Well, it seems like things are snowballing at the International Boxing Hall of Fame. After canceling the 2020 induction ceremony due to COVID, they’ve now done the same this year. The Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 will be inducted over the span of four days in June of 2022.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced today that due to the many unknowns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic between now and June and the remaining months of year, the 2021 Induction Weekend will be postponed until next year.
Next year’s celebration is scheduled for June 9-12, 2022 and will be themed a Hall of Fame Weekend Induction Trilogy. The event will honor the Classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 when an international event the scale of the Induction Weekend can be done safely and without restriction in “Boxing’s Hometown.”
“Following last year’s Induction Weekend cancellation, the Hall of Fame recognizes the importance of pausing another round of induction celebrations,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy. “However, the word trilogy is synonymous with boxing and if there is one sport and one location that could have the perfect setting for an Induction Trilogy, it is the sport of boxing and the place is Canastota.”
As for why they don’t simply do the ceremony over Zoom:
“It is so important to honor inductees with all the bells and whistles that the Hall of Fame Weekend is known for, including the intermingling between celebrities and boxing fans, and provide each inductee with the recognition they each so richly deserve,” continued Brophy.
If they’re this committed to the classic experience, this is the right move. Even with the (struggling) vaccine rollout, COVID remains an inescapable fixture in American life, particularly with the fresh wave of mutated strains making their ways across the nation. It would be profoundly awful to see a boxer get a complementary respiratory illness with their honors.
This year’s ballots saw the legendary Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko, Andre Ward, Laila Ali, and Ann Wolfe earn their spots in Canastota.