Montreal corner man, Russ Anber, heading to the International Boxing Hall of Fame

Montreal trainer Russ Anber is heading to the International Boxing Hall of Fame and is the first Canadian trainer to be honoured by the hall.

Montreal trainer Russ Anber will be the first Canadian corner man inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame next year.

Anber trains pro fighters Ali Mansour and Oleksandr Usyk and has worked with past greats, including Otis, and Howard Grant and David Lemieux.

“There was a certain state of shock for me,” Anber told CTV News.

He was nominated for the hall last year on the exact 45-year anniversary of the first time he worked a corner as a pro with Vinnie Curto.

“I thought [last year], well, this is great,” he said. “I mean, I was already planning, this was going to be the speech at the Hall of Fame, and so when I didn’t get in, to be fair, I started worrying that maybe the new age of voters or fans kind of forgot about who I was or what I had done.”

When his wife told him he made the hall this year, he didn’t believe it at first.

“I thought they were pranking me at first, but apparently not,” he said.

Anber is the first Canadian trainer to be inducted into the hall and joins Arturo Gatti (2013) and Guy Jutras (2019) as the third Montrealer in the Hall of Fame. Quebecers Jack Delaney (1996) from Saint-François-du-Lac and Lou Brouillard (2006) from Saint-Eugène are also in the hall.

“The fact that I’m the first to represent Canada and being a kid from Quebec and from Montreal certainly is special for me,” said Anber. “The thing that I felt proudest of, I think, was that I really felt that they recognized the merit. It’s not about the prestige, it’s about having been in this sport my whole life, and that’s finally recognized.”

Local boxer Tommy Deer knows the value of a quality trainer and reacted to the news.

“It’s a good feeling to see someone local who is so deserving of this level of recognition in the annals of boxing history,” he said.

Anber worked in six Olympic Games and said that he loves it so much, he hasn’t worked a day in his life since he turned 18. He has no plans to retire.

“I’ve been retired since I’m 18 years old,” he said. “I would retire to do what I’m doing now. I’m going to keep going. I enjoy this too much. This is fun for me. This isn’t work.”

Anber will take part in the ceremony in Canastota, N.Y., on June 14. He’ll receive the honour along with power punching middleweight champion Gennadiy “Triple G” Golovkin, and former champions Antonio Tarver and Nigel Benn.

“My realities have surpassed my dreams,” he said. “I dreamt about training a world champion, and no one will ever take away the moment when Otis won the world title. To me, that’s still the single most important moment in my life, in my boxing life.”

With files from CTV News’ Rob Laurie.