The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 will be enshrined together during the 2021 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend scheduled for June 10-13th in “Boxing’s Hometown.”
Fans who purchased 2020 Induction Weekend event tickets can transfer them to the 2021 Induction Weekend or refunds will be available until June 15th. For new orders, the 2021 event ticket application will be released soon. Many events in “Boxing’s Hometown” of Canastota will be planned throughout the four-day celebration, as well as evening events at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
The Class of 2020 includes boxers Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Frank Erne, Paddy Ryan, Barbara Buttrick, “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” Christy Martin, “The Dutch Destroyer” Lucia Rijker; promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and Dan Goossen; and journalists Bernard Fernandez and Thomas Hauser.
VALDEZ vs BERCHELT
Former world featherweight champion Oscar Valdez is plotting an impactful award-winning return, after the COVID-19 pandemic, by taking on WBC super featherweight world champion Miguel “Alacran” Berchelt.
Last November he bounced back from a brief surprise trip to the canvass in the second round, to knock out Adam López.
Valdez (27-0, 19 KOs) is weathering the pandemic storm era, at his ranch in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. This was what he said about Berchelt in an interview with Top Rank:
“We only have one fighter in mind at the moment, and that`s ‘El Alacrán’ Berchelt because I am the mandatory challenger. There were rumors that it was going to be on May 9th. I was already back at the training camp in San Diego to prepare myself by May 9, but then we got the news…later. We just kept training. It doesn’t hurt to stay in camp.
“The fight has not yet been announced, but it is a mandatory fight. The fight has to happen. I think, on our side, we are ready to sign the contract because I am going for my dream. I want that belt We want to do it officially, and it was done training for that fight. Right now, we have to train from home. It is what it is,” Valdéz acknowledged.
