IN HER CORNER: At left, clerk Dee Mims at Hilltop Annex in Greensboro. At right, Mims (center) has full support of her Olympic boxing aspirations from her parents, Kenneth and Evelyn Mims. (photo courtesy of Greensboro News & Record)
GREENSBORO, NC – When the 2012 Olympics open in London, it very well may include among its U.S. athletes a clerk from Greensboro Hilltop Post Office. The clerk recently won the North Carolina lightweight division of the Golden Gloves amateur boxing championship in Charlotte with technical knockouts on two consecutive nights. This is the first full year of boxing competition for this clerk, who is attempting a historic feat: to be selected on a team that will compete for the first time ever in the Olympics.
That team: U.S. Olympic female boxers. The clerk is Darina “Dee” Mims, a woman with a long history in athletics, having competed as a hurdler when she attended North Carolina A&T, where she achieved a degree in graphics design years ago. “I’ve played so many sports, from softball to soccer, track and field, basketball and women’s football,” she said. “There’s nothing else like boxing.” Mims’ full story, originally reported in the Greensboro News & Record, can be viewed at http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/04/09/article/knocking_out_stereotypes.
Working out of the boxing gym at Lindley Center in Greensboro, the boxing veterans there believe in her skills to get to the next level. “She’s a hard worker,” said Al Lowe, who runs the gym. “When that bell rings, she turns into a totally different person, believe me,” says Richard Rivers, her coach. “She stopped her first opponent in less than a minute.” Mims is now training to compete in the Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs in June, when the first U.S. female boxing team will be selected.
Mims has many supporters, in her family, at work and at the gym. For others looking to show their support, the gym she works out at is hosting a baked spaghetti dinner and bake sale on Wednesday, May 18th, 5:30-8:00 pm for $6, which includes some boxing demonstrations. The location is Lindley Recreation Center and Boxing Club, 2907 Springwood Drive, Greensboro, NC 27403. For additional information, call 336-373-2930.
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