Title bout: Student boxes at benefit night

While the rich and famous mingled with up-and-coming boxers behind closed doors, the men and lone woman of the Quaker Boxing Class stood guard. The socialites were assembled at the Hotel Atop the Bellevue last night for a $350-a-head dinner and silent auction to benefit the Boxing Scholarship Foundation, chaired by Quaker Boxing Class coach Ron Aurit. After mingling with some of boxing's young rising stars, the collected big-wigs made their way into the grand ballroom, where a 28-foot ring had been set up. In the ring, former U.S. Representative (D-Pa.) Lucien Blackwell took on Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Seidel in one of five amateur exhibitions. But that was just the undercard for the evening's main event -- a bout featuring Wharton senior Mary Mt. Pleasant, the only female member of the Penn club. "I'm very nervous," she admitted before the fight. "But it's a once in a lifetime experience." According to one observer, Mt. Pleasant held her own against opponent Brad Bentz. After a touchy first round, she adapted a "Floyd Patterson peek-a-boo style" in the second round. Mt. Pleasant reported that her strategy -- "don't get hit" -- worked out well, since "Brad seemed a little uncomfortable hitting me, especially with the crowd yelling at him." The bouts were of less importance to 21-year-old Lorenzo Henderson, a scholarship recipient from the Boxing Scholarship Foundation. To the young fighter, the event meant more than shaking hands with World Middleweight Champion Bernard Hopkins and World Cruiserweight Champion Nate Miller, both Philly natives. The money from the benefit would be used to fund the pursuit of his bachelor's degree, "hopefully at Penn." Previously, the foundation had been funding scholarships entirely out of the proceeds from its fundraising. But according to Pennsylvania State Athletic Commissioner George Bochetto, the event's organizer, the benefit will allow the foundation to establish an endowment. "Up until now, nobody in boxing has been able to set a fund up," Bochetto said. "We have business leaders, civic leaders, political leaders all here for boxing. That's never been done before." The Penn Glee Club also provided entertainment at last night's event.

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