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CANASTOTA, N.Y. >> The FBI has joined the search for six world championship belts stolen from the International Boxing Hall of Fame in central New York.
Canastota Police Chief James Zophy says the FBI’s Antiquities Bureau is helping village police with the investigation into last Thursday’s early morning break-in at the museum located 20 miles east of Syracuse.
Missing are four belts that belonged to Carmen Basilio and two won by Tony Zale. No value has been placed on the belts.
The bureau’s Antiquities Bureau specializes in art and cultural property crime and has a team of 16 special agents.
Basilio, who died three years ago, was born in Canastota and inspired creation of the hall of fame. He was a welterweight and middleweight champion. Zale, a middleweight champion, died in 1997.
