Boxing Hall Of Fame

International Boxing Hall of Fame for induction ceremonies next month are hometown heroes and grand marshals Carmen Basilio and his nephew Billy Backus. ”The 21st annual Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend is June 10-13 and will include sport luminaries such as Ken Norton, Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor, Leon Spinks, Gerry Cooney, trainers Angelo Dundee and Lou Duva, and writer/historian Bert Sugar.“It’s a special year, and it follows the tradition of previous years,” Hall of Fame Executive Director Ed Brophy said. “We’ll have 50 celebrities gathering once the weekend comes around. It’s quite a setting for a sports hall of fame to have that many on site.”Basilio and Backus will preside over the Hall of Fame Parade of Champions at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 13. The parade through downtown Canastota will lead the procession to the Hall of Fame where induction ceremonies begin at 2:30 p.m. Among the inductees this year are light flyweight champion Jung-Koo Chang, of South Korea (the first Korean boxer to be inducted) U.S. featherweight Danny “Little Red Lopez, manager Shelly Finkel, referee/commissioner Larry Hazzard and German promoter Wilfried Sauerland. The weekend also will include a banquet, golf tournament, boxing card show and cocktail party. On Friday, June 11, the Hall of Fame will have a Madison Square Garden Night at the Rusty Rail Party House in Canastota. Highlights from Madison Square Garden fights will be shown on screens in the Rusty Rail. In 2007, the 82-year-old MSG ring was donated to the Boxing Hall of Fame. The most famous fight in the ring was arguably on March 8, 1971, when Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier faced off in the “Fight of The Century.” Frazier downed Ali in the 15th round and won a unanimous decision. “We thought we should celebrate the history of that ring,” Brophy said. “Who’d thought that ring would end up in Canastota, New York.”For more information on induction weekend, call the International Boxing Hall of Fame at 315-697-7095 or visit the Hall of Fame on the Web at www.ibholf.com.