Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson lead Nevada Boxing Hall class

It would be hard to have any kind of boxing hall of fame and not include Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson in it.

Thursday, the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame boosted its credibility by announcing that Ali, Robinson, Jack Johnson and Marvin Hagler — who are among the sport’s all-time biggest names — will be inducted this August in Las Vegas as part of the Class of 2015.

The Nevada hall, in its third year, will induct 21 members this year. Roger Mayweather, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and the late Johnny Tapia are all going in as Nevada Resident Boxers while the Non-Resident Boxer category includes Ali, Robinson, Hagler, Felix Trinidad, Lennox Lewis, Gene Fullmer and Marco Antonio Barrera.

Johnson leads the Pioneer inductees which include Bob Fitzsimmons and James J. Corbett, who fought each other in 1897 in Carson City along with Tex Ricard, who promoted that fight and Joe Gans, the first African-American to win a world title. The other inductees, all in the Non-Boxer Participant category include physicians Dr. Donald Romeo and Dr. Robert Voy, longtime amateur boxing advocates Pat and Dawn Barry, Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels, former Reno Gazette-Journal columnist and sports editor Steve Sneddon and ring announcer Chuck Hull.

“We needed to make the qualifications less restrictive for the non-Nevada resident boxer,” said Hall of Fame founder and chief executive officer Rich Marotta. “A lot of people were asking us, ‘How can you have a Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame without Muhammad Ali?’ and I understood their point.”

Marotta said Ali and Robinson couldn’t get in the first two years because they didn’t fight in Nevada eight times. The new criteria stipulate that if you fought in Nevada at least once and made a significant contribution to the sport, you would be considered.

Ali’s daughter Rasheda, who lives in Las Vegas (her son plays football at Bishop Gorman High School) and attended Thursday’s news conference at the Roy Jones Jr. Fight Academy, said Nevada means a lot to her father, who is 73 years old.

“To be part of Nevada history and boxing in Nevada is an honor I can’t describe,” she said. “My father loves Nevada and Las Vegas and we have so many friends here who go way back with my dad, people like Gene Kilroy (Ali’s former business manager). Our whole family is so honored to be part of this.”

When asked if her father will attend the ceremony in August, Rasheda Ali said: “I hope so. If his health is good and he can make it he will try to be there.”

Mustafa Muhammad, born Eddie Gregory in Brooklyn, N.Y., was world light heavyweight champion from 1980 to 1981 and was 50-8-1 with 39 knockouts. He said boxing was a way out of trouble for him.

“I grew up in Brownsville, which is a very tough neighborhood,” he said. “”I got into boxing to make my mother and father proud and to make Brownsville proud.”

Mustafa Muhammad, who has gone on to be a successful trainer, said he was especially honored to be going in with Mayweather.

“Roger should be in any hall of fame that is connected with boxing,” he said. “He was a great fighter and he also put Floyd Jr. on the map.”

Mayweather, a two-time world champion at super featherweight and junior welterweight and was 59-13 with 35 KOs, said: “I’m delighted to be in there with these greats. But I should’ve been in there before this.”

Marotta said the Class of 2015 will always be special because of who’s going in.

“It’s an amazing class because we knocked down the restrictive qualifications we had previously had and we can now truly honor the best who contributed to boxing in Nevada,” he said.

Information on date for the ceremonies, a venue and tickets will be announced at a future date.

Contact reporter Steve carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.