The Morehouse Boxing Club is now the first HBCU to compete in the U.S. Intercollegiate Boxing Association National Tournament.
Atlanta News First reported that two members of the Morehouse Boxing Club, Elijah Mclean, 20, and Kaleb Hudson, 21, also won national championship belts.
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Aaron O’Connor of Glenville State University lost to McLean (17-8) in the 168-pound Men’s Open. Hudson defeated Evan Lee of the University of Washington to win the 140-pound Beginner B bracket.
“It feels great, reality hit me really hard when I woke up, I still have to go class,” Hudson told the outlet.
Mclean added, “It just feels amazing to just do it with the group – we just worked so hard for this.”
Anyone interested in the sport can join the student-run club.
According to Boxing Club President and Founder Jacobey Bell, “to our knowledge, there has never been an HBCU in the tournament in the 20 years that they’ve been established, and there aren’t many HBCUs with a boxing club in general.”
He went on: “It’s a very surreal moment, and it’s a big moment for us but feel like in all honesty it’s a small moment in the scope of what we could do.”
He revealed that they recently organized a seven-person competitive team.
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Meanwhile, Bell said funding is a major setback. “It’s hard for us to get funding, a lot of times. We got lucky this year with the tournament being in Macon.”
Charles Prescott, the chief of police in Morehouse, volunteered to assist the organization in raising money and paid for the delegation’s airfare and accommodations out of his own pocket.
“They did the fighting and training, and I was just there to help them get there,” he remarked.
Bell mentioned that they are actively fundraising to keep their momentum going.
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