Boxing

==History==

===Ancient history===
{{See also|Ancient Greek boxing|History of physical training and fitness}}
[[File:Young boxers fresco, Akrotiri, Greece.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A painting of [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] youths boxing, from an [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]] fresco circa 1650 BC. This is the earliest documented use of [[boxing gloves]].]]
[[File:Ancient Greece, Boxers (youths), Panathenaic Amphora.jpg|thumb|A boxing scene depicted on a Panathenaic amphora from Ancient Greece, circa 336 BC, British Museum]]
[[Strike (attack)|Hitting]] with different extremities of the body, such as [[kick]]s and [[Punch (combat)|punches]], as an act of human [[aggression]], has existed across the world throughout [[human history]], being a combat system as old as [[wrestling]]. However, in terms of [[sports competition]], due to the lack of [[writing]] in the [[Prehistory|prehistoric times]] and the lack of references, it is not possible to determine rules of any kind of boxing in prehistory, and in [[Ancient history|ancient times]] only can be inferred from the few intact sources and references to the sport.

The origin of the sport of boxing is unknown,<ref name="books.google.com"/> however according to some sources boxing in any of its forms has prehistoric origins in present-day [[Ethiopia]], where it appeared in the sixth millennium BC. When the Egyptians invaded [[Nubia]] they learned the art of boxing from the local population, and they took the sport to Egypt where it became popular. From Egypt, boxing spread to other countries including [[Greece]], eastward to Mesopotamia, and northward to Rome.<ref name="archive.org"/>

The earliest visual evidence of any type of boxing comes from [[Egypt]] and [[Sumer]] both from the third millennium BC.<ref name="olympics.com"/><ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Michael Poliakoff |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-29781/boxing |title=Encyclopædia Britannica entry for Boxing |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=18 May 2013}}</ref> A relief sculpture from [[Egyptian Thebes]] ({{circa|1350 BC}}) shows both boxers and spectators.<ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry" /> These early Middle-Eastern and Egyptian depictions showed contests where fighters were either bare-fisted or had a band supporting the wrist.<ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry" /> The earliest evidence of use of gloves can be found in [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]] ({{circa|1500}}–1400 BC).<ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry" />

Various types of boxing existed in [[ancient India]]. The earliest references to ''[[musti-yuddha]]'' come from [[Indian epic poetry|classical Vedic epics]] such as the ''[[Rig Veda]]'' (<abbr>c.</abbr> 1500–1000 BCE) and ''[[Ramayana]]'' (<abbr>c.</abbr> 700–400 BCE).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Draeger |first1=Donn F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_o73NOjb4p4C |title=Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts |last2=Smith |first2=Robert W. |date=1980 |publisher=Kodansha International |isbn=978-0-87011-436-6 |language=en}}</ref> The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts during the time of King [[Virata]].<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04013.htm Section XIII: ''Samayapalana Parva''], Book 4: ''Virata Parva'', ''[[Mahabharata]]''.</ref> Duels (''niyuddham'') were often fought to the death. During the period of the [[Western Satraps]], the ruler [[Rudradaman]]—in addition to being well-versed in "the great sciences" which included [[Indian classical music]], [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit grammar]], and logic—was said to be an excellent horseman, charioteer, elephant rider, swordsman and boxer.<ref>{{cite book|title=India: A History|author=John Keay|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2000|isbn=978-0-00-255717-7|page=131|quote=[Rudradaman] was also a fine swordsman and boxer, and excellent horseman, charioteer and elephant-rider ... and far-famed for his knowledge of grammar, music, logic and 'other great sciences'.|author-link=John Keay}}</ref> The ''Gurbilas Shemi'', an 18th-century Sikh text, gives numerous references to ''musti-yuddha''. The martial art is related to other forms of martial arts found in other parts of the [[Greater India|Indian cultural sphere]] including [[Muay Thai]] in Thailand, [[Muay Lao]] in Laos, [[Pradal Serey]] in Cambodia and [[Lethwei]] in Myanmar.<ref name="DraegerComp">Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Amruta |first=Patil |date=5 July 2022 |title=Musti Yuddha - Martial Arts in India- Art and Culture Notes |url=https://prepp.in/news/e-492-musti-yuddha-martial-arts-in-india-art-and-culture-notes |access-date=21 October 2022 |website=Prepp}}</ref>

In Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport called ''[[Ancient Greek boxing|pygmachia]]'', and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympiad]], 688 BC. The boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue. Weight categories were not used, which meant heavier fighters had a tendency to dominate. The style of boxing practiced typically featured an advanced left leg stance, with the left arm semi-extended as a guard, in addition to being used for striking, and with the right arm drawn back ready to strike. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, and there is little evidence to suggest that targeting the body or the use of kicks was common,<ref>Gardiner, E. Norman, 'Boxing' in ''Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals'', London: MacMillan, 1910, p.402, pp.415–416, 419–422</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/294973|jstor = 294973|title = The Evidence for Kicking in Greek Boxing|last1 = Crowther|first1 = Nigel B.|journal = The American Journal of Philology|year = 1990|volume = 111|issue = 2|pages = 176–181|doi = 10.2307/294973}}</ref> in which it resembled modern western boxing.
[[File:Naples Museum 18 (14972772469).jpg|thumb|A boxer and a rooster in a Roman mosaic of first century AD at the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]]]

Boxing was a popular spectator sport in [[Ancient Rome]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sports Spectators from Antiquity to the Renaissance|last1=Guttmann|first1=Allen|year=1981|volume=8|issue=2|journal=Journal of Sport History|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1981/JSH0802/jsh0802b.pdf|access-date=11 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822123753/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1981/JSH0802/jsh0802b.pdf|archive-date=22 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Fighters protected their knuckles with leather strips wrapped around their fists. Eventually harder leather was used and the strips became a weapon. Metal studs were introduced to the strips to make the [[cestus]]. Fighting events were held at Roman [[amphitheatre]]s.

===Early London prize ring rules===
[[File:Blow2.jpg|thumb|left|A straight right demonstrated in Edmund Price's ''The Science of Defence: A Treatise on Sparring and Wrestling'', 1867]]

Records of boxing activity disappeared in the west 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 ''[[Russian fist fighting|kulachniy boy]]'' or 'fist fighting'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History Boxing : CISM Europe |url=https://www.cismeurope.org/history-boxing/ |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.cismeurope.org}}</ref>

As the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport later resurfaced 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.<ref name="Roberts-1999">{{cite web |title=James Figg |url=http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/pioneer/figg.html |date=1999 |publisher=[[IBHOF]] |access-date=2018-03-22}} excerpting {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=James B. |last2=Skutt |first2=Alexander G. |title=The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aA2LO_DGdu4C |access-date=22 March 2018 |edition=4th |year=2006 |publisher=McBooks Press |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=978-1-59013-121-3|oclc=819715339}}</ref> This is also the time when the word "boxing" first came to be used. This earliest form of modern boxing was very different. Contests in Mr. Figg's time, in addition to fist fighting, 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 no written rules. There were no weight divisions or round limits, and no referee. In general, it was extremely chaotic. An early article on boxing was published in Nottingham in 1713, by [[Sir Thomas Parkyns, 2nd Baronet]], a wrestling patron from [[Bunny, Nottinghamshire]], who had practised the techniques he described. The article, a single page in his manual of wrestling and fencing, ''Progymnasmata: The inn-play, or Cornish-hugg wrestler'', described a system of headbutting, punching, eye-gouging, chokes, and hard throws, not recognized in boxing today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx13m7QVfb1qa5yan.jpg |title=tumblr_lx13m7QVfb1qa5yan.jpg |publisher=Tumblr |access-date=16 January 2014}}</ref>

The first boxing rules, called the [[Broughton Rules]], were introduced by champion [[Jack Broughton]] in 1743 to protect fighters in the ring where deaths sometimes occurred.<ref>[http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/broughton%20jack.htm John Rennie (2006) ''East London Prize Ring Rules 1743''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218094646/http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/broughton%20jack.htm |date=18 February 2008 }}</ref> 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 encouraged the use of "mufflers", a form of padded bandage or mitten, to be used in "jousting" or sparring sessions in training, and in exhibition matches.

