Boxing

boards · Aug 17, 2005

How popular was boxing throughout Europe. I know England (witness Louies great post) and Italy (venentian stick wars, lead to boxing matches) had a strong tradition of boxing but what about other parts of Europe.

Cheers

Boards

P.S. I am of course referring to historical boxing not pro boxing.

slipthejab · Aug 17, 2005

Good question...

here's a bit for you, more as I can dig it out :

The deep roots of boxing in Greek history are demonstrated by the famous fresco of the two young boxers found in Santorini Island, dating from 1,600 B.C. In the ancient Olympic Games boxing was established as an Olympic sport at the 23rd Olympiad in 688 B.C., with the first Olympic winner being Onomastos Smyrnaios. The 'aethloforos' (achiever of great feats) Polidefkis was also considered to be a technically skilled and multi-talented athlete. According to the legend, god Apollo was the guardian of the sport, as was indeed mentioned in a Homeric hymn: …"wherever (in Delos) the Ionians gather with their long tunics to honor you, along with their children and modest wives, with every event they organize they please you (Apollo) with boxing, joy and songs".

During that same period Boxing developed considerably in ancient Greece, from Crete and Santorini down to Cyprus and throughout the Aegean region, to Athens and Sparta. Later Confucius promoted the art of Boxing in China, where schools practiced the sport in order to achieve “inner perfection”. Professional boxers first appeared in ancient Rome, where they would train in organised facilities.
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(source: http://eshop.athens2004.com/en/BoxingHistory)

and this:

Boxing

Ancient boxing had fewer rules than the modern sport. Boxers fought without rounds until one man was knocked out, or admitted he had been beaten. Unlike the modern sport, there was no rule against hitting an opponent when he was down.

There were no weight classes within the mens' and boys' divisions; opponents for a match were chosen randomly.

Instead of gloves, ancient boxers wrapped leather thongs (himantes) around their hands and wrists which left their fingers free.

Plato makes fun of boxers' faces, calling them the "folk with the battered ears." Plato, Gorgias 515e.
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(source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/boxing.html)

and here is something closer to the current era... but still Pre Queensberry era:

Origins

Fighting with the fists for sport and spectacle is probably as old as sport itself. Boxing contests are found throughout antiquity. Greek boxers would wear boxing gloves (not padded) and wrappings on their arms below the elbows, but were otherwise naked when competing. There is evidence to suggest that boxing was prevalent in North Africa during 4000 B.C.First accepted as an Olympic sport (ancient Greeks called it Pygmachia) in 688 B.C., participants in the ancient games trained on punch bags (called a korykos). Keeping their fingers free, boxers then wore leather straps (called himantes) on their hands, wrists and sometimes lower arms, to protect them from injury.

The word "boxing" first came into use in England in the 18th century to distinguish between fighting to settle disputes, and fighting under agreed rules for sport. It is now used to describe a sport in which two contestants (boxers) wearing padded gloves face each other in a "ring" and fight an agreed number of "rounds" under recognized rules. Although men have always been the most numerous participants, there are some references to fights between women during the 18th century, and women's boxing was organized again at the end of the 20th century.
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Pre Queensberry era

18th- and early 19th-century pugilism (bare-knuckle fighting) was an important precursor of boxing in Britain. Boxing, however, probably grew most specifically out of the demonstrations held at the Fives Court and the Tennis Court in London in the early 19th century. These promotions had several features that anticipated the future sport of boxing. The boxers wore "mufflers" (padded gloves), "time" was called after a set period, and the length of the fight was predetermined. Wrestling throws were also barred. None of these features were present in bare-knuckle pugilism.

For a generation following the creation of the Queensberry Rules, bare-knuckle and glove-fights were both promoted. The bare-knuckle fights were usually held under the "New Rules" produced by the Pugilistic Benevolent Society in 1866, which had superseded the "Pugilistic Association's Revised Rules" of 1853. They were often popularly referred to as the "Rules of the London Prize-Ring".
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(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing#Origins)

and a bit more... not exactly a direct answer.. but informative:

History of Boxing

Boxing became an official Olympic sport in 1908.

Records of boxing as a sport date back over 5,000 year to ancient Mesopotamia. Another word for boxing is "pugilism."

Boxing first appeared as an Olympic event in the 7th century B.C. Originally, the sport of boxing in ancient Greece was not so much about hitting one's opponent as much as it was about avoiding being hit until the other boxer became exhausted in attack! However, it was still a tough bout, as boxers only wore leather straps on their hands for protection.

Boxing during the Roman Empire became much more brutal, with boxers often fighting to the death with gladiator-like attachments on their gloves. Boxing in Rome was made illegal around 30 B.C. The Romans did introduce one enduring concept to Boxing -- the boxing ring, which remains an important part of Boxing to this day.

With the spread of Christianity in Europe, Boxing disappeared for the most part until the late 1600's when it resurfaced in England, and gained in popularity in the 1700's when the reigning champion of the sport was James Figg, who held the heavyweight title from 1719-1730.

One of the fighters trained by Figg, Jack Broughton, became the next champion and drew up his own set of rules for the sport, which outlawed moves such as hitting below the belt. Bare-knuckle boxing officially ended around 1866 when the Marquess of Queensberry established the Queensberry Rules of Boxing. These new rules required the use of boxing gloves, limited the number of 3-minute rounds, and eliminated some of the grappling, or wrestling that had previously been a part of the sport.

Boxing made its debut in the modern Olympic games in St. Louis in 1904 as a demonstration sport, during which the U.S. team won all the matches -- that's because the U.S. was the only country to enter a team! There was Olympic Boxing during the London games of 1908, but boxing did not become a permanent Olympic sport until 1920 since boxing was not legal in Sweden (so the sport did not take place during the Stockholm games of 1912), and World War I put a temporary halt to the Olympic games of 1916.

