The campaign for Junior Jones and Iran Barkley is asking for transparency, dialogue — and the opportunity to let the voters decide.
By Neil Pellone/ Founder Tough Tony Team
For months, boxing writer/historian José Corpas and I have been leading a growing grassroots campaign asking the International Boxing Hall of Fame to do something very simple:
Put Junior “Poison” Jones and Iran “The Blade” Barkley on the ballot and let the voters decide.
We are not asking the Hall to induct them. We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking that two accomplished former world champions be given the opportunity to have their careers evaluated by the boxing writers and historians entrusted with voting.
But as our campaign has grown, another question has become increasingly difficult to ignore:
How does a deserving fighter actually get onto that ballot — and who can have a meaningful conversation about it?
That question leads directly to International Boxing Hall of Fame Executive Director Ed Brophy.
I respect the Hall and its responsibility to preserve boxing history. But respect for an institution should never prevent us from asking how that institution operates.
Recently, I contacted one of the writers who votes once fighters reach the ballot. I told him Corpas and I would welcome an opportunity to speak with Brophy and respectfully present the cases for Jones and Barkley.
His response was revealing.
He told me he couldn’t begin to tell me how many people have tried to have that conversation and that the list of people sending Brophy names is very large.
I understand Brophy cannot personally meet with everyone advocating for a fighter.
But if so many people are trying to have this conversation, shouldn’t there be a clear way to have it?
This isn’t about attacking Ed Brophy. It’s about asking him to engage.
And other major sports show that transparency is possible.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame publicly explains how nominations are submitted and forwarded through its selection process. Baseball identifies its screening procedures and publishes detailed rules governing how candidates reach and remain on the ballot. Basketball publicly explains the committees through which candidates advance toward election.
Boxing should be able to answer the same basic questions.
Who determines which eligible fighters reach the International Boxing Hall of Fame ballot? What criteria guide that decision? How can historians, former fighters or advocates formally present the case for someone they believe has been overlooked?
Transparency wouldn’t weaken the Hall of Fame.
It would strengthen it.
Jones and Barkley demonstrate why this conversation matters.
Jones was a multiple-division world champion who twice defeated Marco Antonio Barrera and also defeated Orlando Canizales — three victories over eventual International Boxing Hall of Famers.
Barkley was a three-division world champion who twice defeated Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and battled Roberto Durán in their unforgettable 1989 Fight of the Year.
Does that automatically mean they belong in the Hall? No.
That’s precisely the point. Let the voters decide.
And this is no longer simply Corpas and me asking.
Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Gerry Cooney, Christy Martin and Donny Lalonde are among the prominent boxing figures who have recorded messages supporting the call for Jones and Barkley to receive Hall of Fame consideration.
Others throughout the boxing community have echoed that sentiment, and fans are increasingly asking the same question.
When champions, writers, historians and fans are willing to have this conversation, why does meaningful dialogue with the Hall itself seem so difficult?
If Brophy receives more requests than one person can reasonably address, perhaps the solution isn’t silence. Perhaps it’s a transparent submission process, clear criteria for consideration and an explanation of how candidates are reviewed.
Corpas and I would gladly sit across a table from Brophy tomorrow and respectfully present the records, victories and historical context for both men.
We aren’t asking him to agree with us.
We’re asking him to engage with us.
This campaign started with two names — Junior Jones and Iran Barkley — but it has become about something larger: transparency, dialogue and ensuring accomplished fighters have a legitimate path to consideration.
So my message to Ed Brophy is respectful but direct:
Talk to us. Talk to the fighters. Talk to the historians, writers and fans.
When the boxing community is raising its voice, the answer from boxing’s Hall of Fame shouldn’t be silence.
We’re not asking you to put Junior Jones and Iran Barkley in the Hall.
We’re asking you to open the door to the ballot.
Then let the voters decide!