{"id":2309,"date":"2021-08-19T15:41:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T15:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2021-08-19T15:41:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T15:41:23","slug":"toledos-boxing-champ-returns-home-to-a-heros-welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/19\/toledos-boxing-champ-returns-home-to-a-heros-welcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Toledo\u2019s Boxing Champ Returns Home to a Hero\u2019s Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, Oshae Jones, TPS Superintendent Romules Durant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sojourner\u2019s Truth Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toledo\u2019s Oshae Jones has returned home after winning a bronze medal in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in the women\u2019s welterweight boxing competition and she received a hero\u2019s welcome on Monday at One Government Center from city and county officials, arts groups, along with her family and friends.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson, informing Jones that she knew her grandmother, said: \u201cYour grandmother believed in perseverance; you carry on her strong convictions, even through personal tragedy and I\u2019m so grateful to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 perseverance and her recent brush with tragedy were themes that virtually all the speakers repeated as they honored her athletic accomplishments and commiserated with her for the fire that destroyed her house mere days before she set off for Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a trailblazer,\u201d said Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant, EdD, in a rousing speech as he ticked off her numerous recent boxing victories culminating in the bronze in Japan. \u201cToday you are a proud medalist \u2013 a fighter in the gym and a fighter outside the gym. She\u2019s got her ground game and she\u2019s got her standup game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Councilwoman Vanice Williams, Oshae Jones, Jones’ mother Demetria Blackshear<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken called Jones \u201cthe heart of the city\u201d and Rev. Willie Perryman, president of the Toledo NAACP and pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church where Jones\u2019 family has been members for four generations, recounted the tragedy before her departure. He said a fund has been set up for Jones through the Jerusalem Outreach Ministries. That account is held at the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union to accept donations from all interested.<\/p>\n

Tom Cole, broadcaster and a representative of the Taylor Automotive Family, wasted no time in getting the donations started. After lauding Jones for her toughness and her \u201cstick-to-it-tiveness,\u201d Cole presented a check to the young pugilist from Taylor in the amount of $1,000.<\/p>\n

Toledo City Council presented Jones with a plaque; Lori Hauser, CEO of Imagination Station, presented Jones with a grab bag containing memberships to 21 area arts and cultural institutions.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Boxer Albert Prince Bell congratulates Oshae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, a boxing fan who had followed Jones\u2019 journey with great interest, offered the key to the city and, perhaps more importantly, a commitment of $1,000 from his personal funds to match the Taylor contribution. That offer got the ball rolling as several other individuals committed funds to Jones, who was by then constantly wiping away tears of gratitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is the story of Toledo itself,\u201d said the mayor comparing her ups and downs to those of her hometown after he expanded on the points that Cole had raised by recounting the history of boxers and boxing events in Toledo\u2019s past. He noted, among other events, that an amateur Cassius Clay once had a boxing contest here in the 1950\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee,\u201d Kapszukiewicz added in closing. \u201cRumble, young woman \u2026 rumble.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sojourner\u2019s Truth Staff Toledo\u2019s Oshae Jones has returned home after winning a bronze medal in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in the women\u2019s welterweight boxing competition and she received a hero\u2019s welcome on Monday at One Government Center from city and county officials, arts groups, along with her family and friends. State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[70],"class_list":["post-2309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2314,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions\/2314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}