Junior middleweight boxer and humanitarian Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson will receive the inaugural Most Valuable Philanthropist (MVP) award from the National Spinal Cord Injury Association’s New York Chapter (NYCSCIA) during a special Mardi Gras themed fundraiser Tuesday, February 12.
Since turning pro in November 2010, Melson, who has a record of 10-1-1 with 4 knockouts, donated all of his fight purses. Eleven of his full fight purses went to Justadollarplease.org in support of a pending trial that could potentially cure chronic Spinal Cord Injuries, with the other being donated to a lifelong friend whose son has brain cancer.
In 2011, along with his best friend Christan Zaccagnino, the West Point Graduate created Team Fight to Walk. The team, which has more than 15 fighters helping support the cause in various ways, received mentioned in ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo and the Military Times. With his full-time employer Johnson&Johnson backing his selfless efforts, Melson’s raised more than $100,000 towards the trial.
“This is an incredible honor, but this is not about me,” said Melson, who fights three days before the fundraiser at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. “There are more than 300,000 Americans that suffer from Spinal Cord Injuries on a daily basis that can’t get the help they need in this country.”
“We have no government funding and are doing everything we can to make this trial happen in the immediate future. I appreciate this award and am looking forward to spending time with the NYCSCIA members. More than receiving any award or boxing championship, I want to see my best friend Christan Zaccagnino and every other person that suffers walk again.”
The fundraiser is from 6-10 pm at Slate-NY, located at 54 West 21st Street New York, NY 10010. Tickets to the fundraiser are available on Ticketriver.com/event/5400-9th-annual-mardi-gras-fundraiser.
Tickets for Boyd's next fight are available at Teamfighttowalk.com. Fans can also buy Team Fight To Walk t-shirts and wrist bands for the next fight from the website, with 100% of profits being donated to Justadollarplease.org. Come wear your t-shirt and bracelet Feb 9th to support The “Rainmaker” and Team Fight To Walk in his quest to be a champion it the ring and cure Spinal Cord Injuries outside of it. All tickets and merchandise purchased will be available at the Barclays Center’s will call window on fight night.
