History of OKC Charity Fight Night

On January 27, 2005 an area non-profit organization under the guidance of Nicole Thomas and along with a select group of volunteer committee members, hosted Oklahoma City’s first ever, OKC Charity Fight Night for Sight. This groundbreaking event in the Oklahoma City market was received with overwhelming success. Hosted by celebrity guest, Larry Holmes, and emceed by Oklahoma City’s own boxing legend, Sean O’Grady, the black-tie evening featured a steak dinner, open bar, live and silent auctions and five professional boxing matches. Upon entering, each guest was given a complimentary souvenir bag containing a boxing glove, commemorative poster, Sharpie for autographs and a coupon for a complimentary cigar.

Not only was the event well received by all who attended, but the publicity surrounding the event also generated much attention to the non-profit organization. Covered by virtually every news station as well as sports radio programs and metro area print publications, the event raised great awareness for the non-profit organization and its mission of preventing blindness and saving sight.

Capitalizing on the success of its first year, Thomas, then the Director of Financial Development and Marketing for the non-profit organization, hosted the second annual OKC Charity Fight Night for Sight on January 26, 2006. This year’s black-tie event once again featured Sean O’Grady as emcee, along with five professional boxing matches, steak dinner, open bar, and live and silent auctions. Host for the second annual event was “Smokin” Joe Frazier. In its second year, the event raised well over $50,000 for the non-profit organization.

OKC Charity Fight Night Today

Realizing that the Oklahoma City event market was once again looking for something new and different and with the love for OKC Charity Fight Night for Sight still very much on previous attendee’s minds, a core group of the original volunteer committee has decided to reassemble to bring back this fantastic event to Oklahoma City.

The new OKC Charity Fight Night will take place on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at the Coca-Cola Bricktown Event Center.
Wanting to keep the charity component to the event, it was decided to find a compatible non-profit organization that would benefit from the proceeds from the event. The Oklahoma City Police Athletic League (PAL) was a natural fit for OKC Charity Fight Night.