"I'm not sure if you kids remember who he is, but [Autry] came out right before the matches and did a rodeo routine," Rawson comments. "It was a great experience."

Shortly after the tournament, Rawson decided it was time to move on to the next level and turned professional. He left behind an amateur career that still stands as one of the most impressive ever.

"I fought 227 fights as an amateur and won 223 of them," Rawson says with a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "And the four decisions that I lost, I beat those fellas afterwards. So you could say that I rectified the defeats that I had. I remember the one time I beat this one fella up pretty good and when someone asked him what happened the next day, he just said, 'I fought that Rawson lad.'"

For the next 11 years, he traveled all across North America as a 135-pound lightweight. Unlike today where there are numerous divisions under which boxers can compete for championships, Rawson fought in an era where there were only eight weight classes.

"I think that [boxing officials] have ruined the game by having all these different divisions and champions," Rawson says. "It's too confusing to follow."

As he said in an earlier interview, "These days a kid fights 12 times and he's got a title shot at one of those [fake] weights."

By the time he retired in 1941, Rawson had assembled an impressive 74-5 record.