Carolina Boxing

College Boxing HistoryInter-collegiate boxing began in the United States during World War I. Joseph E. Raycroft, a Princeton professor and War Department chief administrator for Army training camps activities, used boxing in training camps for both physical conditioning and recreational value. After returning to their universities, many former soldiers continued to box. In 1921 the Eastern Intercollegiate Boxing Association (EIBA) was created by the NCAA, and by 1927 the University North Carolina began competing in the Southern Conference. In the early 1960s, competition attendance fell and many schools began dropping their boxing programs. Some coaches attributed the downfall to mismatches and imbalances in competition. Shortly after, boxing was removed from the NCAA and competitive boxing at UNC was over until a few years ago.

UNC Boxing HistoryIn 2002 Paul Kropp, a chemistry professor for the university, had begun teaching students the basics of boxing with informal workouts held weekly in the racquetball courts. Then in the fall of 2004, Chris Campbell, a student working out with Professor Kropp, registered the group as an officially recognized student organization. At about this time Matt Haley, a graduate student who boxed for Penn State, began attending the workouts to lend additional help with instruction and training. Registering the club with the National Collegiate Boxing Association remained only a topic of discussion until Dan Carleton finished his freshman season as a UNC varsity wrestler in 2006. Dan was interested in boxing competitively and became the catalyst for transforming the informal workouts into a nationally-competing team. He asked Matt Haley to step in as the first coach and begin the Carolina Boxing Club with three members, Dan as the president, and Frank Zhong and Travis Boyer as the team Captains. In the fall of 2006, the club held its first workouts, open to the student body and community and achieved a membership of over 50 members. Now, workouts can attract over 100 participants and tryouts for the competing team are held several times a year.