[[File:Cribb vs Molineaux 1811.jpg|thumb|[[Tom Molineaux]] (left) 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 end the round and begin the 30-second count at any time. Thus a fighter realizing he was in trouble had an opportunity to recover. However, this was considered "unmanly"<ref>Anonymous ("A Celebrated Pugilist"), The Art and Practice of Boxing, 1825</ref> and was frequently disallowed by additional rules negotiated by the seconds of the boxers.<ref>Daniel Mendoza, The Modern Art of Boxing, 1790</ref> In modern boxing, there is a three-minute limit to rounds (unlike the downed fighter ends the round rule). 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, they used different punching technique to preserve their hands because the head was a common target to hit full out.{{dubious|date=August 2018}}{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} Almost all period manuals have powerful straight punches with the whole body behind them to the face (including forehead) as the basic blows.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/8388742/sn/1178659240/name/blow-1.jpg |title=blow-1.jpg |publisher=Yahoo! |access-date=16 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024213415/http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/8388742/sn/1178659240/name/blow-1.jpg |archive-date=24 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicpugilism/photos/album/1501552404/pic/1874370929/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc |title=Yahoo! Groups |publisher=Groups.yahoo.com |access-date=5 September 2013}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=August 2018}}

The British sportswriter [[Pierce Egan]] coined the term "the sweet science" as an epithet for prizefighting – or more fully "the sweet science of bruising" as a description of England's bare-knuckle fight scene in the early nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Bittersweet Science: Fifteen Writers in the Gym, in the Corner, and at Ringside |date=2017 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=3}}</ref>

Boxing could also be used to settle disputes even by females. In 1790 in Waddington, Lincolnshire Mary Farmery and Susanna Locker both laid claim to the affections of a young man; this produced a challenge from the former to fight for the prize, which was accepted by the latter. Proper sidesmen were chosen, and every matter conducted in form. After several knock-down blows on both sides, the battle ended in favour of Mary Farmery.<ref>{{cite news|title= Lincoln|newspaper= Stamford Mercury |date= 29 January 1790|page= 3}}</ref>

The [[London Prize Ring Rules]] introduced measures that remain in effect for professional boxing to this day, such as outlawing butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, hitting a man while down, holding the ropes, and using resin, stones or hard objects in the hands, and biting.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Regulation of Boxing: A History and Comparative Analysis of Policies Among American States|last=Rodriguez|first=Robert G.|publisher=McFarland|year=2009|isbn=9780786438624}}</ref>

===Marquess of Queensberry rules (1867)===
In 1867, the [[Marquess of Queensberry rules]] were drafted by [[John Graham Chambers|John Chambers]] for amateur championships held at [[Lillie Bridge]] in London for [[lightweight]]s, [[middleweight]]s and [[heavyweight]]s. The rules were published under the patronage of the [[John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry|Marquess of Queensberry]], whose name has always been associated with them.

[[File:Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894.ogv|thumb|right|The June 1894 Leonard–Cushing bout. Each of the six one-minute rounds recorded by the [[Kinetoscope|Kinetograph]] was made available to exhibitors for $22.50.<ref>[http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(edmp+4026))+@field(COLLID+edison)) Leonard–Cushing fight] Part of the Library of Congress ''Inventing Entertainment'' educational website. Retrieved 12/14/06.</ref> Customers who watched the final round saw Leonard score a knockdown.]]

