The history of Boxing

A free article on Sports and Recreation

By: Susan Peterson

BOXING

Corrie Sanders, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Wilde, Sonny Liston...all have made boxing what it is today. If you are a boxing fan then you must have heard these names and might have had the pleasure to watch them in action. The sport of boxing has been around for a long time in various different forms. Let’s get to know the history of this fascinating sport.

History of boxing:

The first recorded form of boxing was in Mesopotamia. Two men would hit each other, but unlike new-age boxing it used to be done while sitting on chairs. Egyptian tombs display various paintings that let us know that boxing was a part of their culture as well. The Greeks also added boxing to the Olympics in the year 688 BC. In Rome, boxing competitions used to take place in the Coliseums. This sport of slaves to gain freedom became so popular that even the aristocrats of the society began to take part in this sport.

But then the Romans outlawed boxing as a result of which, the sport was out of public view for hundreds of years. Despite this, certain groups of individuals competed informally, especially in England. In England, during the early 1700’s royalty began to encourage the sport in the country by offering rewards, which lead to growth in the popularity of the sport.

Before the 18th century, boxing was a brutal affair as there were very few rules. Many participants were often either injured or maimed when competing.

Jack Broughton, a successful boxer was the person who organized rules in the game of boxing. Broughton’s rules prohibited certain things like hitting a fighter who is down and punching below the waist, which contributed in making boxing a much fairer sport. The Marques of Queensbury rules were introduced in the year 1867 and are still used in present day boxing.
Boxing was also a success in the United States; Prizefighter
Jack Dempsey earned $8.4 million by participating in five matches. The simplicity and the high adrenalin rush made boxing more popular than other sports.

Below are stories of boxing legends to help the audience better understand the passion and hunger for victory felt by some of the most famous fighters to have ever stepped into the ring.

America loves Oscar de la Hoya, a gold medal favorite in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with a heartwarming life story. Just before the Olympics, his mother died of breast cancer at an early age of 35. He considered dropping out of boxing forever but his mother made him promise to compete in the upcoming Olympics. On her deathbed, he swore to win a gold medal in her name, which he did by defeating opponent Marco Rudolph.

Another story is of boxer James J. Braddock, the movie ‘Cinderella Man’ was made on his life story. He was the son of an Irish immigrant; he had a promising career ahead of him but got injured in a match and was mentally crushed. When he got a second chance, no one expected him to win, but win he did and that too with flying colors. His star was on the rise again and he went on to win the heavyweight championship defeating Max Baer.

The courage and dedication of these real life boxing heroes shows us that there is more to boxing than just punching your opponent. These boxers are real people with real lives. Their stories tell us that nothing is impossible and it makes perfect sense to have a dream and follow it to the end, against all odds.

My website is: http://nothingbutsports.info/

Information about the Author:

The author was always intrested in sports since childhood. The author lives in N.Y.C. Some of the authors favorite sports teams are, The New York Yankees, The Boston Celtics, The La Lakers, The San Fransisco 49er's, etc. The authors website is the following: nothingbutsports.info/

Sports and Recreation Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

Print This Article
Add To Favorites
Email to Friends
Get Re-print Code