It is a deep regret that I was informed of the passing of Ring 8 long time member, Mary Tate.

Bill and Mary Tate

Ms Tate, the wife of former Board Member, William ( Bill ) Tate, was considered by many of us old timers as the first lady of Ring 8. Always making her presence at meetings and a constant presence at all our Ring 8 /NYSBOF events. A recipient of a Ring 8 lifetime member award she will surely be missed. Bill and Mary were first to donate a $1,000 towards the burial of Welterweight Champion “Kid” Gavilan, a gesture that is still remembered to this day . …Our prayers & thoughts

Bob Duffy

NEW YORK (April 1, 2020) – The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (NYSBHOF) and Ring 8 jointly announced today a partnership to establish a COVID-19 fund to assist New York and New Jersey boxers and boxing personnel who are in financial need during the coronavirus pandemic.

Any boxing personnel (boxers, trainers, cut-men, etc.) who are independent contractors and live in New York or New Jersey may apply for monetary assistance by filling out a request form posted at www.NYBoxingHOF.org and  www.Ring8ny,com, or request a form at  fightpublicist@gmail.com to be directly emailed.

All applicants must be licensed (NYSAC, NJSAC or USA Boxing) and forms must be submitted  to NYSBHOF president Bob Duffy by email (depcomish@aol.com) or call him (1.516.313.2304) with the required information.

“Gyms are closed, and boxing has been suspended indefinitely,” NYSBHOF president Bob Duffy said. “Most boxing trainers, cut-men and other boxing personnel are independent contractors, so they do not have any income right now during this pandemic.  They have families to support, rent to pay, food to put on the table, and other critical expenses.  We want to help them by establishing this fund.  We’re not in the position to give each applicant a large stipend,  but we are able to provide a small payment to temporarily help them a little bit.  We’re committed to doing this for the month of April, at the very least, and then we’ll will revisit extending payments until boxing returns, as long as there is money available in this fund.  It’s the right thing to do!”

“Ring 8 is furthering our goals to assist boxers and boxing people in New York during this crisis,” Ring 8 president Charlie Norkus, Jr. added.  “It has been our mission since the very beginning.  We are pleased to join the New York Boxing Hall of Fame in this endeavor.”

CONTACT:

Bob Trieger, Full Court PRESS, 978.590.0470, bobtfcp@hotmail.com, @FightPublicist

Contact:
President, Charlie Norkus

CNorkusR8@aol.com
516-781-3065

January 23, 2020

An open letter all Members of Ring 8 VBA:

A special Board of Directors meeting was held in early January 2020.

The Board of Directors have adopted the following changes starting with our January meeting:

Ring 8 membership dues will rise $5, from $30 to $35 per member. Our operating costs have risen with various price increases for our events. This will be the first dues increase in several years for our membership.

Ring 8 General Membership meetings will now meet every other month instead of monthly. Please check our website www.ring8ny.com for upcoming meeting notices and guest speakers.

Our schedule for 2020 will now reflect our meetings in the following months:

January (just held),

March 19^th  (Thursday)  at the Plattdeutsche Rest., Franklin Sq., NY (Rest. Is closed Tuesdays)

April 19^th, 2020 (Sunday) New York State Boxing HOF Dinner. Russo’s on The Bay (Flyer will be posted shortly)

May 21^st  (Tuesday) at ONeills Rest, Maspeth

We will break for summer months June, July and August

September (date and location to be determined)

November  (date and location to be determined)

We will  hold our December 13^th, 2020 (Sunday) Annual Ring 8 VBA Holiday Awards Dinner at Russo’s on The Bay as in the past.

All meetings will start at 7 pm as in the past with open buffet. Board Of Directors meetings start at 6 pm

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The co-pay price of the pre-meeting meal will rise $5 to $10 to help meet the price increases at the Restaurants.

We Thank You for your kind consideration in this matter. We value your membership to Ring 8 VBA  and hope to see you at our meetings and events.

Charlie Norkus Jr, President

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Contact:
President, Charlie Norkus

CNorkusR8@aol.com
516-781-3065

Harold Lederman Passes Away From Cancer, 79-Years-old

He earned a license from New York’s State Athletic Commission to judge title fights on June 26, 1967. He judged over a hundred title fights while maintaining his pharmacy practice in New York. In 1986, HBO executive producer Ross Greenburg invited Lederman to join HBO’s World Championship Boxing.

During his run on HBO, Lederman would often detail his scorecard during fights and HBO would run graphics after every round to reveal Lederman’s scoring of the action.

Lederman retired from active judging in 1999, but remained with the HBO Boxing crew until the very end of the network’s run with sport. In 2018, HBO made an unexpected decision to drop boxing after 45-years of showcasing the sport on their network.

His daughter, Julie Lederman, followed in his footsteps and also became a boxing judge.

Funeral services will take place on Tuesday, May 14th, 11:00 A.M., at Hellman Memorial Chapels, 15 State Street, Spring Valley, New York, 10977.

Harold Lederman’s Distinctive Voice Has Been Stilled and Boxing is Poorer for It

Newly elected President Charlie Norkus opened up the meeting with Paulette Balog leading us in our Flag Salute and 10 count, in memory of former Ring 8 President, Henny Wallitsch.

Former President, Bob Duffy swears in our Newly elected President Charlie Norkus and Vice President Frank Pena.

Sonya Lamonakis, talked on her career as an Amateur Boxer and as President USA Boxing Metro NY.

VP Frank Pena, introduced Nisa Rodriguez, an 8 time National Golden Glove Champion, and she talked about her career and that she will be competing soon to represent Puerto Rico in the Olympic Games.

New York State Boxing Hall of Fame President, Bob Duffy talked on the Class of 2019, that will be Inducted on Sunday, April 28th at Russo’s on the Bay.

(All Pictures taken by Stan Janousek, professional fight name Stanley Yanachek)

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Contact:
President, Charlie Norkus

CNorkusR8@aol.com
516-781-3065

Due to the snow storm, tonight’s meeting has been postponed until next Tuesday, March 21st, starting at 7 p.m. ET, at O’Neill’s Restaurant, located at 64-21 53rd Drive in Maspeth, New York.