The Barney Nagler Award, previously known as the James J. Walker Memorial Award, has been conferred annually since 1940 by the

Boxing Writers Association of America Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a ...

(BWAA) for Long and Meritorious Service in Boxing. The award is named after sportswriter Barney Nagler.

History

First awarded in 1940, it was called the "Meritorious Service Award" until 1947.

James J. Walker Award

Named for James J. Walker, the award previously honored the former

New York City mayor The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, ...

and politician behind the

Walker Law The Walker Law passed in 1920 was an early New York state law regulating boxing. The law reestablished legal boxing in the state following the three-year ban created by the repeal of the Frawley Law. The law instituted rules that better ensured ...

. Walker was the first recipient of the organization's service award in 1940, which was renamed the James J. Walker Memorial Award after his passing in 1946. By 1965, the annual award had been presented to prominent boxing personalities like James A. Farley, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Mickey Walker, and Jimmy Walker.

Barney Nagler Award

The award was later renamed in honor of the late former BWAA president Barney Nagler. The award is presented alongside other BWAA honors at the annual awards dinner.

Past recipients

Source:

1940s

* 1940 – James J. Walker * 1941 –

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

* 1943 –

Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ''N ...

* 1944 – John J. Phelan * 1945 –

James J. Johnston James Joy Johnston (November 28, 1875 – May 7, 1946) was an English boxer, boxing manager, promoter, and matchmaker who was in the fight business for 40 years. Early life James Joy Johnston was born in Liverpool, England, on November 28, 1875. ...

* 1946 –

Mike Jacobs Mike Jacobs may refer to: * Mike Jacobs (first baseman) (born 1980), American baseball player; first North American in professional sports to be tested positive for HGH * Mike Jacobs (shortstop) (1877–1949), played for the Chicago Cubs * Mike Jac ...

* 1947 –

James A. Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and postmaster general under Pr ...

* 1948 – Dan Morgan * 1949 – Abe J. Greene

1950s

* 1950 – Wilbur Wood * 1951 – Edward P.F. Eagan * 1952 – George A. Barton * 1953 – Dr. Vincent A. Nardiello * 1954 –

James J. Braddock James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American boxer who was the world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937. Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing ...

* 1955 – Harry Mendel * 1956 – Frank Graham * 1957 –

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

* 1958 – Sam Taub * 1959 – Marv Jensen

1960s

* 1960 – Ned Brown * 1961 – Dr. Alexander Schiff * 1962 – Dr. Mal Stevens * 1963 –

Harry Markson Harry Markson (March 10, 1906 – November 10, 1998) was an American boxing publicist and promoter who organized fights at Madison Square Garden for nearly 40 years. Early life and education Harry Markson was born March 10, 1906, in Kingston, ...

* 1964 – Mickey Walker * 1965 – Jack Cuddy * 1966 –

* 1967 –

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He r ...

* 1968 – John Condon * 1969 – Murray Goodman

1970s

* 1970 –

Don Dunphy Don Dunphy (July 5, 1908 – July 22, 1998) was an American television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast-paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport. It is estimated that he did "blow-by ...

* 1971 –

Teddy Brenner Teddy Brenner (1918 – January 7, 2000) was an American boxing matchmaker and promoter of boxing matches at Madison Square Garden. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993. Early life Theodore "Teddy" Brenner was born ...

* 1972 – Dr. Edwin Campbell * 1973 – Barney Nagler * 1974 – Bobby Gleason * 1975 – Daniel M. Daniel * 1976 – Duke Stefano * 1977 –

Chris Dundee Chris Dundee (born Cristofo Mirena; February 23, 1908 – November 16, 1998) was an Italian-American boxing manager and fight promoter for 63 years. He was an older brother of Angelo Dundee. Early life Cristofo (Christopher) Mirena was born on Fe ...

* 1978 –

Ray Arcel Ramil "Ray" Arcel (August 30, 1899 – March 7, 1994) was an American boxing trainer who was active from the 1920s through the 1980s. In his long and distinguished career, he trained 20 world boxing champions. Life and career Arcel was born in T ...

, Freddie Brown * 1979 – Bobby Goodman, Marvin Kohn

1980s

* 1980 – Nat Loubet * 1981 – Bill Gallo * 1982 –

Eddie Futch Eddie Futch (August 9, 1911 – October 10, 2001) was an American boxing trainer. Among the fighters he trained are Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, and Trevor Berbick, four of the five men to defeat Muhammad Ali. Futch also trained Riddick ...

