CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Former Ohio State Boxing Association is adding two classes to its Hall of Fame this weekend.
The organization is doing what the Professional Football Hall of Fame recently did and is holding two introductory courses in a year because Covid postponed the 2020 event.
The introductory dinner will take place on Sunday, August 29th at 2pm at the Holiday Inn in Independence. Tickets for the event are sold out, said Gene Glen, secretary of the organization.
The 10 amateur and professional fighters who will be anchored:
• Ernest Bailey, who had more than 100 amateur fights.
• Shawn Bailey, 53-12 amateur record, 7-0 as a professional. (The Baileys are twins.)
• Robert Carson, Ohio State Heavyweight Champion.
• Joe DiSalvo, Golden Glove Champion, 10-2 professional record.
• Lee Kreisher of New Philadelphia, started in Toughman competitions and mixed martial arts, later boxing and training fighters at Showtime.
• Scott Neal, previously named Coach of the Year by the association.
• Robert Parks, 59-6 amateur record.
• Edward Reust, Cleveland heavyweight champion in the Golden Gloves.
• Jim Rumsey.
• Cleveland Watkins, a lightweight from Youngstown.
Further award winners are:
• Joe Gentile, Man of the Year for the third time.
• Umpire of the Year Doug Paterson.
• Carl Burton, Lifetime Achievement Award
• Nick Duganier and Rick Lozado, Coach of the Year
• Marty Healey, Bulldog Award, for contributions and support.
• Antonio Rodriguez, Little Bulldog Award for contributions and support.
Glen said the association isn’t limited to just introducing boxers.
“We use people associated with boxing, maybe they were coaches or skilled fighters and never boxed,” said Glen, adding that the organization has existed since 1966.
Full membership nominates potential parishes, then the board cuts the list for approval.
Glen, who started fighting bantamweight and ended welterweight, has been a member since 1973 and was inducted in 1982. He said he was expecting 175 people for the celebration on Sunday.
“Sometimes we only used two or three, but we had a lot of names,” said Glen, who is also a judge on the state boxing commission. “It’s bigger than usual.”
Sunday is a big boxing day in Cleveland with Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley Headlining a night of fighting at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
I am online cleveland.com‘s Life and Culture Team and deal with topics related to food, beer, wine and sports. If you want to see my stories here is a directory on cleveland.com. WTAM-1100’s Bill Wills and I usually talk about food and drink at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in on Wednesdays at 7:05 am for “Beer with Bona and much, much more” with Munch Bishop at 1.50 pm The Gambler. Twitter: @ mbona30.
Get a jump start on the weekend and Sign up to the Cleveland.com‘s weekly “In the CLE” email newsletter, your must-have guide to top things to do in Greater Cleveland. It’ll hit your inbox on Friday morning – an exclusive to-do list that focuses on making the most of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun, and more. Simply click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com Newsletters are free.
