{"id":277049,"date":"2023-10-31T08:11:33","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T13:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=277049"},"modified":"2023-10-31T11:51:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:51:44","slug":"boxer-virgil-hill-receives-rough-rider-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=277049","title":{"rendered":"Boxer Virgil Hill Receives Rough Rider Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BISMARCK, N.D.<\/strong> \u2013 Five-time world champion Virgil Hill stepped into the Bismarck Event Center boxing ring one more time today to receive the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award from Gov. Doug Burgum. Hill is the 48th<\/sup> recipient of the Rough Rider Award, the state\u2019s highest commendation for its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family members, friends and boxing fans attended the ceremony for Hill, who was raised in Grand Forks and Williston and won a silver medal in the middleweight division during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Hill went on to build an impressive professional record of 51 wins and 7 losses, with 23 wins by knockout. He set the record for the number of light heavyweight title defenses at 20 and was a first-round inductee into both the National Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo us, Virgil, you\u2019ve always exemplified the best qualities of North Dakotans: tough, brave, determined, durable, resilient, generous, grateful, humble, and like many of us, immensely proud to call North Dakota home,\u201d Burgum said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burgum presented the Rough Rider Award to Hill in a boxing ring inside what used to be known as the Bismarck Civic Center, where Hill fought many memorable bouts, including his \u201cOne Last Stand\u201d victory in 2015 to end his career before a crowd of approximately 4,000 fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those of you and those of us who lived through the 1980s and 90s \u2026 the name Virgil Hill is synonymous with boxing,\u201d Burgum said, noting that 27 of Hill\u2019s 58 professional fights were in North Dakota. \u201cWherever he went, Virgil was first and foremost a North Dakotan, a true ambassador of our state, proudly carrying our blue flag with its eagle with outstretched wings into the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill called the Rough Rider Award \u201cthe biggest award that I\u2019ve ever received.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won five world titles; I gave all my belts away. I won a silver medal; I gave that away, too. I\u2019m not giving this one away,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m very proud and very honored that you guys thought that I was worthy of this (award), and thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill credited the work ethic he learned in North Dakota for his success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is what molded my drive. And don\u2019t let them ever tell you that you can\u2019t, because you can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill\u2019s friend and former trainer, Al Larsien, who grew up with Hill from grade school on up, called Hill an extremely talented athlete and \u201cfierce competitor\u201d who wouldn\u2019t be outworked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe just did not have any quit,\u201d Larsien said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill\u2019s heartbreaking loss in the Olympic gold medal match \u2013 which Larsien and many other observers believe Hill won \u2013 turned out to be a blessing in disguise, Larsien said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause it was like throwing fuel on this never-ending fire that burned in his belly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Fox, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation, who ran in the same local boxing circles as Hill during his adolescent and college years, said Hill was a \u201cvery driven\u201d competitor and an inspiration to Native Americans everywhere \u2013 someone who never forgot the people who shaped his life and career along the way. Fox gave Hill a war bonnet, similar to those Hill frequently wore into the ring as a proud display of his Native American heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, Hill made the impossible seem attainable, Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe made us all understand that \u2026<\/em> with some talent and a lot of hard work, you can attain these things if you commit yourselves to that,\u201d Fox said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what he did, and gave us all a lot of hope \u2013 and not just in sports, but in our careers, in starting a business, in community relations, in raising a family, in being a good father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond his boxing achievements, Hill actively engaged in charitable works, supporting organizations focused on youth sports development, anti-bullying campaigns, veterans’ assistance and cultural preservation. Since his retirement from boxing, Hill has continued to train athletes and promote North Dakota, going out of his way to train young Native American athletes and provide opportunities for them to excel in their chosen sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fran Joerz, a former board member for Make-A-Wish, recalled how Hill formed a special bond with a young cancer patient and visited the child frequently, even giving the boy a pair of his boxing gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery time Ryan went to chemo, he packed his boxing gloves that Virgil gave him,\u201d she said, reading a quote from Hill that was published in the Bismarck Tribune back then. \u201c\u2019Boxing is a tough sport, but not as tough as what this little guy goes through. What a trooper this kid is. He\u2019s more of a man than I will ever be,\u2019\u201d Hill was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill\u2019s friend and former manager Bill Sorenson, who served as master of ceremonies, said Hill is \u201cextremely well-deserving\u201d of the Rough Rider Award, which recognizes present and former North Dakotans who have been influenced by the state in achieving national recognition in their fields of endeavor, thereby reflecting credit and honor upon North Dakota and its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known not a person that\u2019s gone out of their way to promote North Dakota like Virgil Hill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe and State Historical Society Director Bill Peterson, both of whom concurred with Burgum\u2019s selection of Hill for the Rough Rider Award, assisted in unveiling the official portrait of Hill. The portrait was painted by Minot-based artist Vern Skaug, who since 1970 has painted many of the portraits hanging in the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Hall of Fame at the North Dakota Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established during the 1961 Dakota Territory Centennial, the award was initially given as an honorary rank of Colonel in the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BISMARCK, N.D. \u2013 Five-time world champion Virgil Hill stepped into the Bismarck Event Center boxing ring one more time today to receive the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award from Gov. Doug Burgum. Hill is the 48th recipient of the Rough Rider Award, the state\u2019s highest commendation for its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":277050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=277049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277051,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277049\/revisions\/277051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/277050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=277049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=277049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=277049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}