Buster Douglas and Gerry Cooney chosen for AC Boxing HOF

Six other former fighters also were chosen for the honor: Tyrone Mitchell Frazier, Sergio Martinez, Mario Maldonado, Paul Williams, Sharmba Mitchell and Eva B. Jones-Young.

The other 12 honorees in its eighth annual induction class are divided among three classes: special contributors, posthumous and pioneers.

Guy Gargan, a former professional boxer and a longtime sports writer for The Press of Atlantic City, was chosen in the special contributors category for his media work. Also in that category: trainer James “Buddy” McGirt, manger/promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, trainer Bruce Blair, matchmaker Eric Bottjer and media member Randy Gordon.

To be inducted posthumously: fighter Howard Davis Jr., TV executive Jay Larkin and referee Eddie Cotton.

Pioneers to be honored include three fighters: Eric Seelig, George Godfrey and Joey Giardello.

Details about the HOF induction weekend were not immediately announced.

Last fall at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, the HOF inducted its class of 2023, a group of 24 that included former fighters George Foreman, Shannon Briggs, David Tua and Pinklon Thomas.

HOF officials said then that the organization was exploring the possibility of finding a brick-and-mortar location to call home, a place where visitors could reminisce about the area’s boxing history and culture.

“Atlantic City is a very unique city because it’s like Las Vegas,” Ray McCline, founder and president of the HOF, said last year. “It became one of the meccas, one of the main boxing destinations, during its glory years. So it’s a very unique place that allows us not to only do a local Hall of Fame, but also have an international feel.

“And we’re one of the only hall of fames that’s city run and not a state-run hall of fame. So, yes, the Boxing Hall of Fame is a weekend event, but this is kind of phase one — one and a half, two — that we’re in. But our future is definitely going to be a physical location.”