Fast forward to 1937, and college boxing had become a big deal at Harvard. Boxing was at the same level as all the major collegiate sports. The typical opponents were Harvard rivals at the time including MIT, Yale, and Dartmouth.
It was around this time that both JFK and Norman Mailer were attending Harvard and were part of the boxing program. Many view this time as something of a Golden Era for the Harvard Boxing Team.
In 1941, a year after JFK graduated, the U.S. entered World War II. At that time, Harvard made it mandatory for all undergraduates to participate in intercollegiate boxing training as a way of improving their wartime fitness.
To bolster the program, Harvard brought in the legendary boxing champion Tommy Rawson. He led the program well into his 90s. In the 1940s and ‘50s, many of these collegiate matches would draw crowds of 10,000 people. In college sports popularity, this made boxing second only to football at that time.