Committee officials announced today that five-time World Champion Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz heads a distinguished list of seven 2011 inductees into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (“CBHOF”). The seventh annual Gala Induction Dinner will be held Saturday night, October 29 in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The other 2011 inductees include 1996 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team Captain, Lawrence Clay-Bey; renowned world boxing judge Glenn S. Feldman; world light heavyweight title challenger Eric “Magic 2000” Harding; amateur boxing standout Kelvin Anderson; boxer, referee and coach Billy Taylor; highly-respected ringside physician, Dr. Michael Schwartz.
Tickets, priced at $75.00 per person, are available to purchase by calling Kim Baker at Mohegan Sun (860.862.7377) or Sherman Cain at the Manchester Journal Inquirer (800.237.3606 (X 321). Doors open at 5:30 PM/ET, followed by cocktails at 6 PM/ET, and then dinner.
Among the five world titles captured by Paz (50-10, 30 KOs) were the IBF lightweight and WBA light middleweight championships. The wildly popular Italian-American from Cranston (RI) was the prestigious 1991 Ring Magazine Comeback of the Year Award recipient having overcome a broken neck suffered in a car crash to win another world title.
Clay-Bey (21-3-1, 16 KOs), fighting out of Hartford, captained an absolutely loaded 1996 U.S. Olympic Boxing team that included four future world champions as professionals – Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Antonio Tarver, David Reid and Fernando Vargas. Lawrence lost in the second round to current world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, 10-8. Clay-Bey was the IBA Continental heavyweight titlist. He is a veteran correctional officer in Connecticut.
In addition to judging 95 world title fights all over the world during the past 23 years, Feldman founded the CBHOF and has been its only president. He is a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in West Hartford.
The signature victory for Harding (23-4-1, 7 KOs), who captured the NABF and USBA light heavyweight titles, was a 12-round decision in a 2000 IBF Eliminator against 16-0 Antonio Tarver, a five-time world champion. Eric lost a world title bid to Roy Jones, Jr. when he was unable to answer the bell for the 11th round due to a serious shoulder injury in their WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO world title fight.
Anderson was a much decorated amateur boxer from Hartford who tragically died in a 1980 plane crash. Fourteen boxers and eight staff members of the USA Boxing Team, traveling to Poland to compete in an International match, were among 77 passengers who perished.
Taylor was honored in 1990 by the NCAA Coaches Association, as well as the Connecticut Boxing Guild, for his 50-year contribution to boxing. He kick-started the boxing careers of Connecticut greats such as world champion Marlon Starling, Tyrone Booze and Troy Wortham. Billy coached the 1969 Coast Guard national championship team, guided Central Connecticut State University for eight seasons in the eighties, and produced three national champions and 32 All-America boxers.
Dr. Schwartz is Chief Ringside Physician for Professional Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, who has been responsible for creating many of the medical protocols utilized in boxing. He is the founder of the first Medical Association for Professional Ringside Physicians, in addition to being Chief Ringside Physician for the State of Connecticut. Schwartz also serves as the Chief Ringside Physician and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for both Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino.
Go on line to www.CTBoxingHOF.com for more information about the 7th annual CBHOF Gala Introduction Dinner or the history of this organization.
