The Travelin’ Man (or “The Friendly Guy”) Returns to IBHOF Induction Weekend, Part II

Thursday, June 6: As I previously mentioned in Part I of this year’s travelogue, this marks my 30th pilgrimage to the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend, and one common thread is that as my drive onto the ramp that leads me away from the IBHOF’s museum for the final time in a given year marks the start of my mental countdown toward the start of the following year’s event. That countdown ended today, and as I arose at 7 a.m., I looked forward to the official launch as well as the deep, boxing-oriented conversations that comprise a big percentage of the fun I experience each year. 

While it is true that social media has made this much easier to have, there’s nothing like extended facetime with fellow fans who share one’s own passion, especially with those who are knowledgeable enough to correctly fact-check you. For whatever reason, these talks, especially with those who have logged decades of appearances at this event as I have, are so fulfilling that it has resulted in less time spent eating, and, from time to time, much-needed (and ultimately temporary) weight loss once I arrive home. 

For me, this year’s event may end up being the first “normal” Induction Weekend since 2019. As we all know, COVID canceled the 2020 and 2021 celebrations while 2022 produced the legendary “Trilogy” event that inducted three classes simultaneously. At last year’s event, heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires forced several events that are normally staged outdoors inside the Turning Stone Resort Casino, and, from a personal standpoint, my routines were altered by my flying to New York City to pick up the Marvin Kohn “Good Guy” award at the Boxing Writers Association of America’s annual dinner (you can read that account here). It was my first set of flights since the global pandemic, and, if my life continues on its current path, the time spent inside those hollow metal tubes will be far more infrequent than the “glory years” between 2004-2020. From what I’ve heard about the flying experience these days – chronic delays and cancellations, angry passengers unleashing their fury on fellow travelers, flight attendants and service personnel at the airport, videos of aircraft with maintenance issues, etc. – it’s probably a good thing that I’m not flying these formerly “friendly skies.” Then again, if the opportunity materializes, I’ll probably take it, and, when that time comes, I’ll probably write about it as well. After all, I’ve been told by readers that they especially liked it when things go sideways for me.

Writer Lee Groves with the BWAA’s Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award. (Photo by Matt Heasley)

While the weather on Tuesday and Wednesday was sunny but hot, the forecast for Thursday through Sunday was not encouraging. As I looked out my first-floor window that offered a spectacular view of the parking lot, I was greeted by a gray sky as well as moisture on the concrete that represented the remnants of overnight rainfall. According to weather.com, today’s forecast for Canastota called for afternoon thunderstorms with a high of 79 degrees while the evening is expected to be partly cloudy with a 24 percent chance of a stray shower or thunderstorm. Not great, but it could be worse. 

As was the case since leaving home on Tuesday, I remain locked out of my “X” account despite entering correct information, and I am resigned to the fact that this will be the case until I return home this coming Monday night. Being a “half-glass-full” guy, I said to myself, “if I was able to ‘survive’ without ‘X’ for 56 years, I can surely do so for a few more days.” 

To my surprise, my experiences on “X” have been vastly positive, and it has served as an excellent venue to publicize “In This Corner: The Podcast” hosted by James “Smitty” Smith as well as any articles (past and present) that I’ve written. As far as doing without it during this time, my attitude mirrors the adage popularized by Abraham Lincoln in a speech delivered in 1859: “And this, too, shall pass away.” Until then, I plan to have plenty of fun. 

The good news is that I still have access to my Facebook account, and I have been using that platform to post about this year’s experiences – just like the good old days before I joined “X” in 2021 on the day Saul “Canelo” Alvarez stopped Billy Joe Saunders. Just a few hours after submitting Part I to the RingTV.com crew of editors, Ryan Songalia posted the story “as was” on RingTV.com. 

As a copyeditor in a previous professional life, I have always prided myself on making my stories extremely easy for editors to work on in terms of spelling, grammar and facts, and the greatest compliment I ever received in this regard was delivered by Doug Fischer when he was the editor-in-chief at MaxBoxing.com: “Lee’s copy is as clean as a Joe Louis combination.”) Of course, I am human and I make mistakes – I describe myself as “an imperfect perfectionist.” – but I always try my best to keep those to a minimum. 

