The official announcement for the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2025 took place on Saturday afternoon at the SJC Boxing Gym in Fort Myers, Florida. The inductees are: Juan LaPorte, Joe “King” Roman, Byron Mitchell, Charles Whittaker, Timur Ibragimov, Freddie Delgado, Laura Ramsey, Tony Morgan, Osmiri “Moro” Fernandez Sr., Stacy McKinley Jr., J Russell Peltz, Mike Silver, Bill Calogero, Tony Spain, Aaron Jacobs, John David Lyons, Roy Jones Sr., Bill Ray, Dr. Tim Carlson.
Special awards will be presented to John “The Beast” Azari (Lifetime Achievement), Efrain Lebron (Boxing Achievement), and William Ramirez (Boxing Achievement).
Induction Weekend will be at the St. Petersburg Hilton Lake Carillon on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, June 20, 21 and 22, 2025.
Byron Mitchell! Wasn’t the most talented guy but that man had serious power.
– Good to see Russel Peltz being recognized as he brought many fights to the Legendary Blue Horizon in North Philly back in the day of USA Network’s Tuesday Night Fights…………
What happened to that place? Did they tear it down?
It was designed to become a boutique hotel but when the buyer later realized there was no available parking lot area, he slowed down redevelopment. The place was partially gutted on the inside and still has scaffolding and wire fences around it but nothing is happening. It just sits there. The city had a right to declare it an Historic Building but City Council was too busy letting the 76ers destroy Chinatown by moving out of the Wells Fargo Center and into Chinatown where traffic will make the LA Freeway look like the Sahara Desert.
– The Blue Horizon was one of the best venues that I have ever been to for live Boxing.
– A person sitting in the first-row balcony area could almost touch someone in the fighter’s corner if they both stretched out.
– Only problem with the Blue is that it is located in one of the worst areas in North Philly (which I called “enemy territory” back in the day).
Juan LaPorte was very tough back in the day.