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CORRALES TO RECEIVE TOP AWARD AT THE WORLD BOXING HALL OF FAME BANQUET SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH By Tom Dickey |
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CORRALES TO RECEIVE TOP AWARD AT THE WORLD BOXING HALL OF FAME BANQUET SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH By Tom Dickey |
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Diego Corrales will be awarded the 2004 Fighter of the Year award at the World Boxing Hall of Fame Banquet of Champions dinner on Saturday. Corrales had a stellar year, defeating Joel Casamayor and Acelino Freitas. The Freitas victory gave Corrales the WBO title as he handed Freitas his first career loss. Corrales seems to be comfortable fighting at lightweight, and hopes to unify the division with a fight with Jose Luis Castillo. The Sacramento native will be honored along with the remainder of this year's Hall of Fame inductees on Saturday, October 16th. At the press conference for Saturday's event, Corrales talked a little to the press by telephone, and talked about his future plans and the past year. Corrales stated that he hopes to eventually fight Jose Luis Castillo and unify the division. He also said he would like to move to 140 pounds in the future, and get a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Chico said that it was an awesome feeling to be receiving the Fighter of the Year award, and hopes to eventually be inducted when his fight career ends. Corrales also talked about his new trainer Joe Goossen. Goossen became Corrales' trainer after the first Casamayor fight, and led Chico to two big victories. Chico called Goossen one of the most underrated trainers in the business. He said Goossen's game plan against Freitas worked out like planned, and that it has been great having him as a trainer. Chico also said that Goossen would be by his side when he receives the award. There will be six fighters, and three non fighters related to Boxing inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame on Saturday. Former WBA Heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis will be inducted. Ellis was the WBA champion from 1968-70, and sported a 40-12-1 career record with 24 KOs. Ellis was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and trained throughout his career with Muhammad Ali. Ellis was one of the lightest heavyweights of all time, he fought the likes of Joe Frazier, Rubin Carter, Floyd Patterson, and Oscar Bonavena. He holds victories over Bonavena, Jerry Quarry, and Leotis Martin. Australian great Jeff Fenech will also be inducted in the 2004 class. Fenech won world titles at three different weight divisions. He fought two epic wars with the legendary Azumah Nelson. He won his first world title in only his seventh fight, when he defeated Satoshi Shingaki in 1985 to win the IBF bantamweight title. Fenech had a career 28-3-1 record with 21 KOs. Genaro "Chicanito" Hernandez will be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame on Saturday. Chicanito was a two time world champion, holding the WBA title from 1991-94, and the WBC title from 1997-98. Hernandez fought out of Los Angeles, and his only two defeats were to Oscar De la Hoya, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. He won his first title in 1991, with a KO win over Daniel Londas. In 1997, Chicanito won a split decision victory over Azumah Nelson to win the WBC Super featherweight title. Genaro finished his career with a 38-2-1 record with 17 KOs. Former world lightweight champion Kenny Lane will also be inducted. Lane won the title in 1963 with a win over Paul Armstead. He lost two encounters with Carlos Ortiz in 1959 and 1964. Lane fought many greats including Eddie Perkins, Curtis Cokes, and Virgil Akins. Lane finished his career with a 80-16-2 record. Former WBA heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell will also be inducted on Saturday. Terrell had a stellar career with a record of 46-9 with 21 KOs. Terrell was a former sparring partner for Sonny Liston. Terrell held the WBA title from 1965-67, and won the title over Eddie Machen. Ernie defeated the likes of Bob Foster, Zora Folley, and Cleveland Williams. Ernie lost his title in 1967 to none other than Muhammad Ali. Former four time world champion Daniel Zaragoza will be the final boxer inductee on Saturday. Zaragoza held the WBC super bantamweight title from 1988-89,1991-93, and 1995-97. He also won the WBC bantamweight title in 1985. Zaragoza finished his career with a 55-8-3 record with 28 KOs. Daniel had a great three bout series with Paul Banke, in which Daniel won two out of three fights. Zaragoza retired after losing to Erik Morales in 1997, which was Morales's first world title. There will be three inductees in the expanded category. Colonel Bob Sheridan, a veteran boxing announcer will be inducted, and so will Tom Kelly a veteran fight announcer in the southern California area. Trainer Jesse Reid will also be inducted. Reid trained 19 world champions, and won the AP Trainer of the Year award three times. Some of Reid's fighters include Rodolpho Gonzales, Roger Mayweather, Johnny Tapia, Orlando Canizales, Calvin Grove, Frank Tate, Darren Van Horn, Hector Camacho, and Reggie Johnson. 10-15-2004
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