Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez will have to wait to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
A Hall of Fame official told ESPN Sunday that the induction weekend scheduled to begin June 14 in Canastota, New York is off because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s class will be inducted with the Class of 2021 a year from June.
Hopkins, Mosley and Marquez were scheduled to be inducted in the modern boxer category. Also, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker were to be the first women inducted.
“By combining the celebrations of the induction classes of 2020 and 2021, the Hall of Fame can honor inductees with all the bells and whistles that the Hall of Fame weekend is known for and provide each inductee with the recognition they each so richly deserve,” Hall of Fame Executive Director Ed Brophy told ESPN.
“By honoring the two classes in a one-of-a-kind induction weekend, the Hall of Fame will be able to put all the winning combinations together for the inductees, fans and the entire sport of boxing.”
Others set to be inducted were: Frank Erne and Paddy Ryan in the old-timer category; Barbara Buttrick in the women’s trailblazer category; promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and the late Dan Goossen; and journalists Bernard Fernandez and Thomas Hauser in the observer category.
Those who purchased tickets for induction weekend can use them next year or receive refunds.
The pool of fighters who become eligible for election next year is deep. Among them: Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko, Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward.