"And a lot are surprised when they get hit for the first time and aren't hurt," he said.

Few Men Injured

Actually, there are few injuries, Lamar pointed out, and the extent of these is usually a nose-bleed or a twisted hand that results from an improperly delivered blow.

Highlights of the season are the House and University tourneys in late March and early April. Many of the men in the classes turn out for these festivals, which officially end the program for the year.

Under Lamar, who when a pro heavyweight lost only one of 40 bouts--and that to Jim Maloney, the "South Boston Strong Boy"--and former New England amateur champions Tommy Rawson and John "Red" Bullitt, intramural boxing has quietly maintained its niche in the College's sports program.

The "game theory" taught by these three men protects the student glovers from themselves and from one another. Apparently, Harvard's current program of pugilism is carrying on in the tradition of the championship boxing squads of before 1938, and, in addition, is establishing a "box--don't fight" tradition.