Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko, Winky Wright headed to the Hall of Fame
Three members of this year’s 2018 Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Class need no introduction: Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko and Ronald “Winky” Wright.
On December 5, 2017, the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum at 1 Hall of Fame Drive in Canastota, NY. announced the members of their 2018 Induction Class. Inductees will include three boxers who all enter the Hall in their first year of eligibility; heavyweight Champion Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko, four-division World Champ Erik “El Terrible” Morales and light middleweight Champion Ronald “Winky” Wright.
This year’s Hall of Fame Induction Weekend will be held June 7-10th. Throughout the four-day celebration, many events are planned in “Boxing’s Hometown” to include a 5K Race/Fun Run, golf tournament, boxing autograph card show, VIP Cocktail Reception, Parade of Champions plus the Official Induction Ceremony on the Hall of Fame Museum Grounds. Evening events include Friday night’s Fight Night at Turning Stone plus Saturday’s Banquet of Champions. Both events will take place at the Turning Stone Resort Casino.
Non-combatants include German promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl plus well-known broadcasters Steve Albert and Jim Gray.
The Hall of Fame also released the names of their posthumous honorees. In the non-participant category: Lorraine Chargin, life partner/co-promoter with her husband Don Chargin. Together this partnership was an unbeatable team.
(photos left, top & bottom) Show lightweight sensation Sid “the Galloping Ghost of the Ghetto” Terris who was born in 1904 on New York’s lower-East Side. After 118 fights, his boxing record ended up being 99 wins, 13 losses, 5 draws and 1 no contest. As an amateur, Terris was a prodigy winning 50 bouts in a row, and accumulating titles that included the Metropolitan Amateur, New York State Amateur, and both National and International Amateur titles. One of his most impressive victories was this third-round knockout of Andy Chaney, a gentleman who had never been knocked out in over 130 fights.
Evidently, Terris was one of those hard-luck fighters who was too good to face. Boxing author Ken Blady believes Terris’ best year as a boxer was in 1925 when he lost only one of his 18 major fights. That loss was in a sanctioned 12 round World Title elimination contest with the future Lightweight champion Sammy Mandell at Madison Square Garden. This exceptional bout drew 13,000 fans. Terris knocked Mandell to the mat for a nine-count in round three. And then for the remainder of the bout, Mandell was on his horse, evading Terris with what they called greater energy and speed. By overlooking that one knockdown, the judges somehow had Mandell winning the fight on points for a unanimous decision.
Since the three gentlemen above are legends in the sport and recent retirees, it doesn’t seem necessary to go into all of their accomplishments. Suffice it to say, that while they were competing, these World Champions always put on a tremendous performance. Combined they won 148 fights, 102 by knockout.
All nine of the 2018 inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association plus a panel of international boxing historians. For more information on the events of the 2018 International Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend, you can call directly to the Hall of Fame at (315) 697-7095 or go to the Hall of Fame on Facebook or like our beloved President Donald Trump you can also follow them on Twitter.
