In the middle of Black History Month, D.C. leaders put the spotlight on several Black boxing champions who started their careers in the nation’s capital and made it to the ring on the national stage.

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“People sometimes forget that we’re the sports capital, but we’re the sports capital,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at Friday’s event, which was held at the Columbia Heights Community Center.

Among the champions honored by the city was DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.

“When I’m in there fighting, I think about my childhood growing up in D.C.,” Corley said. “It was a struggle, but boxing saved my life.”

Corley was injured in a shooting in 1997. He was shot in the spine and in his leg, but he used boxing as motivation to get himself back on his feet and recover.

“It was an outlet for me to become something,” Corley said. “It’s discipline, hard work and dedication.”

Corley was a USBA champion in 1999 and a WBO champion in 2001.

“Boxing takes 100% focus,” he said. “I truly believe that if I wasn’t boxing, I wouldn’t be here today.”