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

Yeah, I'm thinking El Matador will creep in the backdoor circa 2028 or so.

 

Damn, MVC! skipping the polities of first asking someone if they're high and jumping straight to crack. You touched a nerve, Perk!

 

He isn't officially cast, per imdb and other sources, and Stallone went on record a while back saying that he would barely factor into the plot, if at all.

 

You don't reckon Floyd has? I'm probably more convinced by this retirement than I have been ever before. Fifty is a nice round number, has a nice ring to it, and puts him just past the mark set by Marciano (which Floyd saw as some kind of Holy Grail personal benchmark, although I'm not sure why he needed to compare himself to a heavyweight champion from a different era, when lots of guys have technically gone 49-0 before, like untold Thai strawweights padding up their W column against debutants), and he conquered the h2h rivalry with era #2 Pacquiao, and four weeks from tomorrow he will be celebrating his 41st birthday. Plus, it has been almost three years since he fought a real pro boxer with so much as one round's experience. McGregor was just a little icing on the cake to do the bare minimum to nudge himself past the line to 50-0, while exploiting the hopeful MMA fanbase and yet another wave of "great white hope" suckers to execute a brilliant cash grab. Even so, the fact that he didn't have it all his way vs. McGregor suggests that even reverting to a 2015 Berto level of competition is probably a bad idea, flirting with the prospect of sacrificing his zero. And for what? Mayweather has diversified his interests, financially, and despite the portrayal of him pushed by some in the media as some reckless spendthrift, he's probably set.

 

James Toney surpassed a year of inactivity a fortnight ago, meaning he very likely will have 2017 as the endpoint of his career, meaning he's on the ballot in 2023, meaning he gets inducted, meaning there is only room for Mayweather & one additional person to join him, with at least one big name left on the bubble...

 

People tipping Klitschko to cut in line ahead of Toney surprises me. I somehow doubt the voting body (many of whom are of an older generation, probably nostalgic for the days of Toney's prime, or for more distant bygone eras of which he is a throwback reminder and embodiment of with his style...and who almost certainly have a find recollection of stronger heavyweight eras than Wlad presided over) will see it that way.

 

I think Klitschko and Cotto (slight edge IMO to Klitshcko deserving) is a tighter race than Klitschko and Toney (big edge for Lights Out)