Harvard Severs Relations With Yale in Boxing Due to 4-4 March on March 7

As a result of the 4-4 boxing match fought with Yale at New Haven on March 7, Eli contests for Crimson boxers have been called off indefinitely. The announcement of seven schedules approved by the Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports by William J. Bingham '16, director of Athletics, was made last night and in the boxing schedule Yale was absent.

Reason Not Given

Although no mention is made of the reason for this unusual omission, it is obvious that the action is a direct result of the contested decision rendered at Yale on March 7 when the undefeated Harvard team encountered the Eli fighters and a disagreement arose as to the method of scoring used by Yale.

In this meet Harvard, as usual, fought under the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, and it is the manner in which Yale interpreted these rules that caused the H.A.A. to break an athletic relationship harmonious for 41 years. In 1895 all athletic contests were cancelled, but this break was healed after two years.

Ellis-Loomis Match

Hard feeling arose in the March 7 match in the 145-pound bout between Dwight W. Ellis, Jr. '38 and Loomis of Yale when the fight was given to Yale on the basis of the total points scored by the judges. One referee called it a draw; however, due to the interpretation placed upon the rules by those in charge of the meet at New Haven, the match was given to Yale.

In the 155-pound class between Peter B. Olney '37 and the Yale Captain, Huffman, the judges were again split. The referee voted for Harvard. Again the bout went to Yale on the basis of the total points scored by each judge.

Total Points Argued

Yale supported these decisions on the ground that the N.C.A.A. rules provided that the winner of a bout should be determined in case of a tie between the two judges, not by the tie-breaking vote of the referee, but by totalling the points scored by each judge from round to round of the bout. These notes, how- ever, are personal memoranda taken by each judge at his own option merely to assist him in casting an impersonal vote, according to the N.C.A.A. and according to customary usage.

At the close of the meet, Huffman, Yale captain, apologized to Olney for the decisions and at the time the referee announced the Olney-Huffman out come, the audience attending the meet, composed largely of Yale students, rose and booed the decision for several minutes.

When reports of the match came back to Cambridge Bingham wrote Mac Farmer, Eli sports director, and asked for a conference to discuss the interpretation of the rules.

N.C.A.A. Supports Harvard

After the first conference, Harvard representatives, thinking that they might have been in error for years through some slip long since forgotten, asked the National Collegiate Athletic Association Rules Committee for the correct interpretation of the rules and were informed that by unanimous vote of the Committee the Ellis-Loomis bout was a draw and that the Olney-Huffman bout should have been given to Olney, making the final score of the meet 5 1/2-2 1/2 for Harvard.

No Total Points Rule

The rules committee further more explicitly stated that there was no rule in the guide which states that the aggregate total points should decide. The rule covering the matter reads as follow: "At the end of the bout the judge shall write the name of the winner on his tabulation card. If both agree, the decision is final. If they do not agree, the referee casts the deciding vote"