Hitting New Heights
Boxing Night keeps getting better The thirteenth Boxing Night, the Alumni Association’s marquee annual fundraiser, was arguably its finest yet. The Feb. 1 event drew 400 guests and raised about $14,500 for the Association’s scholarship fund. A big difference-maker this year was that, for the first time ever, the night concluded with two alumni bouts, as opposed to a line-up of college and amateur boxing clubs. Without question, the most exciting moments of the evening were when Keenan Robinson ’98 – one of Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps’ trainers – knocked down his older brother, Alumni Association mainstay Brendan Robinson ’96. Then Rudy Makupson ’97 avenged a 2012 loss to Reid Brosko ’02 to claim the Ultimate Warrior belt – the award
given to the victor in the Main Event. As always, Boxing Night provided a great backdrop for brother alums to reunite for a good cause. But this one had a different feel. “It seems like it gets better each year,” said Jim Nelson ’85, a cofounder and coordinator of the annual event. “We’ve refined things a bit each year to streamline the process, and we’ve done a better job promoting it earlier. [Alumni Coordinator] Dan [McGrath ’96], in particular, has done an outstanding job making this event work.” The night features a casino area – they offered craps for the first time this year, a big hit – and a large catered spread (thanks to Hoops in Auburn Hills, owned by Jimmy ’78 and Michael Allen ’81) and plenty of refreshments. Attendance has grown year over year, as the event has been improved and word of mouth brings in new faces. Sponsorships were
at an all-time high this year, which helped account for the strong revenue figures (the evening grossed about $35,000). As always, all proceeds benefit the rapidly expanding Alumni Association Scholarship Fund (see sidebar). At the first event, in 2000, the alumni put on a cigar “smoker” that featured a venison dinner. About the only thing left now are the cigars – and they’re not as popular as they once were. “We’ve come a long way in 13 years,” says Nelson, who has been behind each event, along wit X\???? [??\??8?&N
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