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Boxing Hall of Fame can't be missed
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter

This is the second in a series of columns on sports Halls of Fame. Others will follow throughout the summer. Dave Wrobel stands behind a small display case awaiting each visitor to push open the double glass doors and step into a room filled with the history of prizefighting, just as he has done for nearly 20 years.

A smile graces his face before the incoming guests even notice him. And he holds ready with his brief audio tour of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The first thing out of his mouth, besides asking you where you're from, is to answer the question everyone wonders: why is the Hall of Fame in Canastota? "It's been tried in large metropolitan areas before and didn't last," Wrobel explains. "But the fans and media have accepted Canastota and the Hall."

Opened in June 1989 with the inaugural class that included Muhammad Ali, the IBHOF contains some prized possessions from prizefighting's past and present. You can check out robes worn by such greats as "Sugar" Ray Leonard and "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, as well as current stars like Arturo "Thunder" Gatti. You can also get an up-close gaze at trunks worn by Thomas "Hitman" Hearns, Ronald "Winky" Wright and the ever-colorful Hector "Macho" Camacho.

But maybe robes and trunks are too boring for your taste. Then why not take a gander at mouthpieces used by "Iron" Mike Tyson - which he spit out before biting off part of Evander Holyfield's ear - and Henry Armstrong, who apparently had missing teeth based on the grooves of the guard.

You can't possibly miss the IBHOF, unless you're trying to get lost. And even then it's a stretch. The Hall, which looks like a restaurant from the street, sits about 200 yards away from the toll booths at Exit 34 of the New York State Thruway. No trees block your line of sight, and only a small parking lot and a tiny open field separate the off-ramp from the outdoor stage used each June for the annual induction ceremony. A blind tour group using a mole for a guide could find it in two seconds.

You could walk through the entire Hall quicker than most high school students can make it from the gym to science class. But stopping to pay more attention to the array of displays and taking time to read the entries for all 324 enshrinees can take up an entire afternoon.

Check out the plaque for Buffalo's own Jimmy Slattery, a 2006 inductee, which contains the description "a master boxer with a style pleasing to both eye and mind." Or read the entry for "Philadelphia" Jack O'Brien, which says he "retired in 1912 and became a noted teacher of the 'manly art.'" I've never heard of boxing being referred to as a "manly art," but evidently it is.

Ever wonder which former heavyweight boxer had the largest fist? Check out Ken Norton's bronze cast. It's like a catcher's mitt. One body punch from him and you'd feel it from your hip bone to your chin. Or you can see Primo Carnera's 14¾-inch paw and imagine what it would have taken for Max Baer to knock down the 6-foot-5 "Ambling Alp" 11 times in their 1934 World Heavyweight Title fight.

The IBHOF makes for a great day trip for any Western New Yorker. And say hi to Dave.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com