CANASTOTA, N.Y. – The weather was bad, and although there are plenty of places to take shelter on the International Boxing Hall of Fame grounds, the sound of rain pounding on the amphitheater roof could be heard with frustrating regularity on Friday.
But morale was not dampened on a day highlighted by an event in which the fists of the 2024 Hall of Fame candidates were cast, set in bronze and placed in a museum for posterity.
The day began with ringside speeches from this year's Hall of Fame inductees Jane Couch and Ana Maria Torres.
Couch was clearly moved by the growing events of the weekend, saying that Torres was Mexico's Jane Couch and she was Britain's Torres, mostly out of deference to the pair's frequent fights on the road.
Couch was a brilliant presence from start to finish. The importance of her story, particularly her fight to legitimise women's boxing in the UK, cannot be understated. She fought against an establishment that had no interest in what she was trying to do and now she's in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Very few people have ever disagreed with her. What a warrior.
Eric Butterbean Esch also spoke at ringside and was very engaging and delivered a great presentation. He currently weighs a relatively slim 280 pounds and plans to get down to 250 pounds within the next six months. He is an avid supporter of DDP Yoga and said that having been wheelchair bound for three years, he has stopped going to events and staying out of public because he feels embarrassed about going out.
“I was inducted into the Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame but I was too embarrassed to go,” he said. “I've been invited here in the past but I was too embarrassed to go. I couldn't move around, I couldn't move. When you can't move, you lose confidence in yourself, you lose self-esteem. That was my downfall. Now I'm running around thriving and I've never looked back. I'm blessed.”
There was also an emotional moment at the International Boxing Hall of Fame that day. Inside, there were several television screens showing great fights and dramatic knockouts. The classic bout between Diego Corrales, who will be inducted posthumously into the Class of 2024, and Jose Luis Castillo was playing just as Diego's widow, Michelle, and her family walked by. They stood with their arms around each other and watched Diego win another great fight.
Saturday is the big day, with appearances and talks on the grounds by Ray Mercer, Lamon Brewster, Ricky Hatton, Jim Lampley, Sebastian Fandora, Gabriella Fandora (Sebastian's sister), and former rivals Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, as well as a 5K fun run/walk and the always popular autograph signing and memorabilia show and Q&A with the veteran judges.
