The Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, which began in 2009 and has become one of the leading Halls of Fame in the world, made the official announcement of the Class of 2022 over the weekend at the SJC Boxing Gym in Fort Myers, Florida. There were 47 Hall of Famers in attendance along with legendary promoter and best-selling author J Russell Peltz.
Induction Weekend will be at the Marriott St. Petersburg/Clearwater June 17, 18, 19, 2022.
FIGHTERS
Al “Ice” Cole, Fres Oquendo, David Tua, Shannon Briggs, Keith Mullings Sr.*, David Armstrong, Randall Bailey, Cory Spinks
TRAINERS
Gus Curren, Tito Tiburon Ocasio, Armando Wiz Fernandez
PROMOTERS
Richard Dobal
MEDIA
Claudia Trejos
PARTICIPANTS
Phil Alessi Jr., Richard Fabian, Jerry Reyes, Joey Orduna, Steve Harris
OFFICIALS/COMMISSION
Dennis DeBon, Dr. Ramon Garcia-Septien
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Chris Young, Vernon “Rusty” Ansell, Russell Ansell
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Tim Shipman
*Deceased
19 Living 1 deceased + 4 special awards
Randall Bailey was always a dangerous fighter no matter who he faced in the ring. Bailey’s powerful counter punching made him a threat to any opponent who got lazy even when they were beating him in the ring.
David Tua’s KO of John Ruiz still has that “awe” effect when one still watches the replay on YouTube. Great memories!
Randall Bailey was probably one of the hardest punchers ever. What that man did to Francisco Figueroa was just cruel and he was well passed his best when he caught Mike Jones. Some of the greatest ko’s of his era.
legendary promoter and best-selling author – ok calm down guys, but congrats to all
she looks good in that dress. Good to see the ol guys still showing up and they get their flowers while alive.
Tua and Bailey were no joke. Tua was no joke in the ring, and I strongly suspect Tua can street fight like a #%%^** as well.
– Saw David Tua live at Ballroom Boxing in Glen Burnie, MD.
– Randall Bailey was always fun to watch.
– A lot of these fighters were on USA Network’s Tuesday Night Fights back in the day.
I know Bailey is from Miami, and I’ve seen Briggs around the Fort Lauderdale area more than once, so I assume he lived there at one time, but had no idea the other fighters mentioned had Florida ties. Part of the criteria: must have competed in 5 main events in Florida, or, if they are from another state, they must have competed in 10 professional fights within state. Did David Tua, for example, have that many fights in Florida? I can’t recall any off the top of my head. Whatever the case, congrats to all inductees…
As far as Tua goes it’s most likely because he trained in Florida for many years and many of his fights. Mostly at my gym in Vero beach and he also trained in west palm beach. 1st rahman fight was in Florida and also Salif fight was in Florida but not sure if he fought here besides those 2 fights.
Now that you mentioned it, I do remember the Salif fight being Florida. Didn’t realize he trained in Vero/West Palm. Always looked forward to his fights…
Yes many of his fights he trained for either at my gym or down in west palm.
Tue was explosive. The most disappointing Tua fight for me was when he fought Lennox Lewis but did not at any time really try to win that fight (similar to like when Parker fought Joshua).
Big shot out to Al Cole who’s also a veteran former champion from your Detroit family!