ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (December 2, 2013) - Dewey Bozella, the 2011 Arthur Ashe Courage Award winner and boxer will serve as the keynote speaker for the 2013 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl Kickoff Luncheon on Sunday, Dec. 22 at Noon at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. The Luncheon takes place the day prior to the kickoff of the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg featuring an American Athletic Conference team against a representative from Conference USA at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., onMonday, Dec. 23, at 2:00 p.m.
Bozella, who joined an impressive group of past Arthur Ashe Courage Award winners including
Nelson Mandela,
Muhammad Ali and
Billie Jean King, spent 26 years of wrongful imprisonment in a 1983 murder case where he maintained his innocence the entire time and exhausted every appeal. He was even offered more than four separate chances for an early release but he refused to admit a guilty. He was proven innocent and released from jail in October 2009 when new evidence was uncovered that exonerated him.
While in jail Bozella earned his GED, bachelors and masters degrees, working as a counselor for other prisoners. He also found strength and purpose through boxing, becoming the light heavyweight champion of Sing Sing Prison. Bozella always had dreams to have just one professional fight and his wish was granted on October 15, 2011 when he fought and beat opponent, Larry Hopkins, 30, of Houston, in his first and only professional boxing match.
“The keynote speaker at our Kickoff Luncheon is an important component of the bowl week experience we provide for our teams” said
Brett Dulaney, Executive Director, Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg. “We are honored to have Dewey as our featured speaker at this year’s Kickoff Luncheon. Dewey’s story is truly inspirational and I’m sure everyone at the luncheon will be moved by his tragic story of injustice and the perseverance, courage and faith.”
A limited number of tables are still available for the Kickoff Luncheon. For more information on availability, please contact the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg office at 727.290.9865.
Tickets for the 2013 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg game are on sale now and start as low as just $35. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at
www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800.745.3000.
Fans can enjoy the pregame pageantry in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl Party Deck, the only on-field hospitality village in all of professional or college football. Fans can sit right behind the team bench and hear all of the hard- hitting action. It will be the only Beef ‘O’ Brady’s location where you can literally be in the huddle and still enjoy all the food and beverage any fan would want. For tickets in the Party Deck, fans may contact Carlos Padilla at 727.290.9865 for more information.
The Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl is owned by ESPN Events, a subsidiary of ESPN.