The Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame is a commemorative organization with plans to create a museum. It celebrates the history of

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

in the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

by honoring individuals whose achievements within the sport are noteworthy.

History

Though several individuals had previously considered creating a

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

for Minnesota boxing, it was noted boxing historian Jake Wegner who pulled together the local boxing community in 2009, filed for nonprofit status, and assembled a board of directors for the new hall. With Wegner as the president, the board consisted of Jeff Flanagan (Vice-President), Don Evans (Treasurer), Jim Wells (Secretary), Denny Nelson, Jim Carlin, and Wayne Bebeau. The inaugural class of inductees was announced on July 5, 2010 and the induction banquet took place on October 12, 2010. In April 2014, founder and President, Jake Wegner resigned from the organization. In May 2014, Jeff Flanagan was elected president. The Minnesota Boxing board consists of Vice President Denny Nelson, Secretary Jim Wells, Treasurer Don Evans, Executive board members Mark Nelson and Pete Holm.

Location

A permanent location for the museum has not been determined. www.mnbhof.org

Inductees

Class of 2010

Date: October 12, 2010
Venue: Jax Café Steakhouse. Minneapolis, MN *

Del Flanagan Del Flanagan (November 6, 1928 – December 26, 2003) was a middleweight professional Boxing, boxer from Minnesota, USA. Personal life Flanagan was a native of St Paul, Minnesota, St Paul. He and his brother Glen were known as the Fighting Flanaga ...

Glen Flanagan Glen Flanagan (November 16, 1926 – January 28, 1979) was a featherweight professional boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Glen Flanagan was born and raised in St Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife Betty had six children, and Glen went on to have ...

* Mike Gibbons *

Tommy Gibbons Thomas Joseph Gibbons (March 22, 1891 – November 19, 1960) was an American professional heavyweight boxer. Life and career He was born on March 22, 1891, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Thomas John Gibbons and Mary ( Burke) Gibbons. He had a br ...

* Will Grigsby * Bill Kaehn *

Scott LeDoux Alan Scott LeDoux (January 7, 1949 – August 11, 2011) was a politician, professional heavyweight boxer, professional wrestler, and referee. Career Boxing LeDoux began his professional boxing career in 1974. His first boxing match was a kno ...

Harris Martin Harris Martin (April 2, 1865 – April 26, 1903) was an American boxer known as "The Black Pearl". He declared himself the first colored middleweight champion of the world after a fight with "Black Frank" Taylor in Minneapolis in 1887. Harris' ...

* Don Riley * Rafael Rodriguez * Dr. Sheldon Segal

Class of 2011

Date: October 11, 2011
Venue: Nicollet Island Pavilion. Minneapolis, MN * Charley Kemmick *

Mike O'Dowd Michael Joseph O'Dowd (April 5, 1895, in St. Paul, Minnesota – July 28, 1957) was an American boxer who held the World Middleweight Championship from 1917 to 1920. Biography O'Dowd won the title on November 14, 1917, by knocking out Al McC ...

* Johnny Ertle *

Jackie Graves Jackie Graves (September 12, 1922 – November 15, 2005), alias "The Austin Atom", was a featherweight Boxing, boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Graves was a native of Austin, Minnesota. Boxing career From 1944 to 1956 Graves compiled a career ...

Duane Bobick Duane David Bobick (born August 24, 1950) is an American former boxer. As an amateur, Bobick won the gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games and fought at the 1972 Olympics. He then turned professional in 1973 and retired in 1979 with a record ...

Mike Evgen Mike Evgen, alias ''The Rice Street Rocker'', is a retired welterweight professional boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Mike Evgen, as his nickname implies, is from the Rice Street neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota. At 5'6" tall, Evgen was u ...

* Joe Daszkiewicz * Emmett Weller * George Barton

Class of 2012

Date: September 28, 2012
Venue: Mystic Lake Casino. Prior Lake, MN *

Oscar Gardner Oscar Gardner (May 19, 1872 – December 25, 1928) was an American bantamweight and featherweight boxer known as the Omaha Kid. He was a top contender for the Featherweight Championship of the World and the Featherweight Champion of America, thoug ...

* Jimmy Delaney *

Billy Miske Billy Miske, alias ''The Saint Paul Thunderbolt'' (April 12, 1894 – January 1, 1924), was a professional boxer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. During his tenure as a pugilist he had multiple-bout series with a plethora of all-time greats includin ...

Lee Savold Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Lee (2007 film), ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * Lee (2017 film), ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * Lee (2023 film), ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama ab ...