After finishing the morning routines and after cranking out the copy you’ve read so far, I stowed my laptop inside my carrying case and headed for the museum grounds. Because I possess “the curse of the redhead” that has resulted in a never-ending conflict between my fair skin and the sun’s rays, the final step before departing was to apply the 70 SPF sunscreen I purchased last weekend. Another strong reason for this was that my father battled a pretty serious case of skin cancer shortly before he passed away in 2017, and seeing the effects of that has served as an additional deterrent for me. 

With Bill Johnston.

I arrived on the grounds at 9:25 a.m., and within moments I encountered my first “regular,” Canadian Bill Johnston. Every perennial visitor has his “thing” in terms of memorabilia, and, for Bill, it is photos with celebrities. Most people would wear a broad smile in such photos, but not Bill, who says his deadpan expression is his trademark just as doing so is also Victoria Beckham’s. So, in that vein, he can be characterized as a male Spice Girl (“Grouchy Spice?”). That said, he did promise me that one day he would be willing to smile while posing with me. When that happens – if that happens – I will post that photo for posterity, then check to see if Hell had frozen over. 

Another regular that quickly followed Bill was Sam Winder, a native of Baltimore who moved to Delaware to start what would become a 20-year career in banking. After retiring from the banking business in 2017, he served as the vice president of finance and administration for Easterseals Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Following his retirement from that position in 2021, Sam has spent time pursuing his hobbies of photography, travel and hanging out with guys like me at the IBHOF Induction Weekend.

As is usually the case on Thursdays, I remained exclusively on the museum grounds from the official start to the official end. After Smitty arrived at the venue, he called me onto the stage. The reason: He needed someone to test out the microphones to make sure he had turned them on properly via the soundboard. He did his job, and I did mine. Neither of us, of course, were paid. 

Lee alongside Sam Winder.

Another longtime attendee came into view in the form of North Carolinian Eric Thompson – writer, musician, friend and member of the Canastota faithful. After revealing to him that I am not much of a “Travelin’ Man” anymore, he suggested that I call myself “The Friendly Guy” as a tribute to my hometown as well as my general disposition. I’ve always said that the best nicknames are those that are rooted in truth, and after chuckling, I said I’d definitely put that suggestion in the hopper. 

Shortly before 11:30 a.m., I stopped by the lone food truck to purchase a limited lunch – one hot dog and one long skinny bottle of diet soda. At the suggestion of a nearby patron, I ordered a Coney dog (which he pronounced “Cooney,” as in “Gerry Cooney”). Being from West Virginia, we prefer coleslaw and chili on our hot dogs, and I don’t recall ever trying a “Cooney.” The person who made the dog informed me that these are particularly delicious when brown mustard is used. She was correct.

While eating the “Cooney,” another friend of lengthy tenure stopped by: Tris Dixon. We first met at the 2000 IBHOF Induction Weekend, and both of us were in very different – and far more modest – places in our lives. As astonishing as my progress has been, his has been nothing short of extraordinary: The 13th editor of the prestigious Boxing News, an author of several books including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing,” a prolific writer whose work has appeared in The Ring, Boxing Digest, BoxingScene.com and RingTV.com, the host of the “Boxing Life Stories” podcast that has produced more than 260 episodes, former boxer and, on top of everything else, a CrossFit Games athlete. As accomplished as he is as a boxing professional, he’s an even nicer person, and he is someone I’m proud to call friend. A future Hall of Famer? To me, his resume says “yes.”

The weekend officially kicked off at 1 p.m. when Smitty (another worthy future IBHOF inductee) conducted the weekend’s first Ringside Lecture with 2024 IBHOF inductee Jackie Kallen, whose elevation was long overdue and who, at 78, remains energetic, personable and radiant.

With “unofficial” good guy Tris Dixon.

