Notre Dame's Mike Lee Goes Pro, Signs With Top Rank
CHICAGO --Top Rank, Inc. and Wheaton native Mike Lee will hold press conferences in two locations on Wednesday, February 17th, to announce that Lee, a Chicago Golden Gloves and three-time Notre Dame Bengal Bouts champion, will turn pro.
Lee, a Notre Dame graduate (Finance, '09), will be available at the Joyce Center Basketball Auditorium C-14 at 9:30 a.m. EST on the UND campus in South Bend, IN. He will then be available at Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago (33 West Kinzie, 2nd floor) at 1 p.m. CST for a media luncheon.
Lee was undefeated as a light heavyweight during his collegiate boxing career and was crowned a Chicago Golden Gloves champion in his class this past spring. He first stepped into the ring as a competitive boxer at Notre Dame after transferring from the University of Missouri following his freshman year. While at Notre Dame, he became a three-time Bengal Bouts champion, which raises money for the people of Bangladesh.
"Mike Lee is a great example of the graduates who Notre Dame produces,” says Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank. “We at Top Rank hope we can fulfill Mike's ambitions as a professional boxer. We know Mike will enhance the sport of boxing and we look forward to promoting his professional career.”
“Going to Notre Dame was always a dream of mine and I was grateful to have the opportunity to transfer and complete myeducation at such an esteemed university,” says Mike Lee. “Notre Dame gave me so many opportunities and changed my life forever.”
“Going to Bangladesh and witnessing the simple things we take for granted, like running water and a clean place to sleep, are not so simple for the natives in Bangladesh and that forever changed my view on life. The Bengal Bouts and NotreDame opened my eyes to another world. I may have left Notre Dame, but Notre Dame will never leave me. That is why itis very important to give back and help fund the Holy Cross Missions of Bangladesh.”