University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

Hall of Fame Story

The legendary Titan fencing team has had its share of great student-athletes and one of those is none other than Mike Boykins.

A four-year letter winner and two-time All-American at sabre, he posted over 120 wins in his career.

He made an immediate impact as a freshman, taking third place at the Great Lakes Championship, a competition that saw three of the top five ranked fencers in the NCAA at the time. 

Boykins then tallied a 42-6 record as a sophomore and claimed 12th at the NCAA Championship before improving his posting to seventh as a junior, where he was 35-5 overall. With that seventh-place finish, he helped the Titans to 16th in the nation.

His senior year saw him rank among the top sabre's in the nation and earned him another NCAA All-American status.

He was also a member of the Junior National Team. 

He went on to earn his doctorate in podiatric medicine and has been in that field for the past 30 years.

Boykins was an accomplished fencer, but he has taken on a new sport serving as head coach of the women's bowling team at Jackson State and leading the squad to a SWAC Championship in 2016. In 2016, he was also named a Vice President of the National Bowling Association.