CLEVELAND — Morelle McCane, the first female boxer from Cleveland to compete in the Olympics, took a break from training Thursday to speak at the City Club downtown.
"I wouldn't be here without my community," she said at the luncheon while surrounded by family, friends, and local civic leaders. Many fellow alumni of Glenville High School were in the audience, wearing the school's red and black colors.
In a laugh-filled discussion moderated by 3News anchor Russ Mitchell, McCane showed off her competitive spirit, indulging in a little trash talk while saying she fully intends to bring back a gold model.
"No disrespect to any of my opponents," she declared, "but I'm here to win."
The 28-year-old welterweight talked with Mitchell about her tough workout schedule with Team USA in Colorado Springs, which includes eight to nine hours of training a day. She has a busy schedule this weekend while she's in town, and will throw out the first pitch at Saturday's Guardians game.
Rated as perhaps the top American boxer in her weight class, McCane finished ninth in the 2022 world championships in the 70 kg (154-pound) category. Last year at the Pan American Games in Chile, she earned a silver medal in the women's 66 kg (146 pounds), which clinched her a spot in the Olympics.
Thursday's luncheon evolved into a fundraiser, as some City Club guests pledged money to the Cleveland Black Equity & Humanity Fund to help McCane's family travel to Paris to cheer her on. Connie Hill-Johnson of The Soul of Philanthropy Cleveland, which oversees the fund, says they "decided to wrap our arms around her" after meeting McCane and learning she had a GoFundMe account to help her family and Cleveland coaches travel to the Games.
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