22.02.06 – By Jim Amato: Hank Kaplan is a wonderful man. I had the great pleasure of meeting Hank at the IBHOF in June of 1998. Since that time we have stayed in periodic contact. I was introduced to Hank through a mutual friend, Jim Borgen of Warren, Ohio. Through Jim I learned just how much Hank Kaplan has done for the sport of boxing.
Hank Kaplan is to boxing what John Madden is to football. I mean that as the ultimate compliment. Hank may just be the most respected person in boxing today. He was elected President of the World Boxing Historian’s Association in 1958. I was all but four years old!
Hank has been the Director Of Public Relations for Angelo Dundee Inc. since 1960. He was the Technical Director for the radio presentation of the All Time Computerized Heavyweight Tournament in 1967 and 1968. He was the Technical Director for the Marciano-Ali Computerized Closed Circuit match in 1969.
Hank was the Boxing Expert / Consultant to Sports Illustrated magazine for 23 years. Hank is a consultant on boxing history for the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. He also been a member of the IBHOF’s Three Person Committee Of Induction Process since 1990.
Hank has been used as a consultant by HBO, Showtime, ESPN and many major newspapers in the US and Europe. He has assisted in the research of numerous boxing books.
Hank is the founder and owner of Hank Kaplan Boxing Archives. He has one of the most extensive archives of boxing information and memorabilia in the world !
Hank was inducted in to the Los Angeles based World Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1994. He was given the George C. Beahon Award by the Rochester, N.Y. Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1999.He received the prestigious James J. Walker Award from the Boxing Writers Association Of America in 2003. These are just a handful of awards and plaudits that Hank has garnered. It will now be topped off with his induction to the Hall Of Fame in Canastota, N.Y. this coming June.
It could not have happened to a nicer and more deserving man.