Muhammad Ali, Carmen Basilio, Joe Frazier, Jake LaMotta and Jack Dempsey are among the first 53 people who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, officials said Saturday.
Hall of Fame director Ed Brophy announced the names of those who will be inducted at the museum's first ceremonies June 8 to 10. The museum opened last June in the Madison County community of Canastota, 15 miles east of Syracuse.The 53 inductees were chosen in four categories: modern boxers, old-timers, pioneers and non-participants, Brophy said.
Modern boxers are those whose last fight took place no earlier than 1943. Among the 20 modern boxing inductees will be Ali, Basilio, Frazier, LaMotta, Bob Foster, Kid Gavilan, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Willie Pep and Sugar Ray Robinson.
Among the 21 old-timers - whose last fights came between 1893 and 1942 - will be Dempsey, Joe Gans, Tony Canzoneri and James Corbett.