* Jim Beattie * Jerry Slavin * Dick Cullum * Denny Nelson

Class of 2013

Date:September 27, 2013
Venue: Mystic Lake Casino. Prior Lake, MN *

Danny Needham John Daniel Needham (May 20, 1867 – September 12, 1922) was an American boxer. Of Irish descent, he was based in St. Paul and started his pro boxing career by challenging lightweight bare-knuckle champion Tommy Danforth to a fight. The fight a ...

Jock Malone Jock may refer to: Common meanings * Jock (stereotype), a North American term for a stereotypical male athlete * Jock, a derogatory term for Scottish people mostly used by the English * Short for jockstrap, an item of male protective undergarmen ...

Billy Petrolle William Michael Petrolle (January 10, 1905 – May 14, 1983) was a world lightweight boxing title contender. Boxing ran in the Petrolle family as his brothers Pete and Frank also shared his occupation.

* Pat O'Connor *

Doug Demmings Doug Demmings (May 9, 1951 – March 24, 2002) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1983. Professional boxing career Demmings' career began in inauspicious fashion with two losses in his first four fights, before he began a ...

Gary Holmgren Gary Holmgren is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1984. Professional career Holmgren made his professional debut on May 15, 1974, with a first-round knockout win against Milton Buckley in St Paul, Minnesota. His fi ...

Dan Schommer Dan Schommer, alias "Dangerous Dan," is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1994, challenging for the WBO super middleweight title in 1994. Amateur career Schommer compiled an amateur boxing record of 95-9, and was a si ...

Tony Stecher Anton Charles Stecher (February 7, 1889 – October 10, 1954) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling and boxing promoter and trainer. He was the booker and trainer for his brother, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion ...

Jack Raleigh John Raleigh (31 March 1890 – 1969) was an Irish hurler who played for the Tipperary senior team. Raleigh made his first appearance for the team during the 1913 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until he left t ...

Class of 2014

Date: October 3, 2014
Venue: Mystic Lake Casino. Prior Lake, MN * King Tut * Jack Gibbons *

Bobby Rodriguez Bobby Rodriguez is an American retired Super Featherweight boxer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Personal life Bobby Rodriguez is a member of Minnesota's illustrious Rodriguez family of boxers: Rafael, Kenny, Rudy, all of whom fought professiona ...

* Al Andrews * Jim Morgan *

Jimmy O'Hara James John O'Hara (born James John Ehrich; December 3, 1925 – January 17, 2002) was a commissioner and then executive secretary for the Minnesota Board of Boxing from 1976 to 2001. When O'Hara was appointed to the Minnesota Board of Boxing, he ...

Class of 2015

Date: October 2, 2015
Venue: Mystic Lake Casino. Prior Lake, MN *Danny Davis *

Duane Horsman Duane D. Horsman (January 23, 1937 – July 1991), was a middleweight professional boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Horsman was a native of Chatfield, Minnesota. Professional career In a career that spanned from 1959 to 1970, Duane Horsman am ...

*Mel Brown *

Art Lasky Arthur Lakofsky (November 16, 1909 – April 2, 1980), also known as Art Lasky, was a heavyweight professional boxer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Personal life Lasky was born in 1908 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and called Minneapolis his home. H ...

Charley Retzlaff Charley Retzlaff, alias The Duluth Dynamiter (October 28, 1904 – June 4, 1970) was an American heavyweight professional Boxing, boxer from Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Personal life Retzlaff was born in Leonard, North Dak ...

Sammy Gallop Sammy Gallop (March 16, 1915 – February 24, 1971) was an American lyricist, known for his big band and swing music, swing songs of the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Gallop was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He originally worked as a surveying, surve ...

*Mike Collins *Jim Wells

Class of 2016

Date: October 14, 2016
Venue: Mystic Lake Casino. Prior Lake, MN *Rodney Bobick * Jim Hegerle *

Larry LaCoursiere Larry LaCoursiere, alias "Lightning," is a retired professional welterweight boxer from Hastings, Minnesota. Boxing career LaCoursiere made his professional debut with a knockout win against Remuse Caffee at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Saint Paul, ...

* Fred Lenhart * My Sullivan *George Blair *

Leo Ryan Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. (May 5, 1925 – November 18, 1978) was an American teacher and Democratic Party politician who represented California's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 until his assassination ho ...

* Earl Kaehn * Pat Killen

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Boxing Hall Of Fame Boxing museums and halls of fame Halls of fame in Minnesota State sports halls of fame in the United States Sports museums in Minnesota Awards established in 2009