By Craig Handel, Fort Myers News Press, June 27, 2009
Steve Canton jokes he always thought posthumously was spelled "posthumorously."
"Posthumorous, I thought it was after the laughter," said Canton, who has run SJC Boxing Club Inc. in Fort Myers the last 17 years. "But it's when you die."
Tonight, Steve Canton will join 21 other inductees for the inaugural Florida Boxing Hall of Fame's kickoff dinner at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel in Tampa. An induction weekend is being planned for Tampa from Nov. 13-15.
Like seven of the members, Canton, 62, could've been inducted posthumously.
"I died June 10, 2007," he said.
But after two months in a hospital and 40 pounds of weight loss, he survived. He'll be able to celebrate with his fellow inductees - "posthumorously."
Canton will be honored as a trainer/manager.
"He's the quintessential fight guy," said James 'Smitty' Smith, who was a former Fort Myers talk-show host, is now based in Las Vegas, and has a nationally syndicated boxing television show.
"He's dedicated his life to the sport."
As he looks at the Hall of Fame list, Canton can rattle off a story on each one. But they have a few tales about him as well.
"Oh my God, I've known Steve a million years," said trainer/manager Angelo Dundee, one of the inductees. "I've been to Fort Myers for a show or two, but when I used to pass by Fort Myers, I'd wave to Steve going by."
10 COUNT
Two years ago, the New York native was deathly ill, but it didn't stop him from going to the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend in Canastota, N.Y.
His bronchitis had turned into pneumonia. Antibiotics didn't help. Instead of going to the Hall of Fame dinner with then-wife Mary Lynn, she found aspirin to help him try and break the fever.
After Mary Lynn put the last piece of luggage in the rental car the next morning, she returned to the hotel room to find Canton on the floor.
He had no pulse.
"His eyes were wide open," said Mary Lynn. "The sunlight was shining on him."
After she helped revive him, Canton found a way to add levity to the situation.
"Mary Lynn was hysterical, shaking me and screaming and yelling," Canton said. "All of a sudden I woke up. I said, "Why do you always do things the hard way?" She said, "What?" and I said, "'All you had to do was count to 10 and I would've gotten up."
BATTLING BACK
Canton returned to Fort Myers and spent two months in the hospital. Besides the weight loss, his lungs collapsed three different times.
However, the toughness he showed as a boxer — he went 143-3 in professional and amateur bouts — helped him come through his illness.
Canton also was a cut man for Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns, among other champions, promoted approximately 800 shows, was frequently on talk shows and rarely was fooled on boxing trivia.
"They had a contest of trying to stump the hosts," Canton said. "They didn't give away a prize for three months."
Canton's latest feat was correcting mistakes on the bios of his fellow classmates in the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
"He has a photographic memory," Florida Boxing Hall of Fame president Walter "Butch" Flansburg said. "When I ask him the name of boxers, he has the information in his mind."
Mary Lynn added: "I'm always losing things and I'm trying to train myself, but I never put keys back where I could find them. So I would ask Steve and he could actually go through his head and say, "I see keys on the floor beside the table." "It's a handy gift to have."
She added Canton also is like a walking computer.
"If he saw a fighter once, he knew everything about him," she said. "That's the sweet science part of the sport."
HIS BABY
But SJC Boxing is Canton's proudest accomplishment. He has trained 10 professional world champions. Boxers from 55 different countries have trained in his ring. They've also come from the streets of Fort Myers.
"We've kept kids out of jail," he said.
Boxer Freeman Barr, a former middleweight and super middleweight champion, originally from the Bahamas, but now an American citizen and Naples resident, said he and Canton are like son and father.
"He's showed he really cares for me," said Barr, who will accompany Canton to tonight's dinner. "He doesn't throw me in the ring against anybody. A lot of people are only in it for the money."
Former heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas added, "There's nothing phony about him."
Through humor, detailed workouts and good coaching, Canton has made a lot of boxers confident. While he's helped save lives, his life may have been saved by boxing.
When he left the hospital two years ago, Canton was told to take it easy and relax. After a couple of weeks he returned to his boxing club and worked out boxers in the ring.
"The doctor was shocked at my next appointment," Canton said with a grin. He said, "How can you get better when you're working?" I told him, "there's no better place for me to relax than inside a ring." "I've been doing it all my life."
