Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame and inductees associated with ice hockey are inducted for their contributions to the fighting aspects of the game (to date, both hockey-related honorary inductees have been associated with the Buffalo Sabres, who play from Belfast). The honorary inductees were included as an acknowledgement that bare-knuckle boxing ended as a mainstream sport over a century ago, and that the honorary inductee system allows notable figures that promoted activity similar to bare knuckle boxing, who might be more recognizable to modern audiences, to be included in the Hall. For the inaugural induction ceremony in 2009, former undisputed heavyweight champion Leon Spinks was
Tommy Spinks Tommy Spinks Thomas Allen Spinks, known as Tommy Spinks (October 29, 1948 – August 26, 2007), was an American football wide receiver for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs who played from 1966 to 1969. A native of Shreveport, Spinks and Larry C. Brewer, who came to Tech from Minden High School, were the players who received the passes from the legendary Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw, also a Shreveport native who went on to play successfully for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Spinks set two records in the 1968 Grantland Rice Bowl, when he caught 12 passes for 167 yards. After his Tech career,