2011 Hall of Fame inductees

CANASTOTA, N.Y. — A look at the 12 people to be inducted June 12, 2011 into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum:

MIKE TYSON — Born Michael Gerald Tyson on June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, N.Y. A standout amateur, Tyson was 1984 National Golden Gloves champion. Following a controversial loss to Henry Tillman at the 1984 Olympic trials, he turned pro in 1985. Behind his trademark peek-a-boo defense, quick hand speed and swarming combination punching, Tyson scored 19 straight knockouts. After going the 10-round limit in consecutive fights with James "Quick" Tillis and Mitch Green, Tyson had six more knockouts in a row before stopping WBC champion Trevor Berbick in the second round in 1986 to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20. He added the WBA title with a 12-round decision over James Smith in 1987 and unified the titles later in the year with a 12-round victory over IBF champion Tony Tucker. Tyson defended the unified titles six times in victories over Larry Holmes, Tony Tubbs, Frank Bruno and Carl Williams, then stopped Michael Spinks in 91 seconds to earn universal recognition as champion in 1988. Two years later, Tyson lost the title to James "Buster" Douglas, then rebounded with four wins, two against Donovan "Razor" Ruddock. A proposed title fight in 1991 with Evander Holyfield was postponed because of a rib injury. Tyson reclaimed the WBC and WBA titles in 1996 by knocking out Bruno in three rounds and Bruce Seldon in the first round. That same year he lost the WBA belt to Holyfield in 11 rounds and was disqualified in the 1997 rematch after biting both of Holyfield's ears. From 1999-2001 Tyson fought six times, beating Frans Botha in five rounds, Lou Savarese in one, and Brian Nielsen in seven. In 2002, Tyson suffered an eighth-round knockout in an unsuccessful title bid against Lennox Lewis and retired in 2005 with a 50-6-2 record with 44 knockouts.

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ — Born July 12, 1962 in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. Turned pro in 1980 after a 13-bout amateur career. Undefeated after 43 fights, he scored an eighth-round knockout of Mario Martinez to win the 1984 WBC super featherweight title. He made nine successive defenses before beating Edwin Rosario for the WBA lightweight title in 1987. He added the WBC title with a win over Jose Luis Ramirez in 1988 and became a three-division world champion when he won the WBC junior welterweight crown from Roger Mayweather in 1989. His impressive string of 12 title defenses included wins over Hector Camacho, and Greg Haugen in front of a record crowd of 132,274, and in 1990 Chavez stopped IBF titleholder Meldrick Taylor with 2 seconds left in the fight to unify titles. Chavez moved up in weight and drew with WBC welterweight champ Pernell Whitaker in a 1993 title bout. After compiling an 89-0-1 record, Chavez lost the WBC junior welterweight title to Frankie Randall in 1994, then reclaimed the title in a rematch and reigned until getting knocked out in four rounds by Oscar De La Hoya in 1996. Chavez challenged for world titles three more times and lost each time before retiring in 2005 with a professional record of 107-6-2 with 88 knockouts.

KOSTYA TSZYU — Born Konstantin Borisovich Tszyu on Sept. 19, 1969, in Serov, Russia. A decorated amateur, Tszyu compiled a 259-11 record and won three European championships, took gold at the 1990 Goodwill Games, represented Russia at the 1988 Summer Olympics and beat Vernon Forrest to win the 1991 light welterweight World Amateur Championship in Australia. Moved to Australia in 1992 and turned pro, defeating Juan LaPorte in his fourth bout and Livingstone Bramble in his 10th pro fight. Tszyu defeated Jake Rodriguez for the IBF junior welterweight title in 1995 and defended the title five times, including victories over Roger Mayweather and Hugo Pineda before being upset in a 10th-round knockout by Vince Phillips in 1997. In 1998, Tszyu beat Diosbelys Hurtado for the interim WBC junior welterweight title and stopped Miguel Angel Gonzalez in 1999 to capture the WBC title outright. Tszyu consolidated titles by defeating WBA champ Sharmba Mitchell and scoring a second-round knockout of IBF champ Zab Judah in 2001. He made successful defenses against Ben Tackie and Jesse James Leija before a series of injuries led the WBC and WBA to strip him of the titles. Tszyu returned to knock out Mitchell in three rounds before losing the IBF title to Ricky Hatton in 2005 in his final fight. He finished with a pro record of 31-2-1 with 25 knockouts.

MEMPHIS PAL MOORE — Born Thomas Wilson Moore on July 28, 1894 in Memphis, Tenn. Began his professional career in 1913 and although he never became a champion, he distinguished himself as one of the top bantamweights of his era, regularly defeating champions of the time in no-decision or over-the-weight bouts. Moore fought more than a dozen boxers who became world champions, including Hall of Famers Kid Williams, Pete Herman, Joe Lynch, Jimmy Wilde and Frankie Genaro. Moore had several multi-fight rivalries, including 10 bouts with Lynch, seven with Jackie Sharkey and five with Carl Tremaine. Moore retired in 1930 after more than 200 pro fights. He died in 1953.

JACK ROOT — Born Janos Ruthaly on May 26, 1876, in the Czech Republic. Turned professional in Chicago in 1897 and posted more than 40 wins before losing to George Gardner on a knockout in the 17th round of a 1902 bout. He then registered two more wins, including a six-round triumph over Marvin Hart, before vying for the newly created light heavyweight title created by his manager, Lou Houseman. Root became the division's first champion with a 1903 win over Kid McCoy. He dropped the title to Gardner in his first defense and was stopped by Hart in 12 rounds in 1905 for the vacant heavyweight title. Root retired with a record of 47-3-3 with 28 knockouts.

