Floyd Mayweather calls Hall of Fame induction ‘best’ moment of his career
June 13, 2022
Roy Jones Jr, Miguel Cotto, James Toney and female champions Regina Halmich and Holly Holm were part of this year’s class. The Class of 2020 included multi-division champions Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and “Sugar” Shane Mosley. The Class of 2021 included Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko and Andre Ward.
Also among those honoured were the first female fighters to be enshrined: Christy Martin, Laila Ali, Lucia Rijker, Regina Halmich, and Holm. Martin shot to fame when she was featured on some of Mike Tyson’s fight cards in the 1990s. Induction came on her 54th birthday. For Laila Ali, it was a return to where her career started. She won her first match in October 1999 against April Fowler at Turning Stone. Holm, meanwhile, went on to become a UFC champion.
Floyd Mayweather during his long-awaited fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2015
All but one of the 27 fighters inducted were scheduled to be at the ceremony. The one missing was former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who is in Ukraine to help his brother, Vitali – a Hall of Famer himself and now the mayor of the capital city of Kyiv – during the ongoing war against the invading Russia.
Instead, Wladimir Klitschko – who was heavyweight champion for 12 years and two days, longer than anyone in history, and finished with a pro record of 64-5 (53 knockouts) – released two short videos on social media to acknowledge the honour.
“Thank you, fans. I never ever dreamed of getting that far in the sport. Amazing,” Klitschko said. “Boxing just made me a better person, period. It taught me a lot.”
Although his videos were short, Klitschko made a point of criticizing fellow inductee Jones for traveling to Russian-occupied Crimea.
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“So, Roy, whose side are you on?” Klitschko said. “I really respect you as a fighter, but I really question your moral compass.”
AP
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