By Lyle Fitzsimmons
It’s probably not his fault, but I’m still going to blame Edward Brophy.
The executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame 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 likely not determined by anything over which he or his minions had control.
But make no mistake, as I look at the envelope that originated from his 13032 postal code, it’s him who’s making me feel each one of my 47 years, seven months and five 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 2017 ceremony, by the way, is pegged for June 11.
And if you haven’t been a part of an induction weekend in Canastota, do yourself a favor.
Anyway, continuing a recent swerve from past ballot procedures, the timeframe constituting old-timers up for consideration has been greatly expanded, and this year again 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.
Then, I was 19. Now, I’m an old-timer.
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 32 years prior seemed so old that they might as well have been witnessed by dinosaurs. Last year, a guy who sat ringside and watched a would-be super fight disintegrate at the first card I ever attended – Hector Camacho – was voted in to the hall.
That card, incidentally, was 32 years ago this past June in a long since demolished arena.
And no, the fact that Camacho has been dead for nearly four years doesn’t help.
But lest I spend too much time in a nostalgic self-pitying funk, there’s work to be done. Alongside 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 21-year stretch between Jan. 1, 1989 and Dec. 31, 2011.
In keeping with a tradition in this space that’s yielded a steady stream of hate mail for suggesting no one named Gatti ought to get in the hall without paid admission, here’s a wide-open look at my ballot for those “fresh” faces.
My voting criteria, while admittedly not as scientifically eloquent 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.
Yuri Arbachakov
Career: 1990-1997
Record: 23-1 (16)
Titles at: 112
NOTE: NO
Paulie Ayala
Career: 1992-2004
Record: 35-3 (12)
Titles at: 118, 122
VOTE: NO
Marco Antonio Barrera
Career: 1989-2011
Record: 67-7 (44)
Titles at: 122, 126, 130
VOTE: YES
Nigel Benn
Career: 1987-1996
Record: 42-5-1 (35)
Titles at: 160, 168
VOTE: NO
Sot Chitalada
Career: 26-4-1 (16)
Record: 1983-1992
Titles at: 112
VOTE: NO
Donald Curry
Career: 1980-1997
Record: 34-6 (25)
Titles at: 147, 154
VOTE: NO
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
Evander Holyfield
Career: 1984-2011
Record: 44-10-2 (29)
Titles at: 190, HWT
VOTE: YES
Julian Jackson
Career: 1981-1998
Record: 55-6 (49)
Titles at: 154, 160
VOTE: NO
Santos Laciar
Career: 1976-1990
Record: 79-10-11 (31)
Titles at: 112, 115
VOTE: NO
Rocky Lockridge
Career: 1978-1992
Record: 44-9 (36)
Titles at: 130
VOTE: NO
Miguel Lora
Career: 1979-1993
Record: 37-3 (17)
Titles at: 118
VOTE: NO
Buddy McGirt
Career: 1982-1997
Record: 73-6-1 (48)
Titles at: 140, 147
VOTE: NO
Henry Maske
Career: 1990-2007
Record: 31-1 (11)
Titles at: 175
VOTE: NO
Dariusz Michalczewski
Career: 1991-2005
Record: 48-2 (38)
Titles at: 175, 190
VOTE: NO
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, HWT
VOTE: NO
Orzubek Nazarov
Career: 1990-1998
Record: 26-1 (19)
Titles at: 135
VOTE: NO
Sven Ottke
Career: 1997-2004
Record: 34-0 (6)
Titles at: 168
VOTE: NO
Vinny Pazienza
Career: 1983-2004
Record: 50-10 (30)
Titles at: 135, 154, 168
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
Samuel Serrano
Career: 1969-1997
Record: 50-5-1 (17)
Titles at: 130
VOTE: NO
Johnny Tapia
Career: 1988-2011
Record: 59-5-2 (30)
Titles at: 115, 118, 126
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
Wilfredo Vazquez
Career: 1981-2002
Record: 56-9-2 (41)
Titles at: 118, 122, 126
VOTE: NO
Ratanapol Sor Vorapin
Career: 1990-2009
Record: 59-8-1 (48)
Titles at: 105
VOTE: NO
* * * * * * * * * *
Weekly title-fight schedule:
FRIDAY
Vacant IBO super middleweight title -- Launceston, Australia
Renold Quinlan (No. 46 IBO/No. 62 IWBR) vs. Daniel Geale (Unranked IBO/No. 11 IWBR)
Quinlan (10-1, 6 KO): First title fight; Three consecutive wins by stoppage (13 total rounds)
Geale (31-4, 16 KO): Twelfth title fight (7-4); Held IBF, IBO and WBA titles at 160 pounds
Fitzbitz says: Geale has no street cred at 168 pounds, but his acumen from one weight class south ought to be enough to handle a guy whose last two foes were 27-11-1 combined. Geale by decision
SATURDAY
WBC cruiserweight title – Liverpool, United Kingdom
Tony Bellew (champion/No. 5 IWBR) vs. BJ Flores (No. 14 WBC/No. 58 IWBR)
Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KO): First title defense; Unbeaten since 2013 (7-0, 5 KO)
Flores (32-2-1, 20 KO): Second title fight (0-1); Second fight outside United States (0-1)
Fitzbitz says: Bellew fell short in his title efforts at 175 pounds, but he’s been successful since bumping up in weight – and he’s better all-around than his 37-year-old challenger here. Bellew by decision
Last week’s picks: 1-0 (WIN: Burns)
2016 picks record: 70-19 (78.6 percent)
Overall picks record: 802-267 (75.0 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.