Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame announces newest class
The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame announced its 14-person class of inductees Wednesday, headlined by Thomas Hearns, Leon Spinks and Michael Spinks.
Also announced as inductees by Boxing Hall of Fame, Hall CEO/president Michelle Corrales-Lewis, were Michael Carbajal, Erik Morales and Salvador Sanchez, among the greats to be honored Aug. 12 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Hearns was chosen in the non-Nevada resident boxer category, along with Michael Spinks, Morales, Michael Carbajal, women’s boxing star Lucia Rijker and Salvador Sanchez. Elected in the Nevada resident boxer category are Ken Norton, Leon Spinks and Richie Sandoval.
Chosen in the non-boxer category were referee Davey Pearl, public relations specialist Debbie Munch, promoter Mel Greb, trainer/cut man Rafael Garcia and Nevada Athletic Commission chair Dr. Elias Ghanem.
Norton, Sanchez, Greb and Ghanem will be inducted posthumously.
The members of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame’s fifth-induction class will be honored at a gala dinner at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Aug. 12.
“We are very proud of this class of inductees, and it contains some of the greatest fighters who ever lived,” Corrales-Lewis said in a news release. “I’m looking forward to our gala dinner when we can honor these richly deserving people and allow their fans to say hello.”
Hearns was one of the standouts during the 1980s and participated in a series of great bouts in Las Vegas with Leonard, Hagler and Duran. His 1985 bout with Hagler at Caesars Palace is still regarded by many as the greatest fight in boxing history.
The Spinks brothers, Michael and Leon, become the first set of brothers inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. Both won gold medals for the U.S. at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and then went on to win world titles in the pros.
Norton, known primarily for a series of close bouts with the legendary Muhammad Ali, also competed in one of the great heavyweight title bouts ever. He lost the WBC title by a razor-thin decision to Larry Holmes in 1978, among the finest heavyweight championship fights ever held.
Pearl was among the best referees of all-time and worked more than 70 championship bouts. He was the referee for both Leon Spinks’ shocking 1978 upset of Ali as well as for Leonard’s dramatic 14th-round knockout of Hearns in 1981.
Michael Carbajal is known as the first junior flyweight to earn a $1 million purse. He won world titles at junior flyweight and flyweight. Known as “Little Hands of Stone” for his punching power, Carbajal was 49-4 with 33 KOs.
.
[divider width=”full”]
[blog_posts posts=”6″ type=”slider” columns=”3″ image_height=”200px” show_date=”true”]