But in the closing seconds of the round. Robertson uncorked what had become the trademark of Harvard boxers--a combination jab, cross and hook followed by an inside right counter. The last blow landed under Well's ear and sent the bewildered Cadet spinning to the canvas for his first collegiate defeat.
Minutes later, Harvard's Bill Smith completely dominated Army's J.H. Isbell, a 217-pound All-American football tackle, to clinch the match for the Crimson and climax Harvard's only undefeated boxing season.
Injuries Kill
Two years later, in 1938, boxing lost its varsity status at Harvard. Squeamish spectators claim injuries killed intercollegiate boxing here and elsewhere. But University Health Service records do not report a single boxing injury during the 1930-37 period when boxing carried varsity status at Harvard. And one survey made at San Jose State College in California showed that boxing ranked seventh in injuries behind football, wrestling, basketball, track, soccer, and baseball.
Lamar blames the high-handed recruiting practices of many colleges for the sport's demise. "Golden Glove Champions with as many as 100 bouts under their belts would be placed in the ring with inexperienced fighters," he says. Serious injuries rarely occurred, but spectators and officials became disturbed at the one-sided affairs."
So for the past 30 years boxing at Harvard and at most other colleges has consisted of a single annual intramural event. Interest in the sport revived during World War II, when intramural boxing became a required activity for all Harvard undergraduates, but waned quickly. All that remains of boxing today are the classes Henry Lamar teaches every February and the three-day House tournament, which begins today.
But the House tournament is the highlight of the winter sport season for a great many Harvard sports fans, who still throng the IAB for the final bouts. And though Henry Lamar insists that intercollegiate boxing is dead and buried, who's to deny that if Harvard challenged Yale to an annual match, the Ivy League might generate a pugilistic renaissance in America?