Tracy Callis is an American

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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, writer and journalist. He is the director of the historical research boxing website ''Cyber Boxing Zone'' (CBZ) and International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). He is also an elector to the

International Boxing Hall Of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

(IBHoF) and a member of the ''World Boxing Historians Association'' (WBHA).

Education

In 1963, Callis earned a master's degree in mathematics at Virginia Tech and worked at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. LaRC has focused primarily on aeronautical research but has also ...

as a mathematician for three years and later as a computer systems engineer for five years with

IBM Corporation International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company ...

. He retired after serving thirty two years as a professor of information technology at Virginia Western Community College.

Career

Callis became interested in boxing and began profiling many boxers particularly the pre-1900 fighters. He is recognized as one of the leading experts on 19th-century fighters including those who fought in the bare-knuckles era. Callis is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) and has provided historical data to many well-known boxing historians, journalists and editors such as Herb Goldman of ''The Ring'' magazine, Mike DeLisa and Dan Cuoco of ''Cyber Boxing Zone'',

Bert Sugar Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012) was an American sportswriter known for his work covering boxing and baseball. As the author of over 80 books, ''The New York Times'' called Sugar an "accomplished raconteur with a bottom ...

, Hank Kaplan and

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

(BBBoC) writer Barry Hugman. Callis has been a boxing historian for more than 45 years researching boxing's history. Among the research he discovered as an IBRO member are: 4 additional knockout wins for

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional Boxing, boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (1952 – 1962). He had one of the longest profe ...

(increased his KO record to 132), an additional 13 fights for Mickey Walker and 23 knockout wins for Jimmy Wilde. Callis is the author of the book ''A Brief History of the Heavyweights'' and the co-author of ''Boxing in the Los Angeles Area: 1880-2005'', ''Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage: 1876-1976'' and ''More tales from Ringside''. He has also written reviews on boxing books, including ''A Man Among Men'', ''Bareknuckles, Blood and Broken Bones'', ''Famous Pugilists of the English Prize Ring 1719-1870'', ''The First Black Boxing Champions'', "'Uncrowned Champions'' and ''John L. Sullivan: The Career of the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion''.

References

External links

Cyber Boxing Zone

International Boxing Research Organization

International Boxing Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Tracy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Sportswriters from Virginia Boxing writers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Writers from Roanoke, Virginia