DAVE SHADE — Born March 1, 1902, in Vallejo, Calif. Turned pro in 1918 and engaged in dozens of four-round bouts before receiving high praise after a knockdown of welterweight champ Jack Britton in 1921. Overshadowed early in his career by his older brothers, Shade eventually became a star. He met Mickey Walker twice in 1921, losing in the eighth round when he broke an arm and in a 12-round no-decision, and drew with Britton in a welterweight title bid the next year. In 1925, Shade, at 153 pounds, shocked the boxing world when he stopped future light heavyweight champion Jimmy Slattery in three rounds. Shade met Walker for the welterweight title later that year, losing a controversial 15-round decision. Shade eventually moved up to middleweight and defeated Ace Hudkins, Ben Jeby, and Al Gainer. Shade retired in 1935 with a record of 124-23-46 with 14 knockouts and 26 no-decisions. He died in 1983.

JOHN GULLY — Born Aug. 21, 1783 in Wick-on-Anson, England. Following his father's death, Gully took over the family butcher shop at age 13, amassed considerable debt, and was sent to debtors prison at age 21. Heavyweight champion Henry Pearce, a boyhood friend, visited him in prison and they staged a boxing exhibition for the inmates. Gully got the better of Pearce and wealthy sportsmen paid his debt so he could pursue a boxing career. Gully met Pearce for the title in London in 1805, but the experienced champion won in 64 rounds. When Pearce retired two years later, Gully was regarded as the champion and solidified his claim to the title with two wins over Bob Gregson — in 36 and 24 rounds. Gully retired after the second Gregson bout and became a successful pub owner, bookmaker and coal miner and was elected to Parliament in 1832, serving seven years. He died in 1863.

IGNACIO "NACHO" BERISTAIN — Mexico's trainer of champions, Beristain began his career working for the Mexican government and trained Mexico's boxing team at four Olympic Games. In the pro ranks, Beristain has trained 19 champions, including three Hall of Famers — strawweight and light flyweight Ricardo "Finito" Lopez, junior flyweight Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez, and bantamweight-super bantamweight Daniel Zaragoza.

A.F. BETTINSON — A former amateur lightweight champion of England, Bettinson became a promoter and with John Fleming in 1891 founded the National Sport Club (NSC), which hosted many of the top boxers of the day. Bouts took place after dinner and featured such standouts as Joe Walcott, Tommy Ryan, Jimmy Wilde, Ted "Kid" Lewis, Georges Carpentier, and Kid McCoy. Bettinson had strict rules. Boxers had to behave and members and guests were not permitted to talk during the action. The influence of the NCS was profound. In 1909 it standardized divisions and weight limits before authorizing British title bouts and arranged for the presentation of championship belts.

JOE CORTEZ — Born Oct. 13, 1943 in New York City, he registered a 43-2 record as an amateur boxer, winning six Golden Gloves tournaments. He turned pro in 1963 and compiled an 18-1 record before retiring in 1971. Five years later, he began refereeing amateur bouts and soon turned pro, officiating his first world title bout in 1982, WBA junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor's 12th-round knockout of Miguel Montilla. He has since become one of the most respected referees in boxing, calling 160 title bouts. He's also appeared as a referee in two movies.

HARRY CARPENTER — The voice of British Broadcasting Corp. boxing for over 40 years, Carpenter covered his first bout for the BBC in 1949 and became its full-time boxing correspondent in 1962. He called ringside action around the world until his retirement in 1994, including the "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman and the "Thrilla in Manila" between Ali and Joe Frazier. Prior to working for the BBC, Carpenter was on the staff of the London Daily Mail for eight years as a boxing and general sports columnist and also covered three Olympic Games. He died in March 2010 at age 84.

SYLVESTER STALLONE — Born in New York City on July 6, 1946. Became an actor and screenwriter and penned the script about an underdog boxer from Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa. The movie "Rocky" was released in 1976 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning for best picture, best director and best film editing. Stallone was nominated for best writing and best actor in a leading role. Stallone also wrote five other movies based on the Rocky Balboa character and in 2006 was awarded the Boxing Writers Association of America award for "Lifetime Cinematic Achievement in Boxing." He also hosted and produced the boxing reality series "The Contender."

Mike Tyson, JCC, and Rocky!!!!!! Hell yeah the best class ever lol.

I vote Carlos Palomino

seriously Rocky? I dont know bout that

wow I'd trade all the other issues boxing has for the unjust omission of Tyson from the hall.

not sure i follow what the hell you just said wolf?

Baseball has so many HoF issues and will likely leave out gobs of deserving players but the sport has been ran great with so much success, while boxing elects figures to the hall like tyson who deserve it, when they deserve it, but can't seem to do anything else. I'd rather go with the fucked up HoF than vice verca.

I dont get what your talking about wolf, big time boxing fans know theHall of Fame in boxing elects alot of, how do I put this, people that aren't really hall of famer's

we even have countless threads on this very site about it, alot would argue Tyson being elected in his first chance. I know people that dont really understand boxing to a full degree think Tyson is a sure fire Hall of Famer. But tell me who is Tysons most impressive victory?
A nearly retired Light Hevyweight champ in Michael Spinks? An old Larry Holmes?

I think he is worthy basically because for 2 years he reigned over a weak Heavyweight Division and then lost to one Buster Douglas.

Theres a ton of fighters in the HOF that aren't worthy in all honesty. Atleast in my opinion (and alot of other people's). Guys like Ingemar Johannsen, Curtis Cokes, Jose Torres, Terry Norris, Barry McGuigan, Marvin Hart and Edwin Rosario to name a few.

they must elect 4 people per year

fucking Jose Sulaiman got in the HOF I really think you should check out the Boxing Hall of Fame before you commend them for getting it right

(atleast I think thats what you were doing, kinda hard to understand what the hell your saying)