Kappa Alpha Psi’s Dr. Wilbert McClure Went From 1960 Olympic Boxing Champion to Doctor of Psychology

Did you know that a gold medalist from the legendary 1960 United States Olympic boxing team was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.? His name was Dr. Wilbert “Skeeter” McClure, and he built a life of achievement that reached far beyond the ring.

Wilbert McClure was born on October 29, 1938, in Toledo, Ohio. He was a brother of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., the fraternity founded in 1911 at Indiana University.

McClure rose to fame at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he won the light middleweight gold medal, defeating Italy’s Carmelo Bossi in the final. He earned that gold as part of one of the most celebrated boxing teams in American history, a squad that also included fellow gold medalists Eddie Crook and a young light heavyweight named Cassius Clay, who would go on to become Muhammad Ali. A year earlier, McClure had won gold at the 1959 Pan American Games.

Here is a video of his Olympic fight against Carmelo Bossi (Italy).

What set McClure apart was what he did after boxing. As BoxingScene documents, he earned degrees in literature and philosophy from the University of Toledo in 1961 and went on to earn a doctorate in psychology from Wayne State University in 1973. He became a psychologist, professor, and businessman, and he later served as a Massachusetts state boxing commissioner, working to protect the fighters who came after him.

His impact was recognized well beyond sports. In 2012, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School honored McClure for his life of achievement and service.

Dr. Wilbert McClure died on August 7, 2020, at the age of 81. From the Olympic podium in Rome to a doctorate in psychology, Kappa Alpha Psi’s Wilbert McClure proved that a champion’s greatest victories can come long after the final bell.