Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame hosts fitting ceremony for new class – WVUA 23

By WVUA 23 Sports Reporter Theodore Fernandez

The Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony Friday night at the Tuscaloosa River Market. Boxers were inducted into one of five categories: pro, amateur, old timer, manager/trainer/promoter, and support personnel. Inductees could have either been born in the state or have achieved great accomplishments in the state of Alabama.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class featured nine inductees, most notably Otis “Triple OG” Griffin, and the class included the first physician ever inducted in Tuscaloosa’s Dr. David Williams. Williams was inducted for his extensive career as a ringside doctor. He also works as Deontay Wilder’s personal physician and has been in his corner for his World Heavyweight Title bouts.

The event also featured a full card of eight boxing matches held during the induction. The card was set up by Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas, who runs Skyy Boxing. This marked Skyy’s 100th event over its thirty year history, but this one held special significance thanks to the aforementioned induction.

“When you have the Hall of Famers here you want to impress them,” Deas said. “You want the best fighters. We called in fighters from all over the nation to come here because you want the Hall of Famers to miss their fighting days but to really cheer on the young guys.”

Friday’s festivities featured a number of local products, including the main card, which pitted San Diego’s Sergio Jimenez against Tuscaloosa’s Deon Nicholson, who is widely viewed as the best ‘West Alabama’ boxer since Wilder.

“It’s a huge fight for Deon and it’s a huge fight for the city of Tuscaloosa,” Deas said pre-fight. “People are in for a treat.”

And they certainly were in for a treat, as the two went the full ten rounds before Nicholson won by decision.

Other Tuscaloosa products included Ke’Eric Hinton and Andre Harris, who both drew, and KeAndrae Leatherwood, who won his fight. All in all, the event appeared to be a great success.

“We’ve had a hundred shows. This is the first one that’s ever been sold out days ahead of time,” Deas said. “So we’re thrilled with that and we think this may just be the beginning of something bigger and bigger.”