History of Boxing

Boxing has a long history and was first noted as an Olympic sport as far back as 687 bc by the Greeks when it was included in their Olmpia. It became more commercialized some time in the 16th to 18th century in Great Britain when prize fights were organised. Later this was taken to the Americas sometime in the 19th century.

Boxing now a days is between two contestants with in the same weight group, supervised by a referee, over a predetermined number of 3 minute rounds and generally judged by three judges. The fight however can be stopped by the referee at any stage if he deems that one of the contestants is unable to continue or has been repeatedly fouled. The fight can also be brought to an early end if one of the contestants trainers does not want to continue, by throwing in a towel to the ring. A boxing ring is a roped off area normaly 24 foot square.

In the very early days boxing was a bare fisted form of fighting, but as it spread to Europe in times of the Romans they took this sporta whole lot further and started introducing leather guards on the hands and then metal studs in the leather. It soon became a spectator sport when the Romans had contests in the amphitheaters and was often a fight to the death. The term, ring, comes from this period as slaves were put up against each other and had to fight within in a ring drawn in the earth of the amphitheaters.

The original boxing contests had no rules and often contestants died during a fight, so to prevent deaths from occuring a prize fighter in England, Jack Broughton, brought in Rules. Three major rules were, a downed fighter could not be hit and if he did not recover in 30 seconds the bout was over, also grasping an opponent below the waist was banned, as was biting and head butting.

In 1867 John Chambers drafted new rules called 'The Marquess of Queensbury' rules, under the patronage of the marquess, and these rules form the basis of modern day boxing rules. No wrestling was allowed and the 10 second knock down rule came into play, as did the three minute round with a one minute rest between rounds. Boxing gloves were also introduced which made the fights more scientific and the stance of the boxers changed from the upright, body tilted back of the bare knuckle contests to the, modern day body forward stance.

The first heavy weight contest was in 1892 when Gentleman Jim Corbett beat John L Sullivan in New Orleans. Shortly after this era sanctioning bodies and commisiions were established to regulate the sport and brought about the recognition of world champions. Boxing today has two distinct categories, being Amateur and professional.

Ameteur boxing is still an olympic sport and contests are over three rounds of three minutes. Contestants wear a head gear and have a sash tied around their waists which is the demarcation that any blows below the sash is penalisable and may lead to disqualification. Their gloves also have a white band on the front, as only a punch on this part of the glove to a part of the body or head is deemed a score.

In professional boxing World title bouts are normaly 12x3 minute rounds and no head gear is worn. In earlier contests the fight continued until one of the contestants was knocked out or failed to come out for the next round. There are 3 main styles of boxing, they being:-;

1) A boxer, who is an out fighter, meaning he keeps distance between him and his opponent. These are the sylists and scientific boxers withring craft and often win their fights on points. Notable boxers of this style include Mohammed Ali. Ezzard Charles and Sugar Ray Leonard.

2) A slugger, who makes a brawl of the contest. The two most important facets of this type of boxer is strength and the ability to takea punch. Famous names of this style are, George Foreman, Jake Lamotta and Ray Mancini.

3) An in fighter, who swarms his opponents and fights at close quarters. These guys are pressure fighters and stay close to their quarrywearing them down with flurries of punches. They also need a good chin and are often hit whilst trying to get at close quarters. These fighters need endurance and a strong upper body as they do a lot of bobbing and weaving. Famous fighters of this style are Rocky MarcianoMike Tyson and Joe Frazier.