Murr, is it mandatory to elect from each category each time or can the voters give it a pass if no one strikes their fancy?
The three moderns were good choices; JCC was the easiest choice of the three IMO since he fully realized his potential and had no nasty moral issues to consider. Tyson will always be the "what if" guy but IMO was for a few years there as lethal a heavyweight as the world has ever seen. Tszyu certainly has enough cred to merit induction, though I too wondered whether he'd make it on the 1st shot.
I had no problem with Shade, either, for the reasons Dave stated. The title thing is kinda nonsensical when it comes to prewar fighters--so few divisions, so many "KO or no title" fights. You just can't compare a career waged under conditions like that to one now, with 80+ potential belts out there at any time. Seems like you can pull a title belt out of a cereal box nowadays.
Gully definitely has a resume thinner than piss on a rock; don't see that one.
Stallone. Now that is an interesting question. I suppose you could say that most regular non-fan types out there know what little they know about boxing from Rocky and he did win the Boxing Writers Association of America award for “Lifetime Cinematic Achievement in Boxing” in 2006, so I don't think this as out of the blue as it may have seemed. On the other hand, it is kind of like awarding a wine competition to grape juice.
Regardless of the motives, next year is gonna be a fun weekend. I might even have to drag my lazy butt from CA to Canastota for that one!
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