As the President of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame I am proud to announce that on Thursday evening, November 3, 2016, the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame will hold it’s 47th Annual Dinner and Induction Ceremonies at the beautiful Venetian, located at 546 River Drive, Garfield, New Jersey starting at 7:00p.m. Tickets are priced at ONLY $85.00 per person. Fourteen (14) of Boxing’s finest will be inducted in the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, and they are as follows:
Debra Barnes (Holmdel) – Professional Boxing Judge since 1990. She has judged many Championship and top-flight bouts during her career including George Foreman/Gerry Cooney, Roberto Duran/Vinny Pazienza & Sugar Ray Leonard/Hector Camacho.
Scott DePompe (Kinnelon) – former International Boxing Organization Inter-Continental super lightweight title holder. He beat Michael Corleone capture the IBO Title, and was rated just outside the top 10 in the World at the height of his career. He is now an Amateur coach.
Pat English (Lincoln Park) – An Attorney who represented boxers, managers and promoters for over 34 years. He has been involved in various capacities in well over 200 major bouts (World Championship and/or Bouts appearing on HBO, Showtime, etc.). He has represented World Champions, including Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer, Pernell Whitaker, Tomasz Adamek & Nicolai Valuev He also represented several managers including Lou Duva, Emanuel Steward and Vincent Scolpino. He is the current Attorney for Main Events.
Nelson Fernandez (Bloomfield) – Boxing Broadcaster, HBO Latino/Manager. Play by Play boxing commenter for HBO LatinoWorld Championship Boxing. He has managed and/or trained 11 World Champions and 39 Regional/Continental Champions.
Derrick Graham (Newark) – Former New Jersey Amateur Champion. Fought Winky Wright, Dave Hilton and Mean Joe Greene as a Pro. His reputation for being a hard-nose, scrappy fighter garnered invitations to spar with boxing greats such as Bernard Hopkins and Oscar DeLaHoya. He is now an Amateur coach.
Cosmo Liaci (Kearney) – Former AAU Champion, Amateur and Professional trainer and former President of the Veteran Boxers Association Ring 20 and Ring 25. As a trainer he trained Conrad Tucker and John Sullivan in the pro ranks and he also trained several young boxers to Amateur titles.
Pat Lynch (Middletown) – 1997 BWAA Manager of the Year, who is best known for managing Arturo Gatti to two World Titles. He also managed John Molnar & Freddie Cadena. He is the current manager of Julian Rodriguez, Glen Tapia and Clarence Booth.
Leon Muhammad (Newark) – Boxing Manager and Advisor to 8 former World Champions, including Tim Witherspoon, Johnny Bumphus, Eddie Mustfa Muhammad and Michael Spinks. He has also worked as a matchmaker for several top promoters including Lou Duva, Don King, Butch Lewis, Top Rank and Murad Muhammad and still works in the business after 40 years.
Rodney Price (Elizabeth) – Former professional fighter who was a National Golden Glove Finalist, 10 time State Champion in the Junior Olympics, Golden Gloves and Diamond Gloves. He now serves as an inspector for the N.J. Athletic Control Board while serving as an Amateur referee and judge.
Ray Ryan (Wall Township) Served over 25 years as an Inspector and timekeeper for the N.J. Athletic Control Board. Currently the most senior timekeeper with the Board and has worked well over 50 World Title fights.
Posthumously:
Jimmy Anest (Hackensack) – He was a deaf mute who fought throughout the 1940’s. He fought some of the best welterweights of his era including Billy Graham, Johnny Bratton and Johnny Cesario.
Phil Berman (Paterson) – NJ Golden Glove and Diamond Glove Champion, who had some of the quickest KO’s both as an Amateur, two under 20 seconds and Pro, including a 28 second KO at Madison Square Garden, which is one of the fastest KO’s ever at the Garden in it’s long history. His career was cut short by an injury he received during World War II, where he received a Purple Heart.
Gerald Hayes (Newark) – N.J. State Super Featherweight Champion who holds a win over Juan Laporte, who was the World Featherweight Champion at the time. He also fought Lupe Pintor, Bobby Chacon, Rocky Lockridge, Alexis Arguello, Bernard Taylor (twice) and Eusebio Pedroza.
Herschel Jacobs (New York) – Gave Rubin “Hurricane” Carter his 1st professional loss. He ended the career of former Light Heavyweight Champion Harold Johnson by stopping him on cuts. He also beat Henry Hank, fought a draw against Jimmy “The Cat” Dupree and went the distance with Ken Norton while being out weighed by almost 30 pounds.
Also, the NEW JERSEY BOXING HALL OF FAME will be honoring their Senior Amateur, Junior Olympic Amateur & Professional Boxer of the Year, as well as the Amateur Official & Coach of the Year, Plus our “2016 Man of the Year”.