Evening journal., 1916-01-05
BOXING IS ADOPTED
As COLLEGE SPORT
Penn ArouSeS Interest in
Ring Game at Other
Institutions
LID IS LIFTED
AT PRINCETON

The interest taken in boxing at the
University of Pennsylvania has been
so great that other universities and
colleges are waking up TO the import
ance of having their students taugh
"the manly art" George Decker, one
OF Philadelphia's cleverest light
weights of few years back, IS the
boxing coach at Penn. and the enthus-
iasm which he has put into his work
has enlisted a big class among the
wearers of the Red and Blue.
At Princeton. boxing is also making
great progress. There the veteran
boxer and teacher. John lSpiderl Kel-
". has been in charge for several
years. as well as at the nearby prepar-
atory school at Lawrenceville. When
Kelly went to Princeton there was a
lid down on everything pugilistic and
a set of boxing gloves was such a
great curiosity that many of the old
est students had never seen them.
while few. if any. had ever slipped
them on their hands.
Kelly saw he was up against stitt
proposition, but his genial Irish man
pers won for him a hearing with
those in authority. and I'm due course
gloves among the boys of the Orange
and Black, but only privately and in
such a way that no matter what hap
pened the university could not be
brought into the limelight through his
work. But Kelly is level-heeded fel-
low and he was always on his guard
TO draw the line strictly between box
ing and fighting, and with the aggres-
siveness and persistency that carried
him through his ring career, he won
for the sport host of followers and
friends. and il was only matter OF
time till he had to have an assistant to
help him with his teaching.
Now Kelly and boxing are regarded
IS absolute factors in college life at
Princeton. and hundreds of sturdy
young fellows have developed wonder.
fully under his tutelage. Under Kel-
Tvs system, boxing makes man more
manly teaches him to control his
temper and always respect the rights
OF others.
The students at Yale have been box
ing for some time and now Harvard
is falling in line. In fact, there is a
veritable boom i'm the sport at Cam
bridge. The university daily news
paper Is enthusiastic on the subject
and is urging all the students to take
advantage of the general inactivity
OF the winter months TO become ia
miliar with the art of mussing up the
other fellow. II calls attention TO the
fact that a boxing coach is on duty al
the Hemenway gymnasium and the
under graduates who desire boxing
lessons can learn the principles OF
selfdefense.
The Harvard Crimson is advocat-
ing a competitive series of matches
between representatives of the sew
cral classes, in order to stir things NJ
during the cold weather. These
class competitions will no doubt
come to pass in due time. but the day
Is some time off, for it would be an
innovation that would meet with con.
siderable opposition.
Following the inter-class contests
would, no doubt come the competi
tions between the different uniyersi.
ties and colleges, which may some o
these days be as popular as basket
ball, wrestling and other contests
In England competitions between
schOolboy and college boxers are an
every-night affair Boxing is the reg
ular thing with the Britisher TO b,
taken just as seriously as his cricket
In Australia they are teaching boxing
as one of the regular courses in th'
schools. and the sport is fiourishinl
there as il has never done before.
In that country and in England box
ing is regular part Of the exercises
of the soldiers, and the military vol
unteers and the competitions betweei
the men chosen from the differen
regiments are as popular with tn
general public, who throng TO tn,
boxing arenas to root for their favor
ties. Those who are interested in tn
advancement of boxing will welcom
the time when the American universi
ties take it up in earnest.