* 1983 – Tom Kenville * 1984 –

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

* 1985 – Irving Rudd * 1986 – Dick Young * 1987 – Jack Fiske * 1988 –

Arthur Mercante Arthur Mercante Sr. (January 26, 1920 – April 10, 2010) was an American boxing referee. His career spanned from 1954 until 2002. Mercante's son also became a noted referee. In his youth, Arthur Mercante Sr. was a member of the Merchant Mari ...

* 1989 – Marty Cohen

1990s

* 1990 – Jay Edson * 1991 –

Howard Albert Howard Albert (1911–2004) was a printmaker, musician, and composer. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1930s. He also studied printmaking with Stanley William Hayter Stanley William Hayter (27 December 1901 – 4 May ...

* 1992 –

Ralph Citro Ralph Citro (July 10, 1926 – October 2, 2004) was a boxing historian and archivist. Citro was an amateur boxer while serving in the Marine Corps, compiling a record of 18–3. After leaving the service, he owned and operated gyms and began trai ...

* 1993 –

Lou Duva Louis Duva (May 28, 1922 – March 8, 2017) was an American boxing trainer, manager and boxing promoter who handled nineteen world champions. The Duva family promoted boxing events in over twenty countries on six continents. Duva was inducted in ...

* 1994 –

Willie Pep Guglielmo Papaleo ( Middletown - September 19, 1922 – November 23, 2006) was an American professional boxer, better known as Willie Pep, who held the World Featherweight championship twice between the years of 1942 and 1950. Papaleo was born ...

* 1995 –

Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...

* 1996 –

Angelo Dundee Angelo Dundee (born Angelo Mirena; August 30, 1921February 1, 2012) was an American boxing manager, boxing promoter, boxing trainer and cornerman. Internationally known for his work with Muhammad Ali (1960–1981), he also worked with 15 other w ...

* 1997 –

Mills Lane Mills Bee Lane III (November 12, 1937 – December 6, 2022) was an American referee (boxing), boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada district court judge, and television personality. Lane was best known for ha ...

* 1998 – Steve Acunto * 1999 – Al Gavin, Bob Jackson,

Russell Peltz J Russell Peltz (born December 9, 1946) is an American boxing promoter. A member of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame, Peltz has promoted fights in Philadelphia at venues such as the Arena, Spectrum, The ...

2000s

* 2000 –

Gil Clancy Gilbert Thomas Clancy (May 30, 1922 – March 31, 2011) was a Hall of Fame boxing trainer and one of the most noted television boxing commentators of the 1980s and 1990s. Clancy became famous as a trainer for world champion Emile Griffith, an ...

* 2001 – Don and Lorraine Chargin * 2002 –

Hank Kaplan Hank Kaplan (April 15, 1920 – December 14, 2007) was an American boxing historian and writer. Always wearing one of many of his prized boxing baseball caps, and smoking a pipe, he is widely regarded as the nation's foremost boxing historian, ...

* 2003 – Jimmy Glenn * 2004 –

Marc Ratner Marc Ratner is an American entrepreneur who is the current Vice President of Regulatory Affairs with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Formerly, he was the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Background Ratner was bor ...

* 2005 – Teddy Blackburn * 2006 –

Larry Merchant Larry Merchant (born Larry Kaufman; February 11, 1931) is an American sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO sports presentations of ''HBO World Championship Boxing'', '' Boxing After Dark'' and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, called "the gre ...

* 2007 – Nigel Collins * 2008 –

Steve Farhood Steven Farhood (born 15 February 15, 1957) is an American boxing historian and analyst. Personal life and career Farhood was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lebanese parents. Farhood served as editor-in-chief of ''The Ring'' and ''KO Magazine''. ...

* 2009 –

Jerry Izenberg Jerry Izenberg (born September 10, 1930) is a sports journalist with '' The Newark Star-Ledger'' in Newark, New Jersey. He was born in Newark, New Jersey. His career with ''The Star-Ledger'' began in 1951 while he was still a student at Rutgers Un ...

2010s

* 2010 – Jack Obermayer * 2011 – Don Elbaum * 2012 – Kathy Duva & Bruce Trampler * 2013 – Bob Sheridan & Lee Samuels * 2014 – Jack Hirsch * 2015 – Bernard Fernandez * 2016 – Bill Caplan * 2017 – Dr. Margaret Goodman * 2018 – Jim Lampley * 2019 – Bob Canobbio

2020s

* 2020 – None * 2021 – Michael Buffer * 2022 – Ed Brophy * 2023 – Gordon Hall * 2024 – Brad Goodman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry Nagler Award Boxing awards American sports trophies and awards Awards established in 1940 1940 establishments in the United States