There were twelve rules in all, and they specified that fights should be "a fair stand-up boxing match" in a 24-foot-square or similar ring. Rounds were three minutes with one-minute rest intervals between rounds. Each fighter was given a ten-second count if he was knocked down, and wrestling was banned.
The introduction of [[boxing gloves|gloves]] of "fair-size" also changed the nature of the bouts. An average pair of boxing gloves resembles a bloated pair of mittens and are laced up around the wrists.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/sports/Marquess-of-Queensberry-rules |title=Britannica.com (2006). ''Queensbury Rules'', Britannica |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>
The gloves can be used to block an opponent's blows. As a result of their introduction, bouts became longer and more strategic with greater importance attached to defensive maneuvers such as slipping, bobbing, countering and angling. Because less defensive emphasis was placed on the use of the forearms and more on the gloves, the classical forearms outwards, torso leaning back stance of the bare knuckle boxer was modified to a more modern stance in which the torso is tilted forward and the hands are held closer to the face.

===Late 19th and early 20th centuries===
Through the late nineteenth century, the martial art of boxing or prizefighting was primarily a sport of dubious legitimacy. Outlawed in England and much of the United States, prizefights were often held at gambling venues and broken up by police.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/11/15/unlicensed_boxing_feature.shtml|title=BBC – London – History – Unlicensed Boxing|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Brawling and wrestling tactics continued, and riots at prizefights were common occurrences. Still, throughout this period, there arose some notable bare knuckle champions who developed fairly sophisticated fighting tactics.
[[File:Amateur Boxing Club, Porthaethwy (7005565417).jpg|thumb|Amateur Boxing Club, [[Wales]], 1963]]
The English case of ''[[R v. Coney]]'' in 1882 found that a bare-knuckle fight was an [[assault occasioning actual bodily harm]], despite the consent of the participants. This marked the end of widespread public bare-knuckle contests in England.

The first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry Rules was [[James J. Corbett|"Gentleman Jim" Corbett]], who defeated [[John L. Sullivan]] in 1892 at the Pelican Athletic Club in [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/corbett.htm |title=Tracy Callis (2006). ''James Corbett'' |publisher=Cyberboxingzone.com |date=18 February 1933 |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>

The first instance of film censorship in the United States occurred in 1897 when several states banned the showing of prize fighting films from the state of Nevada,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Orbach|first1=Barak|title=Prizefighting and the Birth of Movie Censorship|url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=yjlh|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref> where it was legal at the time.

Throughout the early twentieth century, boxers struggled to achieve legitimacy.<ref>{{cite news|author1-link=Michael J. Socolow|last1=Socolow |first1=Michael |title=Why boxing disappeared after the Rumble in the Jungle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/29/why-boxing-disappeared-after-rumble-jungle-why-football-could-too/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> They were aided by the influence of promoters like [[Tex Rickard]] and the popularity of great champions such as John L. Sullivan.

=== Modern boxing ===
[[File:Robert Helenius vs. Attila Levin.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Helenius]] (on the right) vs. [[Attila Levin]] (on the left) at [[Hartwall Arena]] in [[Helsinki]], Finland, on 27 November 2010]]
The modern sport arose from illegal venues and outlawed prizefighting and has become a multibillion-dollar commercial enterprise. A majority of young talent still comes from poverty-stricken areas around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-31 |title=Information About Boxing: Definition, History, Rules & Types |url=https://sportycious.com/information-about-boxing-91362/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> Places like Mexico, Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe prove to be filled with young aspiring athletes who wish to become the future of boxing. Even in the U.S., places like the inner cities of New York, and Chicago have given rise to promising young talent. According to Rubin, "boxing lost its appeal with the American middle class, and most of who boxes in modern America come from the streets and are street fighters".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Louis D.|date=2000|title=The Manly art of Modified Mayhem: Dempsey and Others|jstor=27548887|journal=The Sewanee Review|volume=108|issue=3|pages=412–432}}</ref>