LAS VEGAS (AP) - Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. will head the list of 2017 inductees in the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, officials announced Tuesday.
Race car driver and team owner Sam Schmidt, golf professional Butch Harmon, former football player and high school coach Overton Curtis and the Las Vegas Bowl are also slated for enshrinement at a June 2 induction ceremony at the Orleans Arena.
Mayweather went undefeated in 49 professional fights, winning 12 world championships in five weight classes. He’s considered one of the greatest defensive fighters ever, and earned hundreds of millions of dollars during his boxing career.
Schmidt raced three times at Indianapolis before a 2000 crash during training left him a quadriplegic. He founded Sam Schmidt Motorsports and co-founded the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, later renamed Conquer Paralysis Now.
Harmon is a former pro golfer-turned-instructor with schools in Dubai and Florida. He is perhaps best-known as Tiger Woods’ coach from 1993 to 2004. Other students have included Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Mark Calcavecchia, Dustin Johnson and Natalie Gulbis.
Curtis was a star athlete at Las Vegas High School and played halfback at Utah State. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers before returning to southern Nevada and coaching football, basketball, soccer and track. He died in 1991 at age 55.
The Las Vegas Bowl has been played since 1992, and today pits teams from the Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences at Sam Boyd Stadium.
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