–
Melson, with a professional record of 12 wins, one draw and only one defeat, adds more to his prize fund that is going to a very special cause.
–
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
Boyd Melson v Jason Thompson (Oct 2012) / Getty
–
Boyd Melson, who boxes with a Star of David on his shorts, had his opponent, Gundrick King , seeing all kinds of other stars as he put up yet another magnificent display of boxing skills to win a unanimous points victory over eight rounds, at his favorite home pitch, the BB King Blues Club in New York City.
Melson, who fights in the Junior Middleweight class was in control throughout the bout, against an opponent who is known for his aggressive style that he’s seen him win eleven fights by knockouts. However, Boyd Melson, known in the fight game as the Rainmaker, had just too much technical ability for King, and his convincing winning run continues, with each of the three fight judges giving their decision in favor of Melson, by the convincing score of 80 points to 72.
Following his victory, Melson celebrated by restating his pledge to donate no less that 100% of his purse towards research using stem cell for the treatment of what are currently classed as irreversible Spinal Cord Injuries.
Since turning professional in 2010, Boyd Melson has distributed all of his income between supporting Justadollarplease.org, a non-profit organization formed specifically to raise funds to carry out preliminary U.S. spinal cord injury trial treatments using umbilical cord stem cells.
Some of Boyd’s boxing income has also gone towards the creation of the Team Fight to Walk Foundation which was established in order to increase awareness in sport of the importance of furthering stem cell research for the possible treatment of spinal cord injuries.
Joining Melson to form Team Fight to Walk is football player Eric LeGrand of Rutgers University, Steve Cunningham, former two-time IBF Cruiserweight Champion, Shawn Estrada, Demetrius Andrade who represented the US in the 2012 Olympians as well as rising boxing professionals Deandre Latimore and Denis Douglin.
Boyd Melson’s awareness of the devastating effects of spinal cord injuries began when he met Christan Zaccagnino, who had been confined to a wheelchair for seventeen years after being involved in a diving accident when she was just ten years old.
–
–
Since then Melson has devoted his boxing skills and much of his free time towards finding a suitable treatment for spinal cord injuries through stem cell research, travelling abroad on a number of occasions with Ms. Zaccagnino, to accompany her while she underwent experimental treatments for her condition, some of them involving stem cell treatments.
Recently having been inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Boyd was also the recipient of praise from another successful Jewish Boxer, Welterweight Dmitry Salita who, after a recent bout pointed out that he sees tremendous improvement in Boyd’s boxing ability. “Not only is he a very talented fighter but he also sets a tremendous example outside of the ring .” Salita summed up.
Boyd Melson was born in White Plains and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
After completing high school, Melson was accepted to officer’s training school at West Point, graduating in 2003 with a degree in psychology degree, as well as minor degree in nuclear engineering, later going on to earn an MBA in business administration at Touro College, that was established primarily to enrich the awareness of their Jewish heritage amongst students.
During his studies, Boyd reached the rank of lieutenant, later being promoted to captain.
It was during his time at West Point that Melson began to expand his talents as a boxer, winning a number of amateur championships, including the 48th World Military Boxing Championship gold medal in the 69 kilogram weight class, as well as United States Army champion four times, NCBA All-American boxer times, West Point Brigade Open Boxing Champion three times all in the same class, as well as being a recipient of the Colonel Marcus Award. The highlight of Boyd’s amateur boxing career was when he got as far as the quarterfinals 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships in the welterweight class.
–
