The Early History of Boxing

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The ancient Egyptian civilization holds the initial records of bare hand-to-hand combats. Further records were found among the archives and art works มวยสากล of the Greek and Roman civilizations and these evidently suggest that boxing was already a public favorite. The reason for this is during these civilizations, boxing has already become an well prepared and highly favored public spectacle.

Yet, only during the 18th century did England popularized boxing as a sport and not a brutal and bloody spectacle comparable with those fights seen in the gladiator arenas. But even in 18th century England, boxing was seen more of a bloody fight than a game. Even so, this was the time when the first boxing champions were formally recognized and actually held titles in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The so-called boxing pioneers then fought with bare knuckles. While these pioneers had already passed out of history, they laid the substance of boxing as a sport as we comprehend it presently.

The Bare Knuckles Era is basically the period when formal boxing fights were introduced. During these times, boxers fought freely and they fