Boxing
Boxing was a popular varsity and intramural sport for a few decades in the early twentieth century. It began informally in 1924 with a match between UNC student boxers and soldiers from Fort Bragg. The university hired a boxing coach the following year, and it was soon established as a varsity sport. By the 1940s campus administrators began to consider dropping varsity boxing. Attendance was waning, there were continued concerns about student safety, and UNC was having a hard time scheduling matches because few nearby schools had boxing teams. Varsity boxing was discontinued in 1948.
UNC Boxing team, 1927. UNC Image Collection, North Carolina Collection Photo Archives, Wilson Library.