Former four-division world champion Miguel Cotto tops a list of 20 people representing all segments of boxing who have been selected for the 2026 Class of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame.
Cotto’s compiled a 41-6 record with 33 KO’s while winning world titles at super-lightweight, welterweight, super-welterweight and middleweight. He went undefeated in three fights in Atlantic City, winning them all by KO/TKO.
Cotto was among eight boxers selected for induction, along with former world champions Orlando Canizales (bantamweight), Jacqui Frazier-Lyde (women’s heavyweight) and Zab Judah (super-lightweight, welterweight), popular middleweight Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Charles Williams, Harold Knight and Mike Tinley.
Mancini (29-5, 23 KOs) was best known in Atlantic City for his exciting fight against the late Alexis Arguello at Bally’s Atlantic City in 1981. It was one of the last fights before championship bouts were shortened from 15 rounds to 12. Arguello won via 14th-round TKO.
Both Knight and Tinley were frequent competitors in Atlantic City in the 1980’s, when the town blossomed into a major boxing city.
Knight (19-1, 15 KOs) had 15 bouts on the boardwalk, compiling at 14-1 record with 12 KOs while fighting at Bally’s, Harrah’s, Resorts, Sands, Showboat and Tropicana as a super-featherweight.
Tinley (22-5-1, 9 KO’s), who was from Camden, frequently made the short trek on the Atlantic City Expressway. He fought an impressive 21 times in town, going 17-4 with four KOs at venues such as the Atlantis, Playboy, Harrah’s, Resorts, Sands and Trump Castle.
Atlantic City native Craig Johnson is among five inductees in the Observers/Special Contributors category. Johnson, who is now Executive Chef at Claridge, served as manager for his younger brother, the late Leavander Johnson, during his rise to the IBF lightweight championship.
Craig becomes the third member of his family to enter the Hall of Fame, joining Leavander and his father, Bill, who is a legendary trainer based at the Atlantic City PAL.
Others in that category are referee Earl Brown, promoter Lou DiBella, judge Melvina Lathan, and trainer John Scully. DiBella was Leavander’s promoter during the late stages of his career.
Former local media personality Chuck Betson is among the four inductees in the Posthumous class, along with former fighters Georgie Navarro and James Shuler, and trainer Wesley Mouzon.
Betson, who passed away in 2020 at age 68, was a frequent ringside presence as a columnist for The Press of Atlantic City and during his tenure as a radio host.
Referee John Fitzpatrick, promoter Al “Boomie” Soifer and media member Juan Carlos Tapia were selected in the Pioneers category.
The ACBHOF’s 10th annual awards and induction weekend will be held September 25-27 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Super Bowl memories
This week’s frigid temperatures reminded me of my trip to Minnesota in February, 2018 to cover the Eagles’ magical victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Before heading to the game, I purchased a North Face jacket at Macy’s in the Hamilton Mall to help ward off the sub-zero weather that I was about to encounter.
Eight years later, I’ve been donning that jacket again, along with the winter hat I bought at the Mall of America the week of the game.
Slipping and sliding on ice and frozen snow to get to my car this week brought back painful (and embarrassing) pregame memories.
Twenty minutes after boarding a media bus the morning of the game, I discovered I was wearing the wrong credential and would have to pick up a new at the University of Minnesota in Bloomington.
The bus driver wasn’t going to alter his route, so he left me on the side of a busy highway. I climbed through drifts and skated across puddles to a McDonald’s, where I hailed an Uber to take me to the campus while looking up if the North Cape May Wawa was hiring.
The Uber driver drove off, leaving me stranded. I finally made my way to the Golden Gophers’ Fieldhouse to get the necessary badge, then hitched a ride to the stadium aboard a 1945-edition school bus. Mercifully, I got there in plenty of time to chronicle the Eagles’ 41-33 victory over the Patriots, which included the legendary “Philly Special.”
I’m looking forward to checking out the ESPN “30 for 30” episode on Friday that relives that inconic moment in Eagles’ history, when coach Doug Pederson, quarterback Nick Foles, running back Corey Clement and tight end Trey Burton teamed up for a touchdown that will forever be etched in team lore.
My personal favorite Super Bowl memory dates back to February, 2005, however, when I was in Jacksonville, Florida for the Super Bowl XXXIX.
A few days before the Eagles’ 24-21 loss to the Pats, I attended the Media Day party at TPC Sawgrass, site of the island green on the 17th hole of The Players Championship.
It’s a story I retell every year around this time, much to my family’s chagrin.
As part of the festivities, people were invited to try to hit the green on 17 with a $5 donation to charity.
With Hootie and Blowfish playing in the background, I threw down a Margarita, swung a 5-iron and stuck it on the dance floor.
I still have the plaque commemorating the achievement. My wife tries to hide it in a cabinet, but I always find it.
Boxing returns to Hard Rock Saturday
Promoter Alex Barbosa of R&B Promotions returns to Hard Rock on Saturday with a card featuring local fighters Rodney Brooks of Mays Landing, Christian Figueroa of Atlantic City and Jamil Simmons of Pleasantville.
Brooks (5-0, 4 KOs), a 38-year-old Oakcrest High School graduate and former professional basketball player, takes on unbeaten Darius Lesane (3-0, 3 KOs), of Charlotte, North Carolina in a four-round heavyweight clash.
Figueroa (1-0, 1 KO), 24-year-old brother of unbeaten super-welterweight Justin Figueroa, will face Philadelphia’s Avonte Barr (1-3, 1 KO) in a four-round light-heavyweight bout.
Simmons (0-2), a 34-year-old super-lightweight, recently resumed his career after an eight-year layoff. He will fight a rematch with Benji Gomez (1-6, 0 KOs), of Oxnard, California. Gomez won the first meeting via split decision last August.
Photo credit: Tom Briglia
