FARMER MAINTAINS DECISION ON BOXING PERFECTLY LEGAL

Malcolm Farmer, Eli Athletic Director, apparently in direct opposition to the 1936 National Collegiate Athletic Association Rules, claims that a boxing decision is decided by adding up the scores given by the two judges and the referee and not on a two to one basis. Thus he maintains that the decision in the Olney-Huffman bout in New Haven Saturday was correct.

In a statement issued last night Farmer reviews the whole situation, and confirms the former decision. According to athletic officials, sports writers, and other close followers of boxing, if Farmer is correct then bouts at Harvard have been decided for years contrary to the rules, the Eastern Intercollegiates have been run illegally, many other big matches have been against the rule.

No action will be taken by the H. A. A. until they receive an official communication from Farmer at Yale. His complete statement follows:

Misunderstanding

"There appears to be considerable misunderstanding with reference to the N. C. A. A. boxing rule under which the Harvard-Yale boxing matches held Saturday, March 7, in the Payne Whitney Gymnasium were conducted.

"The Intercollegiate boxing rules, under rule 7, state that the referee shall at the conclusion of a bout abide by the decision of the judges in every case if both agree. If the judges disagree, the referee shall have the power to cast the deciding vote.

Rule 11

"Under rule 11, scoring, the maximum is ten points per round, the winner of each round being allotted ten points and the loser in each round allotted any number below ten. It is interpreted that the total of points scored in the three rounds are then compared, and the contestant receiving the highest number of points is de- clared the winner. In the event that one judge gives the highest number of points to one contestant, and the other judge gives the highest number of points to the other contestant, there is disagreement between the judges.

"In a case of this kind, the referee, who also scores points, puts his score in as the deciding vote. The total of scoring by points of the two judges and the referee are then added up. For this boxing meet the referee are then added up. For this boxing meet the referee and judges were most carefully selected, and approved by the Harvard Athletic Association. This method of scoring was agreed upon by both judges, the referee and both coaches before the match started. In the case of the bout between Huffman of Yale and Olney of Harvard, the score of one judge was Yale 29 1/2, Harvard 30; the score of the other judge was Yale 29, Harvard 26; the score of the referee was Yale 29, Harvard 29, which made a total of points for the three rounds Yale 87 1/2, Harvard 85. The referee accordingly awarded the bout to Yale.

Q. E. D.

"The intercollegiate boxing rules do not provide any other method of scoring. The referee of the matches has at the request of the Y. A. A. today reviewed the entire situation and has confirmed his decision.