As diverse as the world of boxing is, it can be difficult to find subjects on which everyone agrees. How to combat low fan turnout, whether or not to embrace increasingly digitized technology, and what the future of the sport looks like are all subjective and frequently debated.

One thing all fans, pundits and beyond seem to agree on, however, is that fighters who accomplish extraordinary things should be acknowledged and honored. That’s precisely what the International Boxing Hall of Fame is about.

Voting is part of the yearly Hall of Fame tradition, with some electors participating since the Hall of Fame’s founding in 1990. For younger aspirants, becoming a voter and helping recognize the fighters they watched as fans is a goal to aim for as a writer or behind-the-scenes player.

In a critical sense, the only issue is that more fighters can’t be inducted. Theoretically, every fighter should be honored for the role they played in sustaining the sport of boxing, which still operates in the world partially created by the great writers and minds who positioned fighters as exalted beings seated next to the gods.

In reality, only a precious few are inducted into Canastota New York’s hall of fame. Most of the big-name fighters from decades and decades ago were part of The Ring’s hall of fame, which operated out of New York City for about three decades starting in the 1950s. Over the years, The Ring inducted more than 150 figures into its hall, with all but about one dozen also going into the IBHOF at some point.

To be eligible for IBHOF induction, a fighter must be retired for three full years and have their last pro fight happen no earlier than 1989 to be included in the “modern” category. Other expanded ballots, such as non-participant and old-timer ballots, are available to a select group of voters. Contrary to popular belief, winning a world title or multiple world titles isn’t necessary to be considered for the ballot.

The ballot details keep changing: last year, voters chose from 42 fighters, with five picks allowed. This year, the ballot swelled to 48 fighters and seven picks allowed.

The most common way to become a voter in the first place is to join the Boxing Writers Association of America, or the BWAA, though some voters are historians who aren’t writers or media members.

As with halls in sports like baseball, basketball and football, the IBHOF is thought to be reserved for participants who stand out from the overall group. Sometimes fighters on the ballot are so uniquely qualified for recognition that they separate themselves even from fellow multi-division world champions.

Several fighters from the lower weights rank among the greatest in their respective divisions, such as Gilberto Román and Moon Sung-Kil at the criminally underrated junior bantamweight and Israel Vázquez at junior featherweight. Santos Laciar and Yuri Arbachakov also stand tall as greats in a truly incredible and historic flyweight division.

Some fighters, such as Sven Ottke, Leo Gamez, Chris John, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Gianfranco Rosi, built their case for induction with numbers that look swell on paper, but don’t hold up well to much scrutiny. All either dominated weak divisions, never attempted to unify or never strayed far from home. All will nevertheless get some votes.

A small handful of fighters are perhaps more deserving but less likely to actually pull votes. Sumbu Kalambay, Jorge Arce, Sot Chitalada and Samuel Serrano all tabbed objectively impressive victories and rank well in their divisions, but lingering biases among voters won’t help them.

Fighters from long-ago eras tend to have an advantage over recent fighters when comparing records, even just by nature of having contemporary fighters’ total fight numbers easily eclipsed. The rise of network TV, combined with the evolution of closed-circuit TV and premium cable, drove activity down, leveling the playing field a bit when comparing fighters on the current ballot.

Recency bias still drives much of the voting, though. While mild, there has still been controversy over inductions in recent years as non-American fighters, fighters from lower weight classes and fighters from that late-80s to early-90s cutoff are overlooked in favor of TV fighters. There also seems to be a slant toward action fighters with aggressive styles rather than stylists and boxers, leading to a few disputed inductions.

Expanding the votes from five to seven will probably also hook in fighters such as Vernon Forrest, who just missed induction last year, and recent fighters with borderline ledgers (Shawn Porter, Kelly Pavlik and Mikey Garcia).

Unfortunately, there remains little hope for the little foreign fighters.

On IBHOF ballots, there are generally at least a few names that clearly stand out as likely winners of the induction lottery. This year is different. Much like 2024 and a few other years, a lack of obvious frontrunners means the IBHOF could see a weird distribution of votes.

Behind-the-scenes tensions amid a battle for boxing’s future also complicate the process a bit. Boxing’s media is changing as it digitizes and becomes younger, creating rifts between different generations covering the sport with competing priorities.

Will the ballot reflect a younger generation wanting to vote for fighters it actually watched as fans, or the print-era media members leaning toward an older group of fighters?

The IBHOF is still recovering from temporarily shuttering during the COVID pandemic, and now it competes with other East Coast halls that have the means to hold big celebrations. Even so, returning from the abyss to continue its mission signals dedication not just to business, but to the sport and the fighters who keep it going.

Calls to include Kalambay and Starling on the ballot were met with action, and expanding the ballot also increases the likelihood that fighters actually experience their own induction. Expanded awareness of boxers’ fates means time is of the essence, and it grows short for many on this ballot.

History-minded individuals will always chronicle fights, fighters and their accomplishments, but the IBHOF is boxing’s central hub for history. The longer it sticks around, the better.