Virgil Hill participated in football and boxing while at Red River. He was named the North Dakota Non-School Athlete of the Year in 1983, 1984, and 1985. He was the 1984 Olympic silver medalist in middleweight boxing, the 1987 and 1992 WBA light heavyweight champion, the 1997 IBF light heavyweight champion, and the 2000 and 2006 WBA cruiserweight champion. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013.