Hank Kaplan

Hank Kaplan (April 15, 1920 – December 14, 2007) was an American boxing historian and writer. Always wearing one of many of his prized boxing baseball caps, and smoking a pipe, he is widely regarded as the nation's foremost boxing historian, and was known and respected worldwide. Kaplan was known to possess the largest collection of boxing memorabilia , consisting of millions of pieces including newspaper articles, books, and photographs, stemming back from the 19th century. His expertise in boxing history helped him earn the nickname "Lord of the Ring."

Childhood and family life Kaplan was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents from Lithuania. He had three siblings. His father died of tuberculosis, when Kaplan was only 9 years of age, leaving his mother to raise four children on her own. His mother struggled to make ends meet as a seamstress, but was forced to place the children in an orphanage at a young age. Hank Kaplan spent much of his early years growing up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York (HOA), also known as the Academy. He was an active member of HOA and participated in annual events throughout his entire lifetime. Many professional boxers had wished to nominate Kaplan for the Hall of Fame for years on end, however, since Hank served on the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, they were unable to nominate him. As was typical, anyone who was worthy of a nomination would typically voluntarily step down from the Nominating Committee in order to accept the nomination. Kaplan, however, refused to do so for years, stating he wanted to see others nominated before him. After much pressure, Kaplan agreed and was inducted in 2006 into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Legacy Kaplan married Sylvia in Florida, whom he was married to for 56 years, until her death. They had two children together. His wife was known to invite many boxers into their home, often cooking for them and assisting them with any needs. He never sold any of his pieces of boxing history, despite their monetary value. He was quoted as saying "None of this is for my own glory. I have no dreams of great rewards. My love of boxing comes first." Upon his death, he donated his entire boxing archives to Brooklyn College in New York.

Kaplan died on the morning of December 14, 2007 at his home in Kendall, Florida, after a brief battle with cancer. He was survived by two daughters and a son, his brother, his sister, and four grandchildren.