CLASS OF 2012 INDUCTEES
FIGHTERS:
Chino Alvarez, known as the Patent Leather Kid, from Tampa. He campaigned as a world class featherweight from 1929-1946, winning 121 bouts (70 by knockout). He fought many of the top fighters of his day, but never got a world title opportunity.
Steve Carr boxed professionally from 1932-1939, after a highly successful amateur career and quickly became one of the top light heavyweights of his era, winning 52 of 74 bouts, (including 8 draws).
Orlando’s Scott Clark, known as the Golden Boy (before Oscar De La Hoya) fought during the tough era of welterweights in the 1970’s. He was world ranked and obtained a title opportunity against the great Pipino Cuevas, but lost in two rounds. He retired with a final record of 28-2.
Roberto Duran, one of the All Time Greats. He was the first fighter to defeat Ray Leonard. Roberto was named “The greatest Lightweight of the 20th Century,” by the Associated Press in 1989 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Jimmy Leto was one of the greats during the 1920’s through the early 1940’s, in the welterweight division, winning 98 of 130 bouts. Long before his pro career he was a star football and baseball player at Hillsborough High School in Tampa.
Danny Nardico was a world ranked middleweight from Tampa, who is credited with being the only fighter to legitimately knock down the great Jake LaMotta. His overall record was 50 wins (35 by K.O.), 13 losses and 4 draws. He was also a U.S. Marine who won the Silver Star for valor and two Purple Hearts while in Okinawa during World War II.
Aaron Pryor; Had an amateur record of 204-16 and was an alternate on the great 1976 Olympic team. His 14th round K.O. over Alexis Arguello in 1982 was named the Fight of the Decade. He defended his world title eleven times and retired in 1991 with a 39-1 (35 KOs) record. Aaron was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996 and the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. In December 1999, the Associated Press voted Aaron Pryor as the “Greatest Jr. Welterweight of the Century.”
Chico Vejar; won 93 of 117 pro bouts, losing 20 and fighting four draws. He fought 11 times at Madison Square Garden and appeared frequently on nationally televised fights against the best fighters of his day. He appeared in two movies in the 1950’s that starred Tony Curtis and Audie Murphy.
TRAINER:
Jim McLoughlin: is a well respected boxing trainer and manager. Some of the top professional fighters he’s worked with include former world title contender “Diamond” David Santos, former world champion and 2011 FLABHOF inductee Tyrone Booze, world title challengers “Smoking” Bert Cooper, Alex Stewart, Ronnie Essett, and Michael Bent, along with former amateur champion and world title contender Darren Allen.
John Russell: is a veteran of the fight came, originally from Ohio, but now a resident of Marco Island, Florida. John has worked with many top fighters throughout the years, such as James “Buster” Douglas, Harry Arroyo, Earnie Shavers, Anthony Hanshaw, just to name a few.
PROMOTER:
Dave White: was an active promoter in the Miami and Sarasota areas during the 1940’s and early 50’s, promoting weekly shows. He was instrumental in keeping the game alive during this time period.
MEDIA:
Bob Halloran: helped make a young fighter named Cassius Clay a household name when they both worked in Miami (Halloran as local CBS sportscaster). He is the Director of Sports at the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and has been a part of over 250 world championship bouts and has done shows with all the top promoters. He got his start in Miami.
Gerard Rinaldi: was a well respected award-winning boxing writer for the U.S.A. Boxing News. He traveled the world covering boxing events and interviewing legendary champions, such as Roberto Duran, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Bernard Hopkins, Evander Holyfield, Ray Leonard, and Manny Pacquiao. He was a member of the Boxing Writers Association.
Ron Ross: was himself a professional boxer, a fight promoter, and a manager. He is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and writes numerous boxing articles as well as covering major fights around the country. He has written three very successful books including the widely acclaimed Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc. He divides his time between Oceanside, New York and Boca Raton, Florida. Ron Ross was inducted into the Long Island Jewish Hall of Fame on May 21, 2006.
OFFICIAL/COMMISSION:
Mark Conn: was one of the great referees of the “Sweet Science.” His professional boxing referee career in the State of New York was from 1943-1973 and he was a professional boxing judge in the State of Florida from 1987-2000. He was the first referee who was credited with waving his hands over a fighter to signal the end of his ten count, because he thought that no one was actually able to hear the count anyway with the crowd noise.
Bill Connors: 55 years of boxing experience that included being a referee for 60 world title bouts. He was widely regard as one of the top referees in the State of Florida for many years and was always appreciated for his honesty and fairness while properly enforcing the rules.
Stu Winston: was a well known and respected WBO, WBA, and IBF boxing judge, and continued working up until the date of his death. He judged 283 fights in his 55 year career. Stu was also active in Tennis and is one of the few Americans elected to the British Professional Tennis Umpires Association. He served 5 years as President of the South Florida Professional Tennis Umpire Association, and in 1989 was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame of Miami- Dade County.
PARTICIPANT:
Dana Jamison: Has been one of Don King’s top lieutenants for the past 25 years and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Boxing Operations at Don King Productions. She has received numerous awards including being named “Executive of the Year,” by the IBF and the WBA and “Boxing Lady of the Year,” by the WBC.
Jack Leonard: was a former California boxing promoter who withstood mafia threats and a suspicious attack that put him in a hospital to become a key witness in a sensational trial that sent Frankie Carbo, Blinky Palermo, and others to prison. After moving to Winter Haven, Florida in 1982, he started training boxers in the Police Athletic League, including former welterweight champion Andre Berto, and several amateur boxing champions. Leonard was inducted into the U.S. Boxing Writers Hall of Fame and he also received a longevity award from the WBA. He died in August of 2007.
Dr. Stanley Simpson: Longtime ringside physician (33 years) for amateur, professional (and kick boxing) events and is a member of the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians. He is a sought after speaker and advocate of boxing.
Jimmy Waldrop: is a former boxer who became one of the top matchmakers in the State of Florida. Based out of Pensacola, he has worked countless shows for many years, always doing an outstanding job of matchmaking, while moving prospects along for their promoter.
