DETROIT (3/30/2020) -- Dr. Mike Boykins didn't discover the sport of fencing until his junior year of high school, but he quickly excelled and his journey took him from Cleveland to Detroit.
 
Now, after a standout collegiate fencing career at the University of Detroit, Boykins is a Hall of Fame fencer. He was enshrined in a ceremony on campus in late January 2020, continuing a long line of Titan men's fencers to earn a spot in the Titan Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Boykins, currently a Division I head bowling coach at Jackson State, also fell in love with fencing after stumbling upon it after school one day at JFK High School in Cleveland, Ohio.
 
"We had a coach, George E. Bailey, one of the unique individuals who fell in love with fencing as a young man. I'll never forget walking down after school and saw a practice and I asked if I could watch," Boykins said. "And low and behold I joined the team junior year of high school. Once I got to be a senior, I was encouraged to look at Universities that offered fencing."
 
Coming off a national championship in 1972 with several standout fencers, Boykins didn't have to look far around the Midwest to find the University of Detroit fencing program.
 
"(Coach Elton Anderson) had us come out and I was offered a scholarship. It was not only thrilling, but I was surprised. Come to find out that the University had a phenomenal history in fencing and African Americans who were just stellar. It was just the icing on the cake. Being awarded a scholarship, but I was also going to a Grade-A University in scholastics."
 
Boykins was a foilist in high school, but switched to sabre at the University. He along with his Titan teammates looked to continue the tradition set before them. The Titans had a strong team with the likes of Brian Boyle, Louis Whitlock, James Webber and Carlton Mosby.
 
"By my sophomore year, we had a pretty strong unit," Boykins said. "We were competitive in the Midwest. We were very, very close as a team. Being in that kind of unit, it carried over in the winning aspects. We had a small group, it was just two or three foilists, two epee and two sabre, but our group was very, very close."
 
Boykins tallied a 42-6 record as a sophomore and claimed 16th at the NCAA Championship before earning seventh place as a junior in 1978, sporting a record of 35-5. With his seven-place finish, he helped the Titans to a 16th-place finish nationally. He placed 10th as a senior in 1979 individually, his second-straight top-10 finish for the Titans.
 
Overall in his Titan career, Boykins was a two-time All-American in sabre. He had over 120 wins in his four-year career.
 
"My weapon was extremely competitive," Boykins said. "There was Mike Sullivan from Notre Dame. Yuri Rabinovich from Wayne State. It was really something. We knew that somewhere along the line we would meet at the Midwest Championships.
 
"For Brian (Boyle), Louis (Whitlock) and many of us, we took a lot of pride in being competitive. Fencing had been in our background. We made sure that if we're not winning, we are being competitive. The integrity of the sport was important to us. I'll never forget with Judge William Giovan came to see us once or twice and you feel honored to have had such a great lineage of Olympians and competitive collegiate fencers come before you."
 
He graduated from the University In 1980 and earned his doctorate in podiatric medicine and has been practicing in the field for more than 30 years.
 
Now Boykins, who was also a bowler as a young kid in Cleveland, is passing along his knowledge as a Division I student-athlete to bowlers at Jackson State.
 
"I can easily say that the competitiveness and structure from fencing has helped me as a Division I bowling coach," Boykins said. "It helped me on the other side, having the compassion and ability to push our athletes but still keep the respect. We've been pretty successful, we were conference champions in 2016 and runner-up in 2019. It has been a great ride."
 
Boykins said he was honored to be included among the Titan greats.
 
"It's the University that I love, again I am so thankful to Brian Boyle," Boykins said. "He called me out of the blue and said we are going to make this happen and you deserve this. I was at a loss for words. A teammate thinking about you is something I will never forget.
 
"My mother and daughter were both there (at the ceremony). I was honored to have the table so full, for everyone to take time out of their busy schedules. To have so many family, friends and co-athletes there at my table, it was just a great evening. It was something that I won't only remember but I will cherish."
 
Congratulations to Dr. Mike Boykins on your induction into the Detroit Mercy Athletics Hall of Fame.