Philadelphia police officers will square off with union trade members in a series of boxing matches on Friday, Sept. 13, to raise money for the proposed Pennsylvania Global War on Terrorism Memorial.
The event will take place in the parking lot of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, 11630 Caroline Road.
General admission tickets are $25. People can buy VIP tickets for $800, which includes a ringside table for 10 of their friends or family, beer and food.
Fans can purchase commemorative T-shirts and food from barbecue grills.
The VIP area opens at 5:30 p.m., with the boxing beginning at 6.
There will be 10 bouts, including two featuring women. Each bout will consist of three three-minute rounds, and organizers promise action-packed fights.
“These are sanctioned bouts,” said Tim Wynn, a board member of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial.
Wynn, a Bustleton resident, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq. He works as the mentor coordinator for the city’s Veterans Court.
Wynn thanked the FOP for donating the location and Joe Hansbury, of the Philadelphia Blue Flame football team, for helping with the event. The fighters are stepping in the ring for free, and the food and kegs of beer have been donated.
The event, including an intermission, will go until about 11 p.m.
All proceeds go toward the memorial, which will honor the 290 service members from Pennsylvania who have died in the wars in either Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.
The memorial wall will be near the waterfront at Penn’s Landing, near memorials for locals who died in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Wynn explained that the board needs to raise $250,000 for materials for the memorial. So far, some $200,000 has been raised.
About $120,000 was raised at a beef and beer in March 2018, with 1,500 people packing the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory. Other money has come from a Coach bag bingo and T-shirt sales at Art History 101. An architect is producing a design for free.
“This is being built by the community,” Wynn said. “It’s a grassroots effort.”
The building trades will work for free to build the memorial.
“The unions have been absolutely tremendous,” Wynn said.
The board is just $50,000 short of its budget as the boxing card nears.
“We hope this puts us over the top. We’re hoping to break ground by Memorial Day,” Wynn said.
For tickets or more information, call Tim Wynn at 267-591-3314 or visit
https://www.gwotmemorial.org/gwot-memorial.
To make a tax-deductible donation, send checks to PA GWOT Memorial, P.O. Box 14554, Philadelphia, PA 19115. ••
