HALLS OF FAME
The first Boxing Hall of Fame was established by The Ring in 1954. Annual elections in the Modern (retired from five to twenty-five years). Old-Timer (retired more than twenty-five years), and Pioneer (bare knuckle) categories (a “Meritorious Service” category was established after founder Nat Fleischer’s death in 1972) were held from then through 1987, after which the magazine’s increased financial difficulties brought a temporary halt to publication, and its Hall of Fame was discontinued.
Efforts at establishing several independent Boxing Halls of Fame were started in the 1980s, two of which were launched. The World Boxing Hall of Fame is really an annual dinner hosted in Los Angeles since 1980; its lists of inductees exist on paper. The International Boxing Hall of Fame established in 1989 in Canastota, N.Y., birthplace of Carmen Basilio and his nephew, Billy Backus. Elections have been held annually since that time, the first induction ceremony taking place in June, 1990. The original categories of Modern, Old-Timer, Pioneer, and Non-Participant were joined by an Observers category in 2000-2001. (Journalists were previously included in the Non-Participants.) i
The Ring Boxing Hall of Fame: the-ring-boxing-hall-of-fame
World Boxing Hall of Fame: the-world-boxing-hall-of-fame
International Boxing Hall of Fame: the-international-boxing-hall-of-fame
i Goldman, Herbert G. BOXING: A Worldwide Record of Bouts and Boxers. Part V. The Organization of The Sport – Halls of Fame