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Melson Hits The Jackpot;
Knocks Out Lugo In Three
Captain Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson of New York City scored his
seventh victory in as many bouts following a sensational
knockout of Daniel Lugo last Saturday evening at Atlantic
City’s Boardwalk Hall.
The West Point graduate outboxed his hard charging opponent
over the first two frames, landing cleanly to both the body
and head. In the third, Melson dominated Lugo, before
unloading a straight left followed by a hard right hook
which put him down for the count at 2:01. However, his most
powerful moment inside the ring succeeded the bout.
After being declared the winner, Melson took the microphone
and notified the crowd that he’s donating his entire purse
to Justadollarplease.org in support of America’s first
Clinical Trial using Umbilical Cord Cells. His post fight
speech, which details how the trial could aid millions of
Americans with severe Spinal Cord Injuries, clearly moved
those in attendance.
He shared for the first time that the trial was scheduled to
take place in January at Austin, TX’s Brackenridge Hospital,
but unfortunately had to be rescheduled for the summer
because of insufficient funds. Melson closed his speech by
sharing that he’d continue donating his future fight purses
to assist the trial.
Upon receiving applause from the audience, Melson responded
with “your clapping is nice, but I don’t need claps…I need
you to go to teamfighttowalk.com, click on the link to
donate to justadollarplease.org and give one dollar.”
Fans quickly made their way over to Melson and made
donations to help support the trial.
“This was a night I’ll never forget,” said Melson. “With the
help of Johnson and Johnson matching my donations 2:1 after
every single purse donated, I’ve raised about $30,000. “With
the knockout punch and support of those in attendance, I
feel like I hit the jackpot twice.”
Melson’s next bout is scheduled for January 21 at New York
City’s Roseland Ballroom.
In association with Justadollarplease, Melson created Team
Fight to Walk, whose mission is to raise awareness within
the boxing community about the importance of stem cell
research for spinal cord injuries. Team Fight to Walk is
comprised of Melson, former two-time cruiserweight champion
Steve “USS” Cunningham, title contender DeAndre “The Bull”
Latimore, Edgar “El Chamaco” Santana, Hector Camacho Jr.,
2008 US Olympian Shawn Estrada, and prospects Sid “The
Messenger” El Harrak, Denis “Da Momma’s Boy” Douglin, Frank
Galarza, Vinny “The Lion” O’Brien, Ahmed “Prince of Egypt”
Samir and Delen “Sniper” Parsley.
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