Her lecture with Smitty was among the very best I’ve ever heard in my three decades here, and that was because of her emphasis on engaging with the audience, an audience that lined up to ask her questions. I was the first to pose a question to Kallen, making sure to include a plug for “In This Corner: The Podcast” in doing so. I learned that the legendary Kronk Gym was named for a real person (Detroit city councilman John Kronk) and she recalled the story about how she learned of her induction, a story that can be heard in the FITE.TV archives. 

Other tidbits and stories included:

*The character of Luther Shaw in the 2004 movie “Against the Ropes” was a composite of James Toney and Bronco McKart rather than a strict characterization of the man nicknamed “Lights Out,” a man she called the greatest all-around talent she ever managed.

* Sandra Bullock and Michele Pfeiffer were also considered for the role, but Meg Ryan, the first to be interviewed, got the part because of how hard she lobbied Kallen (“give me a chance…I know I can do a great job.”) and because Kallen felt sympathy for Ryan, who, at the time, was coming out of a bad affair with actor Russell Crowe. 

“I felt so bad for her, and she wanted it so much, so I said OK,” Kallen said. She also said that Ryan was so devoted to the task of duplicating Kallen’s “Detroit accent” that she had Kallen read the entire script into a tape recorder. “She would go over it time and again: ’Jackie,’ ‘Jackie,’ ‘Jackie’ with the hard-block ‘a.’” As for the result, Kallen charitably said, “She got as close (to it) as she could get.”

*The scene in which her character switched water bottles laced with a laxative so that the opponent would receive the tainted liquid was based on a real incident.

*To her, being a female manager required being “half-mom, half-big sister, half-confidante and half-therapist.” For her, the greatest satisfaction was not the money, but with molding young men with disadvantaged backgrounds into solid human beings. 

Jackie Kallen in James Toney’s corner before his fight against Roy Jones Jr. in 1994. (Photo by Holly Stein/Allsport via Getty Images)

*If she were managing the erratic and troubled Ryan Garcia, she said she’d “straighten his ass out. I’d tell him to be a gentleman. He’s young, he’s good-looking, and he probably has a lot of the wrong people advising him. In boxing, there are a lot of hangers-on and ‘yes-men,’ so they’ll tell him he’s great. I think it’s important to be honest with your fighters.”

*Her mentor Emanuel Steward warned her of the sexism that she would encounter, and she found the best way to handle that was through humor. While working inside the Detroit Lions’ locker room, one of the linebackers dropped his towel, pointed to his “member” and told her “Here’s your story.” Her response: “Well, I am here to write a big story.” The team broke out in raucous laughter, and she said from that point forward she received no more grief from the team.

*Finally, when asked about advice for younger managers, she said she operated under what she called “the Three system.”

“First, is this fighter innately talented? Was he born to fight?” she said. “If he [isn’t], then you’re wasting your time. Second, is he disciplined? Third, does he have heart? You can’t teach that. One thing about being a manager: Don’t think about the money. Many managers take certain fights because of the money they stand to make, but it should be about whether it’s good for the fighter. It’s all about building a fighter properly. Don’t think with your wallet; think with your head.”

With that, she left the stage to sign autographs, and as the next speaker, fellow 2024 IBHOF inductee Ivan Calderon spoke, Kallen not only was happily signing for a lengthy line of fans, she also briefly chatted with each. 

When Calderon was asked about the opponents who got away, he mentioned Brian Viloria, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (“no one knew him at 105, and I didn’t want him to use my name to become known”) and especially Ricardo Lopez, who he felt could be out-sped. 

Sitting to my left as Calderon spoke was Fred Romano, a native of White Plains, New York, who authored the excellent book “The Golden Age of Boxing on Radio and Television: A Blow-by-Blow History From 1921 to 1964.”

As the clock advanced past 2 p.m., I noticed the weather was holding up well. Yes, the sky was cloudy, but there was no sign of the predicted thunderstorms. “Perhaps Canastota might avoid the worst of it,” I thought.

