College Will House Huge Boxing Memorabilia Collection

Anyone with a serious interest in boxing was familiar with Hank Kaplan's boxing library. Just how big it was no one really knew.

They do now.

20,000 boxes of reference material and memorabilia the late boxing historian had stored at his Florida home has been transported to the place Kaplan willed it. Brooklyn College, in his hometown, is the benefactor of a collection of material they're determined to preserve.

Now a professor at the college who had befriended Kaplan is leading the effort to carefully preserve the items and eventually open the collection to public use and research.

''We are at the fund-raising stage,'' said Anthony Cucchiara, who teaches archival management. ``Preserving material is costly.''

Still, the Miami Herald reports that they're determined to maintain it--and let others get a look at the huge stash of boxing history.