Acceptance Remarks on Klaus Peter Kohl’s Induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am greatly honored to accept the induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame on behalf of my dear friend and esteemed colleague, Klaus Peter Kohl. Peter is currently undertaking medical treatment that prevents him from traveling at this time.
Peter asks me to express his profound, deep felt and humble appreciation for this honor to his Family, to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, to the entire Community of Professional Boxing and especially to Boxing fans around the World.
Peter wishes to emphasize that he understands that this Honor and induction to the IBHOF is not just for him personally, but is for every member of the Universum Box Promotion Team, from the Managers to the Technical Directors and to all of the staff who contributed so much to the hundreds of Universum/Spotlight boxing events of nonpareil excellence
Peter’s special appreciation and gratitude is held for his Boxing Team, He is thinking how much his lifelong friends and colleagues at Universum Box Promotion and Spotlight Boxing created every success in his boxing career.
Peter would like to express special and fond recollection for his Matchmaker, Heidi Tauab, who knew everyone in boxing, and who could go anywhere, who could communicate in any language, and who could assemble an intriguing boxing card with compelling matchups within budget.
Peter would also like to extend a special acknowledgment to his dear friend, Fritz Sdunek, the Universum Master Trainer who was so important to assist great athletes to attain technical boxing excellence and most importantly the mental and emotional strength necessary to attain Championship Character.
Finally, Peter expresses his highest esteem and appreciation for the hundreds of boxers he had the privilege and honor to promote. He promoted dozens of Champions, many of who were mentioned on the award presentation. Two present here are Vitali and Wladimir Klitchko. Peter was also a pioneer of promoting Female Boxing, promoting Daisy Lange, Regina Hamlich and numerous other Female Champions. He promoted the first European Championship Boxing Card headlined by a Female Boxer and the first European all-Female Boxing Card, both to sell-out crowds.
Peter is especially gratified that so many of the Universum Boxers have had excellent lives and careers after boxing, becoming excellent parents, citizens and successes in their chosen fields.
Klaus Peter Kohl is a Hall of Fame Promoter not just because of the hundreds of championship events and the scores of Champions he promoted. Peter’s great contribution to Boxing is how he promoted Boxing, with epic pageantry, triumphant music, monumental trade style and spectacular showmanship. Ultimately, Klaus Peter Kohl’s great contribution to Boxing is that he loved boxing and all of its participants, and he promoted with the understanding that Boxing is a great and glorious sport contested by heroes.
John Duggan, June 10, 2018, at the IBHOF Induction Ceremony, Canastota, New Yor