The town of Canastota, New York, in 1982 decided to honor two local boys who made good as boxers: Carmen Basilio, world middleweight and welterweight champion in the 1950s, and Basilio's nephew, Billy Backus, who became world welterweight titlist in 1970.
A fund raising drive to build a small museum dedicated to Basilio and Backus was so successful that Canastota residents decided to go even further, by establishing boxing's first true hall of fame and museum.
Ground was broken for the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum in 1989 and the first induction was held the following year.
Inductees are chosen in five categories:
Non-Participants: Managers, trainers, referees, who have contributed to the sport through their activities outside the ring
Observers: Added in 2001, this category is mainly for writers and other members of the media
Pioneers: Boxers, mainly bare-knuckle fighters, whose last bout took place before 1892
Old-Timers: Boxers whose last bout took place no earlier than 1893 and no later than 1942
Moderns: Boxers whose last contest took place no earlier than 1943, and who have been retired for at least five years
Inductees in the first four categories are elected by historians chosen by the Hall of Fame's board of directors. Moderns are elected by a panel made up primarily of members of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Induction ceremonies are held annually, about the middle of June.
An earlier boxing hall of fame was established by Ring Magazine in 1954. The Ring Hall of Fame set up the same categories, although they were defined somewhat differently. Members were selected annually by a panel of writers and broadcasters. That hall of fame went out of operation in 1987.
Members of the Ring Hall of Fame who have not been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame are listed below.
