Milwaukee Boxing Legend Del Porter Passes

Earlier this month, 74 year old, Del Porter passed away from an eight-year fight with cancer. Porter was the founder of the legendary Ace Boxing Club in Milwaukee that he founded in 1960 to keep area youths off the street and out of trouble. In the 48 years the boxing club has been in existence, Porter has touched and helped the lives of hundreds of the cities youths.

A boxer himself, Porter was a middleweight state Golden Gloves champion in the 1950s with an amateur record of (21-2) and a professional record of (7-1). Porter is part of a long lineage of boxing greats that began with his father in the 1920’s and over the years he produced dozens of Golden Gloves champions.

Last year, the city named the building that houses the Ace Boxing Club after him, making it the first building in the city named after a Native American. Porter ran the gym as a non-profit organization and didn’t charge his students to attend, as many could not afford gym dues. He said, “I could never tell a youth or young adult that they can’t come to my gym because they have no money. My mission of my legacy is to help the underprivileged youth and young adults off the streets and utilize their time in the sport of boxing.”

I think this type of selflessness is rare in this day and age, and individuals who devote themselves to the greater good of community without profiting should be acknowledged for the great contributions and marks they left on our society. Del Porter will be greatly missed.

Additional information:

Ace Boxing Club is located at 2160 s. 10th Street in Kosciuszko Park near Lincoln Avenue.

http://www.myspace.com/aceboxingclub

"It’s better to sweat in our gym than to bleed in the streets" – Del Porter