House Athletic Secretaries Cut Boxing From Intramural Sports, by 9-2 Vote

Harvard boxing fans may not get to wince with their favorite pugilist this year after yesterday's 9-2 decision by the House athletic secretaries to cut boxing from the intramural sports program. There is still hope, however, that public bouts may yet be held in conjunction with the physical education program.

The meeting, conducted by Floyd S Wilson, director of Intramural Athletics, cited fear of injuries and general lack of interest as the reasons for the action.

The secretaries agreed during the meeting that the overall lack of training of the boxers made them particularly susceptible to injuries.

Forty fighters participated in last year's tournament. Some of the 40 didn't show up for their matches.

The program has even less interest this year.

Wilson said he does not want untrained students in the competition. He said that they were the people who got hurt, and that in the closely contended battle for the Straus Cup, Houses have just thrown bodies into the ring to pick up points.

Dissenting with the majority opinion, Tom Volpe, athletic secretary of Mather House, said yesterday that the arguments for dropping boxing could be as easily applied to other intramural sports.

"Participation in boxing was no weaker than in many other sports--such as swimming, wrestling, and squash--where there were a lot of forfeited matches. Tackle football had only six teams out of 11 Houses participating last Fall," he said.

As for injuries, Volpe said that tackle football is more dangerous than boxing. He added that if referees exercised a tight rein over the fighting, there would be no serious injuries.

Volpe said that Mather House got the short end of the stick as a result of the decision. "Just as Adams House is strong in swimming, we're strong in boxing; but now it won't help us in our bid for the Straus Cup," he said.