Only male boxers participate in the Olympic Games. Women's official boxing bouts first appeared in 1993 but have not been yet included in the official Olympic program.
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(source: http://www.chevroncars.com/wocc/lrn/tri/index.jhtml?date=05/06/2004)

and some more interesting stuff..

BOXING

Depicted on the walls of tombs at Beni Hasan in Egypt, dating from about 2000 to 1500 BC, boxing is one of the oldest forms of competition (encyclopedia.com). Although today boxing has a rigorous set of rules and weight class divisions to ensure equality between the fighters, boxing began as an exhausting and brutal sport. While technically a boxing match occurs any time two people throw a fist at one another, the first organized form of boxing appears to have started in the ancient Olympic Games. The ancient Greeks believed boxing was one of the games played by the gods and they therefore decided that it should become a part of the Olympic Games. The Greeks fought without regard for weight differentials and without interruption, a match ending only when a fighter lost consciousness or raised his hand in resignation (encyclopedia.com). In addition, fighters would take heavy strips of leather and wind them around their hands and wrists. Within these pieces of leather, boxers would place sharp objects such as metal to ensure that every punch would result in a heavy blow, and a large amount of blood. Many times, the matches were duel to the death battles. Due to the fall of Rome, the ancient Olympic Games came to an end in 393 AD. Although the Olympics had ended, the sport of boxing had not. It remained as a common sport that was used in local fairs and religious festivals throughout medieval Europe.

In early 18th-century England, boxing, as a result of the royal family offering prizes, became organized. Boxing became extremely popular because it was not limited to only upper class citizens. Boxing became a workingman's sport during the Industrial Revolution as prizefights attracted participants and spectators from the working class (encyclopedia.com). Boxing allowed everyman to stand on equal ground with an opponent, whether they were rich or poor.

Up until 1743, there were no formal set of rules for the sport of boxing. After a brutal fight that ended in the death of his opponent, Jack Broughton decided that a set of rules needed to be instated in order to try and protect the lives of the fighters. Though fights still ended only in knockout or resignation, Broughton's rules moderated the sport and served as the basis for the later London Prize-ring Rules (1838) and Queensbury Rules (1867) (encyclopedia.com). The Queensbury Rules called for boxing gloves, a limited number of 3-min rounds, the forbidding of gouging and wrestling, a count of 10 sec before a floored boxer is disqualified, and various other features of modern boxing (encyclopedia.com).

In the 1900s, fighting became popular in America. Although the reign (1910-15) of the first African-American heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson , disturbed the segregated society of the time, and although many continued to question boxing's social purpose, its inclusion in the Olympic games in 1904, its use for military training in World War I, its emergence as a source of discipline for youth, its regulation by state commissions, and its suggestion of national vitality strengthened its claims to legitimacy and bolstered its popularity through the 1920s and 30s (encyclopedia.com). Americans made heroes out of its prize winning boxers such as Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis.

As boxing popularized in the US, it also began to exploded around the world. In 1921, the National Boxing Association formed. On August 23, 1962, the universal projection of boxing, its strength, and the presence of important people, urged the organization to form a real world vision that gave professional boxing its universal value (Bastidas 1). This resulted in the National Boxing Association changing its name to the World Boxing Assocation. During the 80 years of existence, the WBA had been led by 43 North American presidents. In 1964, the Panamanian Doctor Elías Córdova, became the first Latin American to enter in the WBA Executive Committee, and 10 years later, in the Convention of Panama he became president of the organization (Bastidas1). Since Córdova, the WBA presidents have all been Latin Americans. Today the World Boxing Association is broken down into four regions: Pan Asian Boxing Association, The Commission of Latin America Professional Boxing, The European Boxing Association, and the North American Boxing Association.

Over the last one hundred years, countries from all around the world have produced world classed boxers. The outstanding Germany, Scandinavia and the Central European sportsmen, such as Joe Choynski, Abe Atell, "Battling" Levinsky and Harry Lewis who were were followed by the second wave of such boxers, as Barney Ross, Benny Leonard, Sid Terris, Lew Tendler, Al Singer, Maxie Rosenbloom and Max Baer (Denzar Group 2). Spain also contributed with its famous boxers, such as Carlos Monzon, Pascual Perez, Roberto Duran and Alexis Arguello. Finally the Philippines produced Pancho Villa who was the first Asian boxer to win the World Champion title in the lightweight group (Denzar Group 2). In the late 20s the Eastern Asia presented a great number of boxers, who were successfully fighting for the highest titles in the professional boxing. In the last quarter of the twentieth century the black American fighters dominated the boxing world. "Sugar" Ray Leonard, "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and Mike Tyson all have left their mark on the boxing world.

Boxing is a sport that has survived the test of time. Every year millions of dollars are brought in during boxing matches in Las Vegas and other arenas around the world. Boxing started with meek beginnings, but has exploded into an international phenomenon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Denzar Group. “History of Boxing.” November 23, 2003 Available:

http://www.fightclubmiami.com/Boxing History - 2.htm

Encylopedia.com. “Boxing.” November 23, 2003 Available:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/boxing_BoxingintheUnitedStates.asp

Katz, Michael. “Boxing History.” November 23, 2003. Available:

http://www.whitecollarboxing.com/boxinfo.htm

University of Pennsylvania. “The Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games.”

November 23, 2003 Available: http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/Olympics/olympicorigins.shtml

World Boxing Association. November 23, 2003 AVailable: http://www.wbaonline.com/event/halloffame/IBHFhome.htm"
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(source: http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/l/c/lcm162/boxing.html)

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Boxing

boards Its all in the reflexes!

slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

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boards Its all in the reflexes!

slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

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