New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame Inducts the Craftsman Behind Boxing's Championship Belts

Nov. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Union City, NJ -- Ardash Sahaghian, the man responsible for designing boxing's championship belts, was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame on the evening of 8 November 2012. In a beautiful banquet and ceremony held at The Venetian in Garfield, New Jersey, Sahaghian was recognized for creating the emblematic belts of the boxing industry.

Edward S. Majian, President of Sartonk Designs, the company founded to preserve Sahaghian’s legacy, introduced his grandfather. Indicating that his grandfather values a person’s character above anything else, Majian spoke not only about Ardash Sahaghian’s accomplishments in boxing, but also “the person -- his character.” He described Sahaghian’s long journey from Romania to New Jersey, with striking examples of his humanity and compassion: “He is a man who responded to apartheid in South Africa by driving his workers home each night, so they wouldn’t sleep in the factory away from their families. He is a man who nurses birds back to health, who feeds stray alley cats daily because, as he once said to me, we need to leave the earth a better place.”

Majian highlighted Sahaghian’s commitment to his family and to his craft. “For as much as Ardash Sahaghian has melted, filed, and polished metal into iconic symbols, the metal has also shaped his character. Working with his hands has taught him the virtue of patience... For Ardash, work is problem-solving, creation, meditation and dedication.”

Majian thanked New Jersey fans and supporters for “lifting [Sahaghian] up, and documenting the Armenian man from Romania, who came to America and crafted ‘those belts’ -- those belts that are now iconically worn all over the world.”

To thunderous applause, Sahaghian approached the podium where a translation of his remarks were read. He thanked the NJ boxing community, particularly “long-time friend,” Henry Hascup, President of the NJ Boxing Hall of Fame Committee, for his friendship and support. He expressed his heartfelt appreciation to family, friends, and clients. Sahaghian was especially grateful to and proud of his grandson for “keeping my work alive and taking this company to places that I couldn’t have even imagined.”

The Sahaghian family and Sartonk Designs thank the NJ Boxing Hall of Fame for recognizing Ardash Sahaghian’s unique contributions to boxing. As Hascup remarked aptly, “Ardash is a part of boxing history!”

Pictures of the event can be seen on SARTONK's Facebook and Twitter pages: www.facebook.com/sartonk and www.twitter.com/sartonk