I thought too soon. The sky opened up less than 30 minutes later, and while there was no thunder, the precipitation was falling fast and furious. This prompted IBHOF Executive Director Ed Brophy to call an audible: Instead of having the fighters sign underneath the tents that are spread over the property, the tables from the tents would be moved underneath the pavilion, and those fighters who would like to stay and sign autographs following the opening ceremony would be free to do so there. The call ended up being the right one. 

During the day’s final Ringside Lecture that featured Hall of Famer Julian Jackson and former super featherweight champion Jesse James Leija, the identity of my seatmate changed from Romano to Mike Auston, who told me he fought on the live undercard inside the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island where the closed-circuit showing of Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks was being shown. According to Boxrec, Auston kicked off the card topped by Vinny Pazienza’s fourth-round TKO of Felix Dubray by stopping fellow debutante Johnny Gonzalez in round one, a result that proved to be his one and only professional bout.

After purchasing and consuming a late-afternoon snack, I spent the next couple of hours in my room recounting the events of the day on the laptop. While doing so, I received a text from Donovan Kasp, a Brooklyn native and fellow video collector who bears a strong resemblance to WWE star Seth Rollins. Two years ago, he and his friends invited me to participate in what they hoped would become a new Thursday night tradition – a bowling party at the Canastota Hi-Way Bowl located approximately one-and-a-half miles from the Days Inn. I performed so well that I picked up the label of “ringer,” and considering I was a 20-year league bowler who carried a 165 average in my final year, they weren’t far off the mark. 

I couldn’t make last year’s event because I was picking up the Good Guy award in New York, but John Scully, who ended up succeeding me as the Good Guy winner, bowled in my place and reportedly did well. Scully was unable to appear at either the dinner or the bowling alley because he was working a fight card in Canada, and this year’s event included a five-man crew in addition to myself: Donovan, Stephen Bumball from Pennsylvania, John Martin (a fellow league bowler who looked a lot like the WWE’s Sami Zayn), Darren Shabat from New Brunswick and fellow Canadian Pete Tomlinson, who brought his teenage son with him. 

All of us had a terrible time figuring out the lanes in Game One. To get an idea of how much we struggled, I was the only one of us who managed to reach triple-digits, and it was only 110 at that. The second and third games featured more drama; entering the final frame, I led 123-121 over John, and because there is a distinct advantage with bowling last, we flipped a coin to decide the issue. 

He called heads.

It came up tails.

He bowled first and knocked down seven pins. 

I rolled next and took out nine. 

He missed the spare.

I made mine, followed up with five and ended the match ahead 138-130.

When Donovan suggested we roll a third game, I said I was up for it and John agreed. But entering tonight, I had bowled only twice in the last year and was sweating profusely. I had nothing left in the tank, but I did manage to win the “bronze medal” with a 101 while John and Stephen went to the final frame to decide gold and silver. Entering the final frame, John led 130-128, and this time there was no coin flip because the scoreboard indicated that John had to bowl first. He went seven-gutter to post a 137 score, meaning that Stephen needed a mark to secure the win.

On the first ball, he rolled an eight, and the spare looked like an easy pickup. He hit one pin, but not the other, resulting in a 137-137 tie. 

Knowing my combination of age and rust, I came into the night with the ultimate goal of having fun. That goal was 100 percent achieved, and I hope I’ll be able to return to the lanes next year. 

It was well past 10 p.m. when we finally left the facility, and after stopping by the gas station to pick up a diet soda, I went to my room and wrapped up work on this article at 11:56 p.m. 

Three days down. Four to go.

*

Lee Groves is a boxing writer and historian based in Friendly, West Virginia. He is a full member of the BWAA, from which he has won 22 writing awards, including two first-place awards, since 2006. He has been an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2001 and is also a writer, researcher and punch-counter for CompuBox, Inc. as well as a panelist on “In This Corner: The Podcast” on YouTube. He is the author of “Tales from the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics” (available on Amazon) and the co-author of  “Muhammad Ali: By the Numbers” (also available on Amazon) as well as the 2022 winner of the BWAA’s Marvin Kohn “Good Guy Award.” To contact Groves, use the email [email protected] or send him a message via Facebook and Twitter (@leegrovesboxing).