Veteran SHOWTIME Sports^® Reporter Jim Gray and Former Play-By-Play Announcer Steve Albert Join 2018 Class Alongside Vitali Klitschko, Eric Morales and Ronald “Winky” Wright

SHOWTIME Sports veteran reporter 吉姆·格雷 and former, long-time play-by-play announcer 史蒂夫·艾伯特 were elected to the 2018 class of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, it was announced by the Hall on Tuesday.

Gray and Albert earned induction into the Observer category, which recognizes outstanding achievements of print and electronic media journalists, sportscasters, publishers, 作家, historians, photographers and artists. Gray and Albert will join SHOWTIME Sports boxing analyst Al Bernstein (2012), ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. (2013), analyst and historian Steve Farhood (2017) and announcer Barry Tompkins (2017) in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, four-division world champion Eric Morales and former undisputed super welterweight world champion Ronald “Winky” Wright headline the 2018 歸納班. The newly elected class will be inducted during Hall of Fame Weekend 六月 7-10, 2018, in Canastota, 紐約州.

“All of us at SHOWTIME Sports who have worked with Jim and Steve over the years are thrilled that they are receiving this well-deserved honor,” said David Dinkins Jr., Executive Producer, SHOWTIME體育. “Both were instrumental in building the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^® 特許經營. Jim’s interviews have become classic post-fight drama while Steve’s fight calls are integral to some of the most significant moments in boxing history.”

Gray has been a reporter for SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING since 1994, 並已獲得 11 Emmy Awards throughout his career, including one for his interview of Mike Tyson following the heavyweight’s infamous “bite fight” loss to Evander Holyfield. The National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association also named that interview the “Sports Broadcast Story of the Year.” 另外, the American Sportscasters Association voted Gray “Sportscaster of the Year” 在 1998 和 1999.

Throughout his four-decade career as a reporter, Gray has covered numerous Super Bowls, World Series, 奧運會, NBA Finals and NCAA Final Fours, and has interviewed many of the most lauded sports figures of this era including Muhammad Ali, 邁克·泰森, Kobe Bryant, 湯姆·布雷迪, Pete Rose, Michael Jordan and many others.

One of the most recognizable voices in sports, Albert joined SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING shortly after its inception in 1986. In a tenure that spanned over two decades, the world-famous broadcaster called over 300 title fights, including Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Greg Haugen in front of 130,000 fans at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, and Tyson-Holyfield I & II. 在 2007, Albert received The Sam Taub Award for excellence in broadcast journalism by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

In addition to boxing, Albert spent 19 seasons covering the NBA, spending 13 of those years with the Nets, five with the Golden State Warriors and one with the New Orleans Hornets. Albert has also done play-by-play for the New York Mets, Jets, Islanders and Rangers, as well as the New Jersey Devils.

The recognition by the International Boxing Hall of Fame is the result of a career’s worth of hard work and accomplishments for Gray and Albert.