Does Sly Stallone deserve to be in the boxing HOF?

[robycop3]

Does Sly Stallone deserve to be in the boxing HOF? After all, he never officially boxed that we know of, never promoted bouts, sponsored nor trained boxers, nor refereed.

IMHO, his "Rocky Balboa" char, & Stallone, should be in a special category of contributors to boxing, but to place Stallone with the likesa Marciano, etc. loox like a cheapening of the standards of the HOF, especially given the credentials of the resta the Class of 2011.

YOUR thoughts?

 

[Steven2006]

Of course not. This is strictly a publicity stunt for a dying sport.

 

[preacher4truth]

Does Sly Stallone deserve to be in the boxing HOF? After all, he never officially boxed that we know of, never promoted bouts, sponsored nor trained boxers, nor refereed.

IMHO, his "Rocky Balboa" char, & Stallone, should be in a special category of contributors to boxing, but to place Stallone with the likesa Marciano, etc. loox like a cheapening of the standards of the HOF, especially given the credentials of the resta the Class of 2011.

YOUR thoughts?

For "boxing" in a movie? I don't think so. It seems rather disrespectful to those who have been in the sport for real.

 

[Salty]

I'm not into boxing - but I would say the Rocky movies did promote the "sport"

This author explains why he got involved in boxing

 

[webdog]

Of course not. This is strictly a publicity stunt for a dying sport.

Yes, but without Rocky it would have been dead 25 years ago.

 

[TomVols]

Mike Tyson kept the sport alive, with a few others along the way. De LaHoya, and some others not in the heavyweight division kept it going, and Lennox Lewis was probably the last great heavyweight.

Anyway, if you put him in the Boxing HOF, does Gary Cooper go in Cooperstown for his legendary portrayal of Loe Gehrig? Or Will Ferrell into NASCAR? Or Kevin Costner into the PGA HOF? Seems a bit silly.

Maybe if they stopped at Rocky IV I'd say yes. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[robycop3]

Well, actually, I made a BIG GOOF. Stallone is being inducted into the "observer" category, where he joins the likes of Howard Cosell, Bert Sugar, & Damon Runyon, among others. And nyes, I believe he DOES deserve to be inducted into THAT category.

 

[Bob Alkire]

Does Sly Stallone deserve to be in the boxing HOF?

NO!!!!!!!!! I have a hard time with them putting broadcasters and newspaper folks in some of the H of F's, much less an actor.

Off hand, Red Smith is one of the every few that I think should of been put into a Hall and didn't play. I think Dizzy Dean should have gone in as a broadcaster as well, I listened to him on the minor league game of the day as a child an watched him on the game of the week. He made a baseball fan out of me and a country music fan out of me as well and my parents would not allow country music to be played on the radio.

 

[robycop3]

Well, Diz got in as a player. Had he not been a player, he might not have got a chance as an announcer.

I hadn't really looked closely at the boxing HOF except to note the boxers who'd made it. I'd not seen the "observer" category till lately, and, given those who are in it, Stallone contributed as much as any of the others.

While I doubt if boxing completely fades away, it needs some characters to attract the right kinda attention. Pacquaio has brought a lotta attention to smaller fighters as Duran did some years back. But there are no exciting heavies right now. The Klitchko bros. are good fighters, but they're not exactly charismatic. Now is the time for some American who wantstabee a household name to dedicate himself to becoming a future hvy. champ.

 

[Alcott]

No. Nor should Charlton Heston be on that friez on the Supreme Court building, nor Tom Hanks in the Astronaut HoF, nor Gary Cooper in the baseball HoF. Not sure whether Judy Garland should be over the rainbow or under the geyser.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Does Sly Stallone deserve to be in the boxing HOF? After all, he never officially boxed that we know of, never promoted bouts, sponsored nor trained boxers, nor refereed.

IMHO, his "Rocky Balboa" char, & Stallone, should be in a special category of contributors to boxing, but to place Stallone with the likesa Marciano, etc. loox like a cheapening of the standards of the HOF, especially given the credentials of the resta the Class of 2011.

YOUR thoughts?

OK, first of all, I lived in Philly for several years and in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly for about twenty years. The Rocky character is so beloved here that you'd be amazed how many people here don't know he's a fictional character.

He's as much a fixture in Philly as Ben Franklin, the Phanatic, and Sally Starr.

Now, with that out of the way, I don't see why not. When you go to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Gary Cooper has a plaque for his portrayal of Lou Gherig. There's a Field of Dreams exhibit.

Likewise, when you go to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma, there are numerous displays and exhibits celebrating different cowboy actors.

Obviously, the Rocky movies contributed greatly to how boxing is seen in the public eye and inspired many young people to take up the sport. It should be not only for boxers, but for those who influenced boxing.

 

[robycop3]

As I said, I GOOFED! Stallone is enshrined as an "observer", one who never had a sanctioned bout of any note, nor participated directly in boxing as a trainer, ref, judge, manager, etc. but still contributed greatly to the sport.

I also very-much liked the "Apollo Creed" char played by Carl Weathers.