CANASTOTA, N.Y. — Monessen native Michael Moorer, the first left-hander to win the heavyweight title, and fellow two-division champions Ricky Hatton and Ivan Calderon were elected Thursday to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Diego Corrales, who died two years after winning a 2005 bout voted “Fight of the Year,” is the other member of the Hall’s 2024 class from the men’s modern category. The enshrinement ceremonies will be June 6-9.
The 13-member class was voted by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians.
Moorer won a light heavyweight title in 1998 in just his 12th fight, moved up to heavyweight three years later and became boxing’s first southpaw heavyweight champ in 1992. He held two pieces of the heavyweight title after edging Evander Holyfield in 1994 but was knocked out by 45-year-old George Foreman seven months later. Moorer regained the title in 1996 and finished his career 52-4-1 with 40 knockouts.
Hatton rose to the top of the 140-pound division with an upset of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu in 2005, and a year later, “The Hitman” moved up to win a title at welterweight. The popular British fighter went on to lose high-profile matches against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and finished 45-3 with 32 KOs.
Calderon (35-3-1, 6 KOs) represented Puerto Rico in the 2000 Olympics before a professional career that included titles at minimumweight and light flyweight.
Corrales went 40-5 with 33 KOs and is best remembered for his 2005 victory over Jose Luis Castillo, when he was knocked down twice in the 10th round but then rallied later in the round to stop Castillo. The former super featherweight and lightweight champion died in 2007 from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.
British champion Jane Couch and Ana Maria Torres of Mexico were elected from the women’s modern category. Luis Angel Firpo in the old-timer category and Theresa Kibby in the women’s trailblazer category were the other fighters in the class.
The remainder of the class: trainer Kenny Adams, manager Jackie Kallen and longtime publicist Fred Sternburg; journalist Wallace Matthews and broadcaster Nick Charles (posthumous) in the Observer category.
