Brett Favre has a clear path to Canton. Five years from now, Ken Griffey, Jr. will be in Cooperstown. But has Floyd Mayweather, Jr. accomplished enough in his career to one day be enshrined in....Canastota, NY?
The aura of Canton, of Cooperstown just doesn't work for boxing- a sport that hasn't felt old-timey since Muhammad Ali was called Clay. Like The Greatest, boxing's hall of fame should be the greatest, or at least the most hyped.
Instead, The International Boxing Hall of Fame offers its visitors a quaint, personal experience with the larger-than-life sport. It's basically a log cabin, and while framed pictures on the wall are nice, and historic, and honest, boxing deserves more.
The MGM Group or Steve Wynn should work out a deal with the IBHOF for a satellite museum in Las Vegas, at either a new sports-themed casino or the MGM Grand itself. New technologies would allow for a new Hall to be interactive and experiential with unlimited potential (imagine sparring with Ali or seeing how your straight right stacks up with Ivan Drago's).
MMA is growing in popularity faster and more inexplicably than Justin Bieber. A shrine befitting one of the world's oldest and greatest sports and its champions would give boxing fans their Graceland and any casino in Las Vegas a new draw.
Since opening in 1989, The International Boxing Hall of Fame has put Canastota on the map the way the MonoRail put Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook on the map. It was a great idea, and there was absolutely a need for a Boxing Hall of Fame, so all the credit is theirs. But in 2010, when even just seeing the date feels like science fiction, it is astounding that boxing of all sports isn't being fully exploited.
7.28.10
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