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Evander Holyfield, the only four-time heavyweight world titleholder in boxing history and one of the most popular and exciting fighters of his time, is one of three newcomers to this years ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame.Also on the ballot for the first time in the modern category, which is for fighters whose last bout was no earlier than 1989, are a pair of popular former three-division titleholders with all-action styles: Marco Antonio Barrera and the late Johnny Tapia.Full members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians began receiving their ballots this week. They are due back by Oct. 31, with results of the voting due to be announced in December.Those elected will be enshrined June 11 during the 28th annual induction ceremonies at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. To be eligible, fighters must not have boxed for at least five years.Electors can vote for up to five candidates, but only the top three will be elected. The three newcomers, all in their first year of eligibility, appear to be the likely candidates who will earn selection.The Real Deal Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs), who fought from 1984 to 2011, is as close to a first-ballot lock as it gets, thanks to his record for heavyweight titles and a series of epic mega-fights against other Hall of Famers, including an all-time great trilogy with Riddick Bowe and two upset victories against Mike Tyson, the second of which famously cost Holyfield a chunk of his ear when Tyson bit it off in a disqualification loss.Im honored, Holyfield said after being informed Tuesday night by ESPN.com that he was on the ballot. What can you say when youve done what Ive done? It do speak for itself. I had a good amateur career, became the first undisputed cruiserweight champ of the world and then undisputed heavyweight champ. I fought them all. I fought everyone who was the best at my time of boxing and did real well. If youre the best, youre going to be in the Hall of Fame.I fought everybody. I didnt make up excuses on why I shouldnt fight this guy or that guy. I fought everyone I was supposed to. Im glad I played by the rules and became the champ. I fought and did my very best.After claiming a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics, Holyfield raced to a cruiserweight world title in his 12th professional fight, winning a 15-round split decision against future Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a bruising 1986 battle that remains one of the greatest in division history.Holyfield unified two cruiserweight belts by third-round knockout of Ricky Parkey in 1987. Holyfield demolished Qawi later that year in the fourth round of a rematch and then knocked out Carlos De Leon in the eighth round in 1988 to claim a third belt and become the first undisputed champion in cruiserweight history.Holyfield then moved up to heavyweight, where he really made his mark. In 1990, he knocked out Tyson conqueror James Buster Douglas in the third round to win the undisputed championship. Among his three successful defenses were decisions against aging legends George Foreman and Larry Holmes, but Holyfield lost the title by decision to Bowe in their first hellacious bout in 1992. A year later, Holyfield regained the title by outpointing Bowe in the rematch.In his next fight, Holyfield lost the title to Michael Moorer by decision and, two fights later, got knocked out in the eighth round of the rubber match against Bowe. Many thought Holyfield was finished when he got a shot at Tyson, who had regained a piece of the title, in 1996. Holyfield was a huge underdog but stopped Tyson in the 11th round of a tremendous fight. Seven months later, they met again, and Holyfield won by third-round disqualification when Tyson melted down and bit off a chunk of his ear. Then Holyfield knocked out Moorer, who had regained a belt, in the eighth round to unify two titles.?In one of the biggest fights in heavyweight history, Holyfield received a controversial draw in his 1999 showdown with fellow champion Lennox Lewis for the undisputed title. Most had Lewis winning. Lewis did get the decision when they met in an immediate rematch later that year.In August 2000, Holyfield notched his last big win when he outpointed John Ruiz to win back a piece of the title for the unprecedented fourth time.Holyfield fought for another decade and got two more title shots, but he suffered decision losses to Sultan Ibragimov in 2007 and Nikolay Valuev in 2008, albeit in a fight many thought Holyfield won.I became four-time heavyweight champ of the world, said Holyfield, who was 18-9-2 with 10 knockouts against titleholders and Hall of Famers. Would have been five if they gave me the decision I deserved against the Russian guy.Barrera (67-7, 44 KOs), known as the Baby-Faced Assassin, is one of the greatest fighters in Mexicos rich boxing history. He went 21-4 with 12 KOs in world title fights and won titles at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight during his 1989-2011 career. He was also 16-7 with 10 KOs against titleholders and Hall of Famers.He won his historic trilogy against bitter rival and countryman Erik Morales, who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. Although Barrera lost the first junior featherweight unification bout by split decision in the 2000 fight of the year, he outpointed Morales to win a featherweight title in the 2002 rematch and then took a junior lightweight title from him in the 2004 rubber match.Barrera also beat the faded Tapia by decision in 2002, but his biggest win came when, as a heavy underdog, he won a clear decision against Hall of Famer Naseem Hamed in 2001. Barrera later lost a pair of fights to Manny Pacquiao and one to Juan Manuel Marquez before winning his final two bouts and walking away to a career in boxing broadcasting for Mexican network Azteca.Tapia (59-5-2, 30 KOs), who led a troubled life of addiction before his death at age 45 in 2012, still managed to win five world titles at junior bantamweight, bantamweight and featherweight during his 1988-2011 career. He put on many entertaining fights despite his constant personal turmoil, going 11-3 with two knockouts against Hall of Famers and titleholders. Many consider him the best junior bantamweight in the history of the weight class.He lost 3? years of his career in the early 1990s while suspended over cocaine use but came back to win his first world title in 1994, knocking out Henry Martinez in the 11th round for a vacant junior bantamweight belt. Tapia made 13 defenses, including the biggest win of his career -- a decision in a unification bout with bitter crosstown rival Danny Romero that was so divisive in their community that it wound up being held in Las Vegas because of security concerns in their hometown.In 1998, Tapia beat Nana Konadu for a bantamweight title but lost it to Paulie Ayala by disputed decision in the 1999 fight of the year. Tapia rebounded to win another bantamweight belt in his next fight, outpointing Jorge Elicier Julio in 2000 before losing another close decision later in the year in a non-title rematch with Ayala. In 2002, when Tapia was