me with my upcoming new book. Send all boxing jokes, stories, quips and boxing oddities to (Rusty@ringsports.com), thanks, and members of the boxing media are free to send this most welcome information as well. All submissions used will be given full credit, if used in the book, and it will be given on who submits the story first, basis. Here’s your chance to have your name in print, instead of ‘America’s Most Wanted’ posters (or in my case, America’s Least Wanted’.***

And a new website for you to check out, (story upcoming in a future posting) Americanboxer.tv. They have a new concept that everyone should be interested in. Stand by.

Glove2Glove:

Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.

Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove asks for your prayers in his recovery.

Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.

Prayers needed for the return to health of Alfonso Luna, father of our outstanding photographer Ray Luna, who has taken ill in Southern California.

Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***

Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***

Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***

Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***

Touching on politics briefly: It’s been a long two weeks for President Bush, and not a very successful time at that.

Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff Scooter Libby has resigned amid a possible scandal, Karl Rove, the President’s head adviser remains under scrutiny, and his Supreme Court first choice pick Harriet Meyers has also withdrawn her name. His new pick may make the President’s base happy, but I’m not so sure he’ll be easily confirmed.

Meanwhile in a clear political move the Republican Texas Legislature allowed the Judge that was investigating Tom Delay to be replaced by a Republican judge, which certainly tells you all you need to know about the fairness of the politics in the Lone Star State.

Those who read this column know I’m not a Tom Delay fan. But fan or not, Delay, like all of us deserves a fair trial. But wouldn’t an independent judge have served the people and the party better?

In Iraq, the death toll among Americans has risen to over 2,000. Sad news, but certainly not unexpected. For a President who claimed when we went into Iraq that ‘we’re not into nation building, doesn’t Mr. Bush owe the American people an explanation as to what the hell we’re doing there? The worst part of this equation is that I know of no one, myself included, who has a logical way of getting out, short of turning tail and abandoning ship. Something that would give the terrorists even more ammunition and confidence in their war against us.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you. I respect everyone’s opinion. (Rusty@ringsports.com).