By Jesse Kelley
Historically, Minnesota has been blessed with some of the most talented men to ever lace on a pair of gloves. Fighters from the early glory days such as Mike and Tommy Gibbonsand Billy Miske helped pave the way for standouts like Duane Bobick and more recently Will Grigsby. There is no doubt that Minnesota is at the top of the list for big time fighters going all the way back to boxing's beginnings.
Despite these fighters, and the rest of the past greats, Minnesota as a whole has never officially had a place to honor these men...until now.
One of Minnesota boxing's best kept secrets has been quietly in the works for close to a year now. And today, the Official Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame steps out of those shadows in hopes of bringing some of Minnesota boxing's past legends along with it.
"It has been a long time coming" said MNBHOF board member and well known boxing figure Denny Nelson. "I have been around boxing for a long time and it will be great to finally see these guys receive the honor that they worked so hard for."
Minnesotaboxing.com also had the pleasure of discussing the newly formed non-profit organization with president Jake Wegner and vice president Jeff Flanagan. The two went into great detail in discussing the reasoning behind the MNBHOF, the induction process, the board members, and the yearly induction banquet, which takes place this October and Mancini's Char House and Lounge in Saint Paul.
http://www.mnbhof.org/Minnesota_Boxing_Hall_of_Fame/Old_Timers.html
Hall of Fame Star Tribune Story OCTOBER 13, 2010 — 6:17AM
The tale of Martin's discovery helps explain why the
Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame inducted its first members Tuesday night, some 60
years after the idea was hatched. It needed someone like Jake Wegner -- as
hard-headed, persistent and driven as the Black Pearl -- to take up the cause.
A year after he got it rolling, a sellout crowd of more than 250 people
attended the induction banquet Tuesday at Minneapolis' Jax Cafe, where Martin
and 10 others were honored and remembered.
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