CANASTOTA, N.Y. — The International Boxing Hall of Fame will welcome the Class of 2026 inductees, host its annual parade, and honor the 1976 Olympic Team this week from Thursday, June 11, through Sunday, June 14.
Members of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Montreal Olympic Games at the 2026 Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend Banquet of Champions on Saturday, June 13. The Olympic team includes gold medal winners Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leo Randolph, silver medal winner Charles Mooney and team member Chuck Walker.
The Banquet of Champions will happen at the Event Center at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona. It will feature Olympic fight highlights, speeches, cocktails, dinner and much more. Tickets are priced at $175 and corporate tables of 10 are available. Call (315) 697-7095 to reserve today.
Complete Hall of Fame Weekend information at www.ibhof.com
The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, June 11:
3 p.m. opening bell rings, free
1:30-5:30 p.m. Ringside talks, museum grounds, free
Friday, June 12:
10 a.m.-2 p.m.: ringside talks, museum grounds, free
2:30 p.m. celebrity fist casting, free
Fight Night at Turning Stone, call (315) 361-7469 for ticket information. Boxing matchups to be determined.
Saturday, June 13
8:30 a.m. 5K and fun run races, Canastota High School, free
10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. ringside talk, museum talks, free
10 a.m.-3 p.m. boxing autograph card show, Canastota High School, $15
6:30 p.m. Banquet of Champions, Turning Stone Resort Casino Event Center, $175. Doors open 5:30 p.m., introductions 6:15, dinner 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 14
Noon Parade of Champions, free.
2:30 p.m. Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Turning Stone Resort Casino, free. VIP seats are available for $35.
The 2026 Men’s Modern class includes the following:
Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin: Unified middleweight champion known for his devastating power, record-breaking title defenses, and elite technical pressure.
Golovkin is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2022. He has held multiple middleweight world championships and is a two-time former unified champion.
He is also a former International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight champion, having held the title twice between 2011 and 2023.
Golovkin was ranked as the world’s best boxer, pound for pound, from September 2017 to September 2018 by The Ring magazine.
Golovkin’s 20 consecutive middleweight title defenses are tied with Bernard Hopkins for the most in the division’s history.
Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver: Light heavyweight champion and master tactician, best remembered for his iconic knockout of Roy Jones Jr.
As an amateur, Tarver won the bronze medal representing the United States at the 1996 Olympics in the light heavyweight division. He eventually lost to Vassiliy Jirov from Kazakhstan, whom he had previously defeated at the 1995 World Championships to win gold.
Tarver won gold at the 1995 Pan American Games and 1995 U.S. National Championships. He remains the only boxer in history to have won gold at the Pan Am Games, World Championships and U.S. Nationals all in the same year.
Tarver competed from 1997 to 2015 and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA, WBC, IBF and Ring magazine titles and the IBO light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles.
Tarver starred as heavyweight champion “Mason “The Line” Dixon” in the 2006 film “Rocky Balboa.” Sylvester Stallone played the popular Rocky Balboa character.
In the film, the unpopular champion Dixon fights former champion Balboa, who decides to come out of retirement. Dixon wins the match by split decision after 10 rounds and is one of only three fighters to defeat the Balboa character in the film.
Nigel “The Dark Destroyer” Benn: Electrifying British super middleweight and middleweight champion who engaged in legendary wars during the 1990s.
Benn is a British former professional boxer now based in Australia who competed from 1987 until 1996. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and reigned as the WBC super-middleweight champion from 1992 to 1996. He held the regional Commonwealth middleweight title from 1988 to 1989.
Benn retired with an 83.3% knockout ratio. In his career, he defeated several world champions, including Doug DeWitt, Thulani Malinga and Mauro Galvano.
Notable fights include title defenses against Iran Barkley in 1989, two world title contests against Chris Eubank in 1990 and 1993, and a world title fight against McClellan. Benn defended his WBC super-middleweight title nine consecutive times. Fight organizers frequently played the chimes of Big Ben were frequently played before his ring walks.
In 1982, Benn, then 18, joined the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He was stationed in West Germany for three years and later stationed in Northern Ireland for 18 months. After leaving the army, Benn joined the West Ham Amateur Boxing Club after leaving the army. In 1986, he became the Amateur Boxing Association Middleweight Champion.
Naoko Fujioka and Jacqueline Nava Mouett will represent the women’s modern class.
Fujioka is a Japanese former professional boxer. She is Japan’s first-ever five-division world champion, having held the WBA female flyweight title between 2017 and 2022.
Mouett is a Mexican professional boxer. She is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA female bantamweight title in 2005, the WBC female super bantamweight title twice between 2005 and 2015, and the WBA super bantamweight title twice between 2012 and 2015.
Felix Trinidad Jr. and Felix Trinidad Sr. at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y. (Roger Seibert — MediaNews Group)
Boxing legends begin the celebration with the ringing of the bell. This years event is labeled as “The Trilogy” as the International Boxing Hall of Fame will induct the 2020, 2021, 2022 classes.