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In August of 2001, Mr David Hanvey and Gary Ellis called a meeting with
a number of former boxers, historians and enthusiasts with the aim of forming
a boxing museum and a Hall of Fame along the line of famous "International
Boxing Hall of Fame" in Canastota, New York, US.
The meeting was a great success with all aims agreed upon and the "Australian
National Boxing Hall of Fame" was registered.
The office bearers elected were as follows: President-Gus Mercurio, Vice President
-Jack Rennie, Treasurur/Public officer-David Hanvey, Secretary-Gary Ellis. The
committee members were Arnold Thomas, Greg Marcon, Peter Banks and Ron Picken. Within the first few meetings Frank Maher accepted the secretary's position
and Gary Ellis moved to the general committee.
On the 9th of August, 2002 the ANBHOF had its first fundraising dinner at the
RACV Club in Melbourne. This night was sold out with 220 people
attending, including seven of the eight living World Champions in attendance.
The next year we moved to the Crown Casino for our first Hall of Fame induction dinner. Over
300 people were in attendance to pay their respects to some of Australia's greatest
boxers being awarded with induction into the Hall Of Fame.
From the Crown Casino, the induction moved to the Telstra Dome and the numbers in attendance increased
with 414 die hard boxing fans witnessing the second crop of inductees.
Other induction dinners were held at the Power House and Carlton
Crest Motel before the first event at the MCG where well over 500
people witnessed the 5th induction class of the Hall of Fame. Apart from
the legendary Australian boxers in attendance, the Hall of Fame also welcomed
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Emile Griffith. The following two induction dinners at the "G" since then have also been great successes, with many special guests
attending the dinner.
The year 2011 will see the induction dinner outside of Melbourne for the first time. As a national organisation we have approached various sponsors
throughout Australia to support the Hall of Fame. The Country Club in Launceston, Tasmania has committed to a three year sponsorship deal with the Hall of Fame, and
as such will host the 2011 induction dinner in Launceston. As for the 2012 dinner location - well time will tell !
Our aim is to honor our present and past boxing heroes, and to continue
to display our boxing memorabilia of our glorious history to the public via our showcase at
the National Sports Museum at the MCG.
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