(JUNE 26) The Florida Boxing Hall of Fame (FBHOF) had their Induction Weekend from June 21-23 at the Hilton Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida in Carillon Park. The FBHOF is one of the most prestigious Halls of Fame for boxing in the United States.

Stacy Prestage was the only female boxer on the list of inductees. Prestage is shown on the cover of the FBHOF program magazine for this year.

Arcadio Castro Jr. has painted the program cover since the beginning of the FBHOF. Castro Jr. said that he chose to have Prestage in the center of the cover art because she is the only female boxer in the Class of 2024. The art only shows boxers in the Class of 2024 and not the other inductees such as trainers/managers, promoters, media, participants, and officials/commission.

There were a few inductees who were unable to attend this event and one of them was Prestage.

Dalia Duran works for the FBHOF and was inducted in the Class of 2020 in the media category for her work as a boxing photographer.

Dalia also is a board member and Media PR Director with the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF).

Dalia is the daughter of Hall of Fame boxer Roberto Duran. Dalia gave me the iconic red polo shirt that all FBHOF inductees receive and wear during the induction ceremony. Prestage’s name and “Class of 2024” are embroidered on the shirt and the FBHOF logo which was created by Castro Jr.

I have been entrusted to give the shirt to Prestage for when she attends the Induction Weekend next year. Inductees who are not present for the year that they would be inducted can come to a future event in order to be inducted and receive their plaque and class ring. There were Class of 2024 black T-Shirts that listed the names of all the inductees, so I got one for Prestage and the program magazine which was given at the induction ceremony.

The activities for the event included a Meet & Greet Cocktail Party which was on held on June 21. National Boxing Association (NBA) President Damon Gonzalez was at the Meet & Greet. Gonzalez said that the NBA is gaining more respect in the boxing business.

Gonzalez said that presidents from other sanctioning bodies such as the WBC, WBA, and WBO give him advice about what to do and not to do when running a sanctioning body.

Walter “Butch” Flansberg was NBA President from 1997-2018. Flansberg co-founded the FBHOF with his wife Kathy in 2009. Flansberg passed away in 2022.

Fight posters were on display in the room where a seminar and panel discussion took place. One poster was from December 5, 1997 in Pompano Beach, Florida when Christy Martin won by unanimous decision over Marcela Eliana Acuna who was making her pro debut.

Martin was inducted in the FBHOF Class of 2018. The panel had Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez, renowned trainer Aaron Snowell, author and historian Mike Silver, and FBHOF President Steve Canton. Silver is the author of The Arc of Boxing: The Rise and Decline of the Sweet Science.

One of the main topics in the panel discussion was the lack of knowledge from boxing trainers today. Because of that discussion, it was brought to the attention of Tim Shipman who is the Executive Director of the Florida Athletic Commission and one of the inductees.

Shipman said that trainers must be licensed in the state of Florida, but there is currently no certification requirement. If certification for trainers was implemented, then it would require a trainer to have certain knowledge and skills. Shipman emphasized that this is just an idea right now.
 

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