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‘The Brawl at City Hall’
Mar 19, 2010
‘The Brawl at City Hall’
By David Owens, newseditor@laurelleadercall.com
March 13, 2010 01:16 pm
— Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack has challenged his Hattiesburg counterpart, Johnny Dupree, to a boxing showdown Wednesday morning on the front lawn of City Hall.
Unlike boxing heroes such as George Foreman or Muhammad Ali, Mack and Dupree will be battling not for title belts but for dollars to help the Pine Belt Chapter of the American Red Cross during its 2010 “Heroes” fundraising campaign.
“I’m going to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” Mack said. “I can’t wait to beat Johnny Dupree.”
Mack, who said Dupree is a good friend and fraternity brother, said the two will battle on anything including “who’s paying for breakfast.”
“Johnny has done a lot of good things,” he said. “He started collecting money this week and raised $1,000 by handcuffing one of his men to the tallest building in Hattiesburg. Now, I’ve got to raise $2,000. I challenged him to a boxing match, but he’ll probably try to dodge this beating I’m going to give him.”
Mack again praised the efforts of Peggy Owens-Mansfield, executive director of the Pine Belt Chapter, who he said helped him tremendously following Hurricane Katrina.
“I’d only been in office 55 days,” he said. “I was lost and Peggy stepped in. In no time at all, she had checks from the Red Cross from a national and local level. She was feeding and housing people. I’ll never forget that.”
Mack called the Red Cross a “tremendous asset to the community,” noting he would help them at any time.
“They’ve done so much for so many people,” he said. “Their job is endless, but they’ve never asked for anything. We’re more than happy to do it.”
Mack said the Red Cross has faced setbacks due to the struggling economy as well as budget cuts from the Laurel City Council.
“The city cut its funding to the Red Cross this year for the first time in a long time,” he said. “All of the money raised through this drive goes back into our community in Laurel and Jones County.”
Wednesday’s event begins at 8 a.m.
Copyright © 1999-2010 cnhi, inc.
Photos
Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack makes his best boxing pose Friday in his downtown Laurel office. Mack has challenged Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree to meet him in a boxing ring Wednesday morning on the front lawn of City Hall.
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