past his prime, he outpointed Manuel Medina to win a featherweight belt.The holdovers on the 30-man modern ballot are Yuri Arbachakov, Ayala, Nigel Benn, Sot Chitalada, Donald Curry, Chris Eubank, Leo Gamez, Genaro Hernandez, Julian Jackson, Santos Laciar, Rocky Lockridge, Miguel Happy Lora, James Buddy McGirt, Henry Maske, Darius Michalczewski, Sung-Kil Moon, Moorer, Orzubek Gussie Nazarov, Sven Ottke, Vinny Pazienza, Gilberto Roman, Gianfranco Rosi, Samuel Serrano, Meldrick Taylor, Fernando Vargas, Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. and Ratanapol Sor Vorapin.Candidates will also be elected in the observer, non-participant and old-timer categories.Puerto Rican great Esteban DeJesus (58-5, 33 KOs), the late former lightweight champion from the late 1970s, is perhaps the most notable name on the 40-person old-timer ballot, which is for fighters whose last bout was no earlier than 1943 and no later than 1988. One will be elected.The two newcomers to the 30-person observer ballot are well known to boxing fans: Showtime broadcasters Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood, who partner on the ShoBox: The New Generation series. But Tompkins also had a long run as the blow-by-blow announcer for HBO during the 1980s and called numerous big fights. Farhood has worked as an analyst on every fight since ShoBox debuted in 2001. A noted historian, Farhood founded the old KO magazine in 1980 and was editor-in-chief of The Ring magazine from 1989 to 1997.On the 35-person non-participant ballot -- three will be elected by a panel of international historians -- the most notable addition is famed ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr., who died in 1992. His son, Jimmy Lennon Jr., one of todays most famous ring announcers, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013. Cheap Buffalo Bills Jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Cheap Bills Jerseys . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. http://www.cheapbillsjerseysauthentic.com/ . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Bills Jerseys China . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Cheap Bills Jerseys China . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernicks recent decision to not stand during the national anthem as a way of protesting police killings of unarmed black men has drawn support and scorn far beyond sports. The Associated Press explains how The Star-Spangled Banner became a ritual of American public life, its complicated racial origins and how the song has been used as a form of political resistance.---THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AS A RITUAL OF AMERICAN SPORTThe national anthem and sports first merged in the early 20th century, when The Star-Spangled Banner became part of baseball games. The anthem is played before the start of every U.S. major sporting event, where fans and players are expected to salute the flag by placing a hand over the heart while singing along. Not doing so is considered unpatriotic by some.Its important to remember that a lot of these traditions that we take as timeless or dating back to the founders are pretty recent innovations, said Kevin Kruse, a historian at Princeton University.---BLACK ATHLETES AND POLITICAL PROTESTKaepernicks protest was the latest in a history of actions by black athletes meant to call out the discrepancies between the experiences of people of color and Americas professed ideals, said Penn State historian Crystal Sanders.In 1968, Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos lifted their black-gloved fists as the national anthem was played after they won the gold and bronze medals in the mens 200-meter sprint -- a gesture seen as radical and an endorsement of black power. Boxer Muhammad Ali, celebrated as an American hero after his death in June, was arrested in 1967 after his refusal to be drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War was seen as an act of civil disobedience. Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, wrote in his autobiography that he was unable to sing the national anthem or salute the flag.Former Denver Nuggets point guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was suspended by the NBA after refusing to participate in the national anthem pre-game ceremony in 1996. More recently, NBA players including Derrick Rose and LeBron James have worn T-shirts reading I Cant Breathe in reference to Eric Garner, who was killed by New York City police officers in 2014. Last month, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and James opened the ESPY Awards with a message about gun violence against minorities.The outrage were seeing in light of the Kaepernick decision ... is just another example of our countrys lack of a real unnderstanding of what it means to be a person of color in the United States, Sanders said.dddddddddddd Wealth, education, attire ... none of that prevents us from being victims of racial discrimination.---WHY THE CONTROVERSY?Kaepernicks decision has outraged some who see his protest as offensive and un-American. It is also an unwelcome distraction for those who view sports as a way to transcend conflicts around race, gender, politics and other uncomfortable subjects in American life.Others have come to his defense, saying his decision to sit out the national anthem and flag salute is protected as freedom of expression under the U.S. Constitution.---HOW THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER WAS BORNWatching the bombing of Fort McHenry while detained on a British ship during the War of 1812, attorney Francis Scott Key was inspired to write The Star-Spangled Banner as he saw the American flag flying overhead in the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 1814. The flags presence signaled the retreat of British ships from Baltimores harbor and the U.S. survival of a battle that lasted 25 hours. The showdown galvanized the young country and the flag became a symbol of determination and victory.The Star-Spangled Banner was popular among the branches of the armed forces throughout the 19th century, but more than a century would pass before the song would become the national anthem. President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order declaring it so in 1916, and Congress passed an act confirming the order in 1931 that was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover the same year.---CONTROVERSIAL THIRD VERSEKey supported slavery and came from a powerful plantation family in Maryland. His background may have influenced the songs third verse, which includes the lyrics, No refuge could save the hireling and slave/From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.These words have been interpreted as a reference to the Colonial Marines, black recruits to the British forces who fought in exchange for their freedom.Kaepernicks objection to saluting the flag was not related to the third verse of the national anthem, but his protest has brought fresh attention to this forgotten stanza.---Errin Haines Whack covers urban affairs for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous and read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/errin-haines-whack . ' ' '