The Barney Nagler Award, previously known as the James J. Walker Memorial Award, has been conferred annually since 1940 by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) for Long and Meritorious Service in Boxing. The award is named after sportswriter Barney Nagler.

History First awarded in 1940, it was called the "Meritorious Service Award" until 1947.

James J. Walker Award Named for James J. Walker, the award previously honored the former New York City mayor and politician behind the Walker Law. Walker was the first recipient of the organization's service award in 1940, which was renamed the James J. Walker Memorial Award after his death in 1946.

By 1965, the annual award had been presented to prominent boxing personalities like James A. Farley, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Mickey Walker, and Jimmy Walker.

Barney Nagler Award The award was later renamed in honor of the late former BWAA president Barney Nagler.

The award is presented alongside other BWAA honors at the annual awards dinner.

Past recipients Source: 1940s 1940 – James J. Walker 1941 – Gene Tunney 1943 – Nat Fleischer 1944 – John J. Phelan 1945 – James J. Johnston 1946 – Mike Jacobs 1947 – James A. Farley 1948 – Dan Morgan 1949 – Abe J. Greene

1950s 1950 – Wilbur Wood 1951 – Edward P.F. Eagan 1952 – George A. Barton 1953 – Dr. Vincent A. Nardiello 1954 – James J. Braddock 1955 – Harry Mendel 1956 – Frank Graham 1957 – Jack Dempsey 1958 – Sam Taub 1959 – Marv Jensen

1960s 1960 – Ned Brown 1961 – Dr. Alexander Schiff 1962 – Dr. Mal Stevens 1963 – Harry Markson 1964 – Mickey Walker 1965 – Jack Cuddy 1966 – Nat Fleischer 1967 – Joe Louis 1968 – John Condon 1969 – Murray Goodman

1970s 1970 – Don Dunphy 1971 – Teddy Brenner 1972 – Dr. Edwin Campbell 1973 – Barney Nagler 1974 – Bobby Gleason 1975 – Daniel M. Daniel 1976 – Duke Stefano 1977 – Chris Dundee 1978 – Ray Arcel, Freddie Brown 1979 – Bobby Goodman, Marvin Kohn

1980s 1980 – Nat Loubet 1981 – Bill Gallo 1982 – Eddie Futch 1983 – Tom Kenville 1984 – Muhammad Ali 1985 – Irving Rudd 1986 – Dick Young 1987 – Jack Fiske 1988 – Arthur Mercante 1989 – Marty Cohen

1990s 1990 – Jay Edson 1991 – Howard Albert 1992 – Ralph Citro 1993 – Lou Duva 1994 – Willie Pep 1995 – Floyd Patterson 1996 – Angelo Dundee 1997 – Mills Lane 1998 – Steve Acunto 1999 – Al Gavin, Bob Jackson, Russell Peltz

2000s 2000 – Gil Clancy 2001 – Don and Lorraine Chargin 2002 – Hank Kaplan 2003 – Jimmy Glenn 2004 – Marc Ratner 2005 – Teddy Blackburn 2006 – Larry Merchant 2007 – Nigel Collins 2008 – Steve Farhood 2009 – Jerry Izenberg

2010s 2010 – Jack Obermayer 2011 – Don Elbaum 2012 – Kathy Duva & Bruce Trampler 2013 – Bob Sheridan & Lee Samuels 2014 – Jack Hirsch 2015 – Bernard Fernandez 2016 – Bill Caplan 2017 – Dr. Margaret Goodman 2018 – Jim Lampley 2019 – Bob Canobbio

2020s 2020 – None 2021 – Michael Buffer 2022 – Ed Brophy 2023 – Gordon Hall 2024 – Brad Goodman 2025 – John Sheppard

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