How Boxing Began
by: chloeramsbottom
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Word Count: 546
Boxing has been about since as early as 3000BC, but formal boxing was first first began in the latter part of the 18th century. The ancient Greeks believed that pugilism or fist fighting was a game that the Greek Gods took part in; this was then integrated into the Olympic Games in 688BC. Back in 688BC there was one slight quandary, they didn’t have padded gloves, they simply used leather bound hand straps sometimes fixed in with metal, which you can picture led to some violent and bloody duels some even leading in battles to the death. Regrettably fist fighting started to die away after the fall of The Roman Empire on September 4th, 476AD, when the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire was removed from power.
It wasn’t until the 18th century it started to gain fans and sportsmen back to the sport when it changed into a working man’s sport during the Industrial Revolution which transformed the face of Britain’s agriculture. The bouts and fights in the 18th and 19th century weren’t well planned and came across more like rough street fights rather than the modern day performances that we observe now.
The game was ultimately identified as bare-knuckle boxing and the first victor was James Figg back in 1719, the only dilemma surrounding this was there were no rules set out, so competitors were able to hit below the belt and sometimes fights resulted in death.
Happily this wouldn’t last forever and in the year 1743 Jack Broughton a heavy weight champion took it upon himself to draw up seven rules for how boxing should be conducted, these rules eventually adapted and became part of the London Prize Rules and eventually the Marquess of Queensbury’s Rules which are today’s set principles. These rules helped protect all contenders by enforcing the 30 second rule which meant if a man was down for 30 seconds or longer the fight was finished, so ultimately a boxer that is on the canvas could not be continually hit. Jack Broughton also created the first form of padded gloves which were called mufflers; these brilliantly cut the total of blood and injury received from a jab.
Progressing towards modern times, one of the most significant and popular boxers of all time, and questionably the best of all time is Muhammad Ali who won the World Heavyweight Title on three separate occasions which makes him the only man to have done so in boxing history.
One of the most famous fights of all time also included Muhammad Ali and was staged in 1974 which was promoted by Don King and labelled as The Rumble In The Jungle which saw one of the prime upsets in boxing history as the underdog Ali faced defending champion George Foreman, in which Ali "danced" his way to triumph. Following this massive win Ali kept his form going as he went into the Thrilla In Manila bout against Joe Frazier and defeated him in a boxing match that Ali described as the closest he has felt to death.
Muhammad Ali transformed the boxing world and left a legacy of prominence in the golden age of boxing.
About the Author
Chloe is a dedicated author writing about the history of boxing for Setanta Online
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