“IT’S SHOWTIME” for Jimmy Lennon, Jr., the world renowned and universally respected ring announcer who’ll be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this Sunday, June 9, in Canastota, N.Y.
Lennon, son of the late legendary ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr., started as a back-up to his famous father at the Olympic Auditorium and Forum in Los Angeles before coming to SHOWTIME in 1991. In a 30-year career, he has introduced fights in more than 32 countries, and is closing in on his 900th world championship fight.
Widely hailed for his smooth delivery, finesse and flawless pronunciation of difficult names, “The Classy” Jimmy Lennon Jr., always introduces foreign fighters in their native tongue. “Wherever I go, whether it is France, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, I like to welcome the fans and the fighters in their language.”
Among many of Lennon’s memorable career highlights was working the Julio Cesar Chavez–Greg Haugen fight card in Mexico City with 135,000 excitable fans. Lennon announced Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield to the ring for the infamous “Bite Fight” and for Buster Douglas’ shocking upset KO of Tyson in Tokyo. He’s worked “close to 20 Tyson fights, which is more than anyone else,” Lennon said.
Lennon was raised in Santa Monica, Calif., not too far from The Home Depot Center in Carson where Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING event will take place. With Hall of Fame induction festivities in Canastota, New York, some 3,000 miles away, Lennon will work Friday night’s ShoBox: The New Generation doubleheader at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.
Along with Lennon, other luminaries being inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame include famed fighters Arturo Gatti, who died in 2009, and former light heavyweight champions Virgil Hill and Henry Maske, referee Mills Lane and affable British writer Colin Hart.
Lennon will be accompanied to Canastota by his wife of 20 years, Christine, and their teenage sons, James III, 16, and Alex, 13.
