Tracy Callis is a prominent American

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, writer and journalist. He is the director of the historical research boxing website ''Cyber Boxing Zone'' (CBZ) and International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). He is also an elector to the

International Boxing Hall Of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

(IBHoF) and a member of the ''World Boxing Historians Association'' (WBHA).

Education

In 1963, Callis earned a master's degree in mathematics at Virginia Tech and worked at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

's Langley Research Center as a mathematician for three years and later as a computer systems engineer for five years with IBM Corporation. He retired after serving thirty two years as a professor of information technology at

Virginia Western Community College Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) is a public community college in Roanoke, Virginia. It is part of the Virginia Community College System. Students As of 2013, Virginia Western has over 12,000 students enrolled in the college and over ha ...

Career

Callis became interested in boxing and began profiling many boxers particularly the pre-1900 fighters. "''My dad was a big boxing fan when I was young,''" says Callis. "''I became interested in the fight game because of his interest. I remember listening to the Joe Louis - Billy Conn fight in 1946 won by the Brown Bomber (Louis), a knockout in the eighth round''". Today, Callis is recognized as one of the leading experts on 19th-century fighters including those who fought in the bare-knuckles era. Callis is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) and has provided historical data to many well-known boxing historians, journalists and editors such as Herb Goldman of ''The Ring'' magazine, Mike DeLisa and Dan Cuoco of ''Cyber Boxing Zone'',

Bert Sugar Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012) was an American boxing writer and sports historian known for his trademark fedora and unlit cigar. Biography Early life and education Sugar was born in Washington, D.C. on June 7, 193 ...

, Hank Kaplan and British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) writer Barry Hugman. Callis possesses an exceptional knowledge of boxing history and has been a boxing historian for more than 45 years researching boxing's history and has provided rare and updated records for many boxers. Among the research he discovered as an IBRO member are: 4 additional knockout wins for

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...

(increased his KO record to 132), an additional 13 fights for Mickey Walker and 23 knockout wins for

Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He held the IBU world flyweight title in 1916, the EBU European flyweight title twice; firstly in 1914 and again from 1916 to 1 ...

. Callis is the author of the book "''A Brief History of the Heavyweights''" and the co-author of "''Boxing in the Los Angeles Area: 1880-2005''", "''Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage: 1876-1976''" and "''More tales from Ringside''". He has also written reviews on many popular boxing books, including "''A Man Among Men''", "''Bareknuckles, Blood and Broken Bones''", "''Famous Pugilists of the English Prize Ring 1719-1870''", "''The First Black Boxing Champions''", "''Uncrowned Champions''" and "''John L. Sullivan: The Career of the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion''".

References

External links

Cyber Boxing Zone

International Boxing Research Organization

International Boxing Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Tracy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American sportswriters Journalists from Virginia Boxing writers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees American male non-fiction writers Writers from Roanoke, Virginia