By suffering through a hot afternoon sun and barrages of punches, several fraternity members raised $34,000 to help suffering children Friday.

The fourth annual SAE All Greek Boxing Tournament, hosted by Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, raised the money for the Children's Miracle Network.

Thirty-six boxers fought in eight weight classes on Campus Corner.

"It's great to have the support we've had from [SAE]," said Nick Shipley, development coordinator with Children's Miracle Network. "It's nice to see them put their health on the line for the health of the kids."

Children's Miracle Network is an alliance of 170 North American hospitals that provide medical care, research and preventative education to help children overcome diseases and injuries, according to the tournament's Web site.

Several sponsors helped defer some of the event's costs, and a local boxing gym owner donated his time and boxing ring and served as the tournament's referee.

Some of the boxers trained at the gym -- some just for the event and some with an eye on fighting in different disciplines in the future.

"It gives people perspective, especially guys who think they can fight," said the gym owner, known as Conan. "It takes a lot of guts just to step in the ring."

Some of those with guts were a trio of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity members who trained with Conan and turned out to help SAE.

"We just did PUSH Week for our philanthropy, and we figured we'd help them out because SAE helped us out," said Nathan Kress, management information systems senior.

They weren't there just for the charity work, though. Each had his eyes on pursuing fighting in the future.

Punch-Drunk Charity

Winners of the SAE All Greek Boxing Tournament:

o Klayton Mai, University College freshman, welterweight

o Tiago Tumang, chemical engineering junior, light middleweight

o Christian Arroyave, finance senior, middleweight

o Paul Lewis, University College freshman, light heavyweight

o Dylan Sparks, chemical engineering senior, light cruiserweight

o Matt Schaefer, University College freshman, cruiserweight

o Ben Dougherty, construction science sophomore, heavyweight

o Ben White, economics sophomore, goliath

"It kind of worked out that this came in the same area we wanted to train," said Chase Stalcup, criminology senior.

They had been working out for a few months and the coincidence of a fight and charity work made the decision to fight easy, they said.

"We've all got a few months of training, not a lot, but we've started to train," said Lee Whitten, political science senior. "If I do well, I'd like to keep on going."

The event itself is doing well, and organizers plan to keep it going.

"We're full throttle right now," said Andrew Solomon, economics senior. "We're getting good at what we're doing, it's kind of become a staple on campus."

Solomon also said that previous incarnations of the tournament, before the ongoing four-year run, had raised approximately $40,000.

He said the current format of the event continues to grow, and that next year a two-day tournament is in the works with the goal to raise even more money.

"We're always trying to get more sponsors to cover our expenses," he said. "Security, risk management, safety, insurance."
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