Hank Kaplan's boxing memorabilia

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Posted By: Dan N.

Hank was the most accomplished boxing historian in modern history in my eyes. He was always there to assist any retired fighter he could and become friends with anyone interested in the sport. Many thought his archives & collection's legacy would end up in Canastota’s IBHOF. I can say from having many private conversations with him over the years that, deep down, Hank had wished it possible. But over all these years and since 1990 the IBHOF's site expansions and security had grown at a snail's pace and they neither had the space, place or could provide the security insurance that Hank and his massive stuff would have required. In fact, if these had been in place 10 years ago around 1998, Hank mentioned then that he would have started moving the archives and collectibles he already fully catalogued to Canastota to give him more room in Miami to finish the rest.


I met Hank in 1991 during my first trip to the HOF and their 2nd inductions. Arriving the Wednesday a day before events started, I went into Graziano’s Lounge. The crowd was small and tables had been placed end-to-end in the middle of the room where the likes of Beau Jack, Kid Gavilian, Ike Williams, and others were engrossed in conversations. I heared another fan comment, “… and there’s Hank Kaplan behind us.” He was alone, smoking a pipe and smiling as he watched his old friends, Jack and Gavilan, enjoy themselves. I'd seen his picture in Boxing Digest magazine as its editor and always wanted to meet him so I went over and asked, “Excuse me, but are you Hank Kaplan?”

He answered, “Yes, I am.” And I started about what an honor it was to meet him; I’d read Boxing Digest since it was just a newspaper; congratulations on turning it into a newsstand magazine for everybody; loved his editorials, BD's layout and I’d saved every one of them since it was a newspaper.

Hank asked, “You subscribed when it was a newspaper? It’s because of guys like you that allowed it to become a magazine.” I added, “This is my first trip to Canastota. I would have made it last year for the first one but ... and no way was I going to miss this year. I told him that, regardless of which great fighters I may get to meet up there, I considered meeting him as much a personal honor as any of them. Hank smiled and said, “You come ask for me at the lodge early tomorrow morning. I’ve got some stuff to show you. Then I’m going to take you with me this weekend as my guest.” The next early morning he took me to his room and showed me all the memorabilia he brought and talked about each piece. We talked and got to know one another better and the rest of that entire weekend Hank took me with him to everywhere, both public or privately, introducing me to all the visiting fighters as one of his good friend.

Because Hank made that first year an unforgettable experience, I made it back the next 12-straight Inductions before ever missing one. Each of those years, either I got there early and looked Hank up or he looked for me at Graziano’s Lounge or the Collectors Show and our friendship grew. Back home in Rhode Island, I ran a design studio and I began doing many custom displays for Hank's collectibles, always with sincere appreciation for what he’d done for me during my first trip to Canastota.

I remember one particular year being invited to his room and “warned” by him that the HOF had invited “too many guests with all their family” this time, and it was the first year Hank “was stuck sharing his room with a roommate.” He said he “wasn’t keen about it, but what can you do? The guy can be a pain in the neck and he talks too much. So, we get in there and if he starts bothering us, just ignore him.” Hank opened his door looking at me with a glint in his eye and said, “Dan, I want you to meet Archie Moore.” Later I came to realize how special that meeting was: Archie’s last visit to the IBHOF before he died. And I owed it to Hank Kaplan.

Hank never did sleep much when he was in Canastota. Instead he enjoyed taking long walks late into the night after everything in town had closed down. Sometimes he invited me to walk with him and just talk. During a walk back in 1998, he spoke of his life by then being mainly devoted to cataloguing his archives and organizing his collection, how he often worried over where they ought to be moved to because he needed more space to make the job easier. He said it was sad that the HOF didn’t have the room or security yet to handle his volume of his stuff, or he’d have moved it there already. He “didn’t want to move it anywhere else that might end up being in competition with the HOF,” so he’d “leave it where it is, continue working on the archives, and cross that bridge when the time comes.” But he always hoped it’d find a home in Canastota.

However, when that time did come 10-years later with Hank’s passing, the IBHOF’s facilities unfortunately still lacked the necessary requirements to handle his legacy.

At this year’s 2008 Inductions, I spoke briefly with IBHOF Director Ed Brophy about Hank’s Archives and Collection being gifted to Brooklyn College. I relayed what Hank’s wish had previous been and asked if there was any hope the HOF could someday become their home providing a drive got started to raise the funds for a new building to securely house it all. Ed said the HOF had talked with Hank’s daughter to convey their condolences upon Hank’s passing and were informed of where Hank and his family, near to the end, had decided to will the gift; that the IBHOF understood and was fine with their decision; that they were simply thankful that Hank had always been such an important part of the IBHOF and everything he’d done for it in the past.

Why and how Hank's final decision was ultimately made is better revealed within the NY Times’ article that's posted.
I thank the poster for sharing it with everybody. I hope what I've shared shows just what kind of a great guy Hank really was.