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Amateur boxer John Boutilier (SED'53), with cornerman -- and father -- Napeen "Napoleon" Boutilier, after a match. "Forty years earlier," Boutilier says, "my father had been the champ in the 158-pound class. I believe we were the only father-son duo with national A.A.U. boxing championships." Napeen, then a retired Boston Fire Department chief, accompanied his son to his matches. Photo from 1953 Hub yearbook

He was a contendah: Our article this week on the alumnus who turned pro boxer led us to scour the BU photo archives for boxing-related photographs. To our surprise, we came across this snap of John Boutilier (SED'53). While boxing was never a club or varsity sport at BU, Boutilier balanced a heavy class load (he graduated in '53 with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in education) and football (he attended BU on a football scholarship) with amateur boxing.

"It was my own thing," says Boutilier from his home in El Cajon, Calif., "although BU did award me a varsity athletics letter."

Boutilier's years at BU were during a golden time in Terrier athletics. Classmate and friend Harry Agganis (SED'54), the "golden Greek," shared the gridiron with him and earned Athlete of the Year accolades three of the four years he attended BU. (Agganis later signed a pro baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox.)

But Boutilier had a golden touch himself. He slugged out a National Golden Glove award in 1950, earned the trophy for America's outstanding boxer at the A.A.U. National Boxing Tournament in 1951, and was a U.S. boxing champ in 1951 -- the last in the weight class of 175 pounds. (The 175-pound class had existed since 1913 and included great master of the ring Joe Louis.)

"In the summer of 1951," Boutilier recalls, "I went to Europe with America's boxing team. We matched up against Sweden, England, and Germany. I won a couple, I lost a couple. But I didn't train that hard. I wanted to see the countries I was visiting."

Boutilier hung up his amateur gloves after making a lot of memories in the ring, including knocking out Mexico's champ Kid Guadalahara in the 6th round of a 10-round charity match. Boutilier taught elementary school for 33 years and now enjoys golf, gardening, and his horses. He can be reached at boutilierboot@aol.com.

9 March 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations