Boxing can appear to be barbaric, brutal and inhumane. Its professional athletes can be egotistical, maniacal and despicable. The lone objective is to beat the individual across the ring to a senseless pulp. It brings two words to mind: Mike and Tyson.

On the other hand, boxing is a game of chess, where a set of gloves are your knights and chin a king. It's a match of strategy where brawn faces off against speed and endurance. It's as peaceful as a butterfly, yet it stings like a bee.

There are two types of boxing: the kind involving clashing egos and money, and the kind that is a face-off between two finely tuned athletes.

Like all collegiate athletics, there's a pureness to be found in collegiate boxing. But perceptions that it is more like the first type led to collegiate boxing being left out in the cold when the NCAA ceased its sanctioning of the sport in 1954.

The National Collegiate Boxing Association was formed in 1975, providing a venue for collegiate boxing teams from around the country to compete at the amateur level, without pay, without scholarship money, and seemingly little reason to compete. And yet the athletes came.

"Like every other athlete, whether it's basketball, football or baseball, we love the sport," Penn State Boxing Club President Bill Seskey said.

In some cases, it was because they had been surrounded by the sport their entire lives.

"My dad was a golden gloves boxer, my uncle was a pro, my grandfather boxed for the army, and both my uncles own a boxing gym in Pittsburgh. I've been around the sport for a while now," said Seskey.

And while a passion for the sport or a family with generations' worth of history tied into boxing would be enough to get most people into a pair of shorts and some gloves, the ever looming thought of getting punched out would keep the same bunch of people outside of a ring.

"A lot of people say, 'What's the point in getting your head punched in?' But it's not like that any more," said Seskey.

With the health and well-being of the athletes involved being the NCBA's top priority, the chances of an in-the-ring tragedy are lower than ever.

By instituting protective head gear and more padding in the gloves, the NCBA has taken clear precautions to protect its boxers. In doing so, it has made knockouts somewhat of a rarity, allowing many other collegiate boxers to mimic Seskey in saying, "The sport is a lot safer now than it used to be."