Boxing’s Hall of Fame: Who Should Be In And Who Should Be Out?

September 24, 2010

Rafael Herrera

Why he should be in: Hard-bitten longtime contender finally made it in 1971, earning the spotlight with a decision over 28-0-1 Rodolfo Martinez—one of the more underrated champions of the 70’s. Later that year, beat Chucho Castillo, who had just beaten 56-0-1 legend Ruben Olivares. In ’72, knocked out the 68-1-1 Olivares, who had since regained the bantamweight title. Later that year, decisioned Olivares in a rematch, making it two wins over a champion in his mid-twenties that many consider one of the top half-dozen banties of all-time. Scored knockout defenses over Martinez in a rematch, 34-1 Venice Borkhorsor, and hard-slugging ex-champ Romeo Anaya. For a good four years, he beat virtually every top guy is an absolutely stacked bantamweight division.

Why he probably won’t make it: Has become almost invisible, with his name barely mentioned even in hardcore boxing circles. Perhaps unjustly, the late-70’s bantamweight explosion is revered more than the great group that fought earlier in the decade.

Pone Kingpetch

Why he should be in: Simply put, how can you beat Fighting Harada and Pascual Perez (two surefire Hall of Famers) when they’re both reigning champions and not get in yourself? Perez was 54-1-1 before Kingpetch decisioned and KO’d him in consecutive bouts. Fighting Harada was 27-1 and would go on to become the only man to defeat super-legend Eder Jofre. Showed a certain resilience in his career by rebounding from two knockout losses to exact revenge—against Harada and later, 38-1-1 champion Hiroyuki Ebihara. Was a three-time flyweight world champion.

Why he probably won’t make it: He’s been retired for almost 45 years and dead for almost 30, so why would anyone feel compelled to review his case now? Most boxing fans can’t even pronounce his name. With a 28-7 (9 KOs) record, he didn’t have a great career outside of his biggest wins. Combine that with the fact that he only notched 3 defenses over 3 title reigns and voters will likely continue to neglect him.

Masao Oba

Why he should be in: The Salvador Sanchez of Japan, Oba was destined for big things before a car wreck claimed the talented young champion at 23 in 1973, the same age as the great Mexican champion. Scored wins over a pair of 3-time flyweight champions—Betulio Gonzalez and Chartchai Chionoi. Busted his ankle early against Chionoi, before heroically rallying to score a 12th-round stoppage. It would be his last fight. While he didn’t quite score the great wins that Sanchez did, he should get some benefit of the doubt. Fighting in Asia against fighters most westerners aren’t familiar with doesn’t mean they weren’t good. He was an excellent champion rounding into a potentially great one when his life was tragically claimed.

Why he probably won’t make it: Doesn’t really have the type of wins that make it an open-and-shut case. Was champion for only a little over two years, making 5 defenses. It’s difficult to project how good he could have been, but his accomplishments as they stand do not necessarily ring of Hall of Fame quality. In addition, he fought in an era where the flyweight division was not at its best, in fact, it was almost invisible to 90% of the international boxing public at this particular time.