Being inducted in the Hall of Fame is one of the highest accolades an individual can receive. Top Rank boxing has announced that Lee Samuels will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2019. Samuels has been the company’s chief publicist for almost four decades. The induction will take place on June 6-9 in Canastota, New York.
“This is a tremendous honor, the biggest in the sport of boxing,” Samuels said in a press release. “Bob Arum hired me in 1983 to be part of a new ESPN Thursday night boxing series. Todd duBoef, our president, personally helped my family when we needed it the most and kept us going. It’s incredible for me to join Top Rank’s greatest publicist, Irving Rudd, in the Hall of Fame. I love interacting with media from all parts of the world. There is no night like fight night and being with the writers and our Top Rank family on press row. I would like to thank all of the great champions, contenders and prospects I’ve worked with throughout the years. You have all made this possible.”
Samuels will join Irving Rudd as the only publicists who have been honored to enter the International Boxing Hall of Fame; Rudd was inducted in 1999 and was Top Rank’s public relations chief. Samuels will be the fifth individual from Top Rank to be honored. He joins Rudd, Founder and CEO Bob Arum (1999), longtime matchmaker Bruce Trampler (2010), and the late matchmaker Teddy Brenner (1993).
“For decades, Lee Samuels has been outstanding in disseminating information about boxers and boxing to the public around the world,” Arum shared. “He truly deserves the honor of being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.”
Trampler also had high praise for Samuels:
“There are few individuals more deserving of this honor than Lee Samuels. I am honored to have known him for decades as a friend and a colleague. Welcome to Canastota, Lee!”
