Sunday marked a historic day when several of the world’s boxing idols were inducted into the 2022 Boxing Hall of Fame.
Due to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020, 2021 and 2022 generation award ceremonies have been suspended.
So on one day the names of several figures were introduced into the Hall.
The list of great celebrities in the ring is huge and, when viewed as a single event, rivals the best of all time.
The festivities began on Thursday, June 9th and concluded this Sunday at Canastota Hall of Fame, New York, home of the Hall of Fame.
the prayer of the stars
The deck of fighters of three generations was led by the controversial Floyd Mayweather Jr. and two historical Latin American boxers: Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, as well as Roy Jones, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins.
But there were other laureates, such as Laila Ali, one of the pioneers of women’s boxing and daughter of “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali, and former Ukrainian heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who were unable to attend due to his participation. in defense of his country from the Russian invasion.
As for Mayweather, the African American had a distinguished career with an undefeated 50-0 record, with which he ended his career, surpassing Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record.
Among the most emotional moments of the ceremony was the memorialization of “Money”, a controversial fighter, sometimes obnoxious, but with excellent defensive technique that allowed him to retire from the sport with little or no injury.
Floyd’s tears
During his speech at the banquet the day before the ceremony, Mayweather Jr. was very touched and even cried at such recognition of his impressive career.
“I told myself that I would not cry. This is one of the best days of my life,” said The Money, causing laughter from everyone present.
In addition, other great fighters such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto are recognized as “Best Pound for Pound”.
“I am very proud of these fighters. I’m not even here to talk about myself, because without them I wouldn’t be myself. I am happy that Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley are in the Hall of Fame. I’m very proud of you guys,” Mayweather Jr. emphasized.
The most famous generations
In terms of the number of names, this triple generation is reminiscent of the names exalted in the first two generations of the Hall, in 1990 and 1991, each of which is filled with great people of all time.
In 1990, historical names were inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame who had the merit of defeating any opponent they faced. The best examples were Ali, Joe Frazier, Jake LaMotta, Joe Luis, Rocky Marciano, Carlos Monzon, Jose Angel “Mantequilla” Napoles, or “Sugar” Ray Robinson.