[vc_gallery type=”fading” onclick=”link_no” img_size=”600×400″ images=”495,496,494,493″ width=”1/1″ last=”last”] [vc_column_text width=”1/1″ last=”last”]
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds. The match ends, when an opponent is knocked out or deemed incapable to continue match by a referee (Technical Knockout), if an opponent is disqualified for breaking a rule, resigning by throwing in a towel, or by judges’ scorecards at the end of the bout. There are two forms of boxing, amateur and professional.
The birth hour of boxing as a sport may be its acceptance by the ancient Greeks as an Olympic game as early as 688 BC. Modern boxing evolved in Europe, particularly Great Britain.
Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again and interest in fighting with the fists waned. However, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Fistfight. As the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a bare-knuckle fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury, and the first English bare-knuckle champion was James Figg in 1719.[2] This is also the time when the word “boxing” first came to be used. It should be noted, that this earliest form of modern boxing was very different. Contests in Mr. Figg’s time, in addition to fistfighting, also contained fencing and cudgeling. On 6 January 1681, the first recorded boxing match took place in Britain when Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (and later Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica) engineered a bout between his butler and his butcher with the latter winning the prize.
Early fighting had written rules. There were no weight divisions or round limits, and no referee. In general, it was extremely chaotic. The first boxing rules, called the Broughton’s rules, were introduced by heavyweight champion Jack Broughton in 1743 to protect fighters in the ring where deaths sometimes occurred. Under these rules, if a man went down and could not continue after a count of 30 seconds, the fight was over. Hitting a downed fighter and grasping below the waist were prohibited. Broughton also invented and encouraged the use of “mufflers”, a form of padded gloves, which were used in training and exhibitions. The first paper on boxing was published in the late 18th century by successful Birmingham boxer ‘William Futrell’ who remained undefeated until his one hour and seventeen minute fight at Smitham Bottom, Croydon, on July 9, 1788 against a much younger “Gentleman” John Jackson which was attended by the Prince of Wales.
Tom Molineaux vs Tom Cribb in a re-match for the Heavyweight Championship of England, 1811
These rules did allow the fighters an advantage not enjoyed by today’s boxers: They permitted the fighter to drop to one knee to begin a 30-second count at any time. Thus a fighter realizing he was in trouble had an opportunity to recover. However, this was considered “unmanly” and was frequently disallowed by additional rules negotiated by the Seconds of the Boxers.[5] Intentionally going down in modern boxing will cause the recovering fighter to lose points in the scoring system. Furthermore, as the contestants did not have heavy leather gloves and wristwraps to protect their hands, a certain amount of restraint was required when striking the head.
[/vc_column_text] [vc_column_text width=”1/1″ last=”last”]
Click below to read up on the other arts studied at Reed’s Elite Mixed Martial Arts.
[/vc_column_text]
