The 2021 International Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony is scheduled to be held on 14th June and some of the greatest ever to grace the sport have been named on Tuesday who are to be inducted into the 2021 class, which include the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko, Laila Ali and more.
The nominees will be inducted via votes by the Boxing Writers Association of America members, as well as a panel of historians of the sport. The ceremony, which was hosted at the same time in 2020, will return to the Hall of Fame museum in Canastota, New York for the induction.
Last year, the nominees’ list was headlined by the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. This year, Ann Wolfe and Andre Ward join Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko and Laila Ali as the inductees.
Floyd Mayweather
A posterboy of the global boxing scene, Floyd Mayweather aka “Money” (50-0, 27 KOS) is a former fifteen times world champion across five weight divisions. A 1996 Olympics bronze medallist, Mayweather had his last professional fight all the way back in 2017 against Conor McGregor and is slated to return to the ring against Logan Paul in a super exhibition fight on 20th February next year.
Laila Ali
Daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali enjoyed an unblemished professional career (24-0, 21 KOs) and has held the WBC, WIBA, and IBA belts in the super middleweight division, as well as the IWBF super middleweight and light heavyweight titles. Known as “She Bee Stingin'” and “Madame Butterfly”, She retired from boxing in 2007 after defeating Gwendolyn O’Neil.
Wladimir Klitschko
The former ruler of the heavyweight division, Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) retired from boxing in 2017 after having his last professional bout against Anthony Joshua. Klitschko has been the champion of the world twice, including the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and Ring magazine titles. The Ukrainian also won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Ann Wolfe
Former American boxer Ann Wolfe (24-1, 16 KOs) is widely regarded as one of the greatest female pugilists of all time. Nicknamed “Brown Sugar”, Wolfe contested in Light Heavyweight, Super Middleweight, Middleweight as well as Light Middleweight divisions and has held titles across three weight classes at the same time. She retired from the sport in 2006.
Andre Ward
Former two-division undefeated world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medallist Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) has held multiple titles across his career spanning 13 years, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and Ring magazine titles. A former Super middleweight and Light heavyweight titleholder, Ward was once considered as the world’s best P4P boxer.
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