Top Rank trifecta elected into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame

The International Boxing Hall of Fame will induct three more members of the Top Rank Boxing family in its 2023 induction ceremony. 

Top Rank Chief Operating Officer (COO) Brad Jacobs and matchmaker Brad Goodman will be inducted into the “Non-Participant” category. 

Also inducted is former world champion boxer Timothy Bradley, who joins the “Modern Era” category. 

The trio of Top Rank Hall of Famers will join matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Teddy Brenner, publicists Lee Samuels and Irving Rudd and industry legend and Top Rank boss Bob Arum. 

Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley walked away from boxing after an outstanding career that saw him go (33-2-1, 13 KOs) in 36 fights. Bradley fought ten times for Top Rank, including bouts with legendry fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and a war against Ruslan Provodnikov in a ‘fight of the year’ for 2013. Bradley joined ESPN as a boxing analyst in 2016 and announced his retirement a year later. 

In retirement, Bradley has seen his work as a ringside analyst lauded by fight fans for his honesty and knowledgeable insight into fights and fighters. 

Bradley, of Palm Springs, California, thrilled at the announcement, said, “This is one of the greatest days of my life,” Bradley said. “I appreciate this so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m ecstatic and don’t really know what to say. This is everything I wanted and everything I worked for. I’m full of emotions and there are so many things going through my mind from my past that got me to this point. This is a dream come true. This is my heaven, the International Boxing Hall of Fame.” 

New York native Goodman started at Top Rank’s New York City offices in 1983, working for publicist Irving Rudd and matchmakers Teddy Brenner and Bruce Trampler. Goodman later joined Top Rank in Las Vegas, cutting his matchmaking teeth in smaller club shows. 

He joined Top Rank as a full-time matchmaker in 2004 and has matched countless contenders and champions. Goodman, working with Trampler, has guided an endless list of fighters to world titles including Kelly Pavlik, Juan Terence Crawford, Jose Ramirez, Oscar Valdez, Teofimo Lopez, and Shakur Stevenson, to name but a few.

Upon learning of his induction, Goodman, obviously very pleased at the announcement, said, 

“Oh my God! It’s the greatest news I’ve heard, and it means the world to me. My goal and what I’ve worked for is to build champions and, to me, to be elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame for this work is the biggest honor.”

Florida native Brad Jacobs is into his fifth decade in the sport. He started in the early 80s as the general manager of Alessi Promotions. 

Jacobs further developed his profile in the sport during his dozen years as the senior programming consultant for the USA Network. 

He was the man behind the massively popular ‘Tuesday Night Fights’ series that featured a weekly buffet of contenders, champions, and superstars. 

Jacobs was also the senior advisor for Square Ring, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. For the last 12 years, he has been Top Rank’s COO, overseeing countless shows the world over for Top Rank Boxing, globally recognized as the world’s leading promotional firm. 

Hearing the news of the announcement, the highly respected Jacobs said, “This is terrific news! I’ve been in this business my entire professional life, and it is just an incredible honor to be voted in by my peers for the years I’ve spent in the business and hopefully with many more to come. It is a crazy business, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jacobs, Goodman, and Bradley will join fellow inductees Rafael Marquez, Carl Froch, Alicia Ashley, Laura Serrano, Seth Abraham, Tim Ryan, and Joe Goosen. Along with posthumous inductees Tiger Jack Fox, Pone Kingpetch, and JoAnn Hagen. 

On behalf of MaxBoxing, congratulations to Top Rank Boxing and these three worthy inductees.