Let's fast forward five years, and unpack the drama that is to be the 2023 IBHOF ballot...

Majority so far has Cotto & Ioka on the bubble. That's one hell of a bubble. Plus, just think, you're going to have a lot of fine pugilistic champions left huddled outside in the aftermath of 2022, where Mosley and Hopkins already have two of three spots clinched. I guess third would be Tim Bradley, just off the dome, but I might be forgetting somebody obvious.

You also have the gaggle of high class "perennial bridesmaids" like Benn, Eubank, Curry and newcomers Ricky Hatton & Iván Calderón (passed over in favor of Winky, Vitali, and El Terrible for this year's induction class) - and however many more are added to that list in the next few years...like possibly JMM if he doesn't get in right away.

You also have a couple of ringers floating around, who ought to snatch up 1st-ballot spots if and when they finally retire - remember that, though it defies logic, both Roy Jones, Jr. & James Toney are still active fighters.

 

Damn.

 

Thank you for this very important bit of editorialized "correction".

 

I get the feeling a lot of people DKSA Kazuto Ioka.

Of course, this is the 'Hall of Fame' (hence the argument for putting Cotto ahead of somebody whose career might have been objectively greater by any metric, like Ward - and why Stallone or Gatti are in) but still. It wasn't like Ward ever became some crossover mega-star. He's barely known in the US by casuals, let alone non-boxing fans. Ioka meanwhile was among the most popular champions in Japan, a sport that passionately loves boxing (even if that is faint praise from a country that also, equally passionately, loves a fake combat sport like puroresu) and a diehards' darling for years. His resume, if you actually follow the lighter weights (which few do, even among ardent fans of the sport) is actually pretty deep, although he is perhaps short on big signature victories over prime ATG's. (closest he gets is probably Akira Yaegashi, himself more of an "on the bubble, not quite IBHOF" guy). Still, though...it's deep. He accomplished a lot, fought a lot more consistently good opposition than Ward (who fought a few excellent fighters during his rise & championship heyday but with lots of soft touches in between) and his one loss is very forgivable, unlike a few of, say, Cotto's.

 

Glad to see the haters so far have refrained from cheekily voting on the bottom four options and distorting the results.

 

Oh snap. You're right.

He's still fighting, but only in exhibition matches for meager pay it would seem, per this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-donald-trump-head-saved-world-trouble-boxing

If that was indeed the "Final One" versus Sheppard (that counts officially toward his pro record, that is), then yes, he's another spanner in the works. Jesus. Then what??

 

That potentially creates a bubble of Wladimir Klitschko, Andre Ward, Miguel Cotto, and Kazuto Ioka. That is an entire respectable induction class (plus a single unfortunate outlying extra!) in any other year.