Anyone brave enough to say no for a guy that beat: Gene Fullmer Ike Williams Beau Jack Bobby Dykes Yama Bahama Johnny Saxton Bernard Docusen Charley Fusari Del Flanagan Virgil Akins Pierre Langlois Charley Scott Vic Cardell Don Williams Chico Varona Joe Micelli Ramon Fuentes Italo Scortichini Seriously, why are guys like Terry Norris automatic inclusions whilst someone like Gil Turner isn't even up for discussion? That resume dumps on Norris'.
There are a few voters who purposefully skip the less-deserving, more recent entries to reserve votes for those more serious men from way back who languish because by now even their children are dying off. Cocoa Kid's induction gave me hope though. He has routinely been skipped for years and the sudden swell of support he got in the fall means that many who have -routinely been skipping him for years- suddenly changed their minds. It proved to me that when voters have access to information and, critically, that information is passed directly to them, they can do the right thing. Yes. Gil Turner should be in the IBHOF, and he should have been candidate already.
Good point, though it's quite an indictment on them that they needed that kind of coaxing to begin with when dealing with fighters the calibre of Cocoa Kid. Great fight. Never a dull moment with Gil. His fight with Basilio is quite a good slugfest too, very tight contest. Footage quality ain't the best though...
I don't care much about who is in the IBHOF or not. If I cared, I'd set up my own HOF ! But no doubt Gil Turner was as great as many of the men who are already in. I rate him above Thomas Hearns as a welter, personally.
I use cuevas as a benchmark as he actually achieved very little and looks like **** on film (until he lands a ko shot). Turner is not far behind the likes of graham and giardello who made the cut above him. There's certainly room in there for him. Same for de jesus, it always surprises me he didn't make it.
I agree that Turner should be in the HOF already but do you really rate him higher than Hearns at 147?
If your key criterion is resume, then that's entirely reasonable. TOmmy was a hell of a fighter at welterweight though...
Hall of fame's are all about politics/money. That's why I step down as V.P. of the California Boxing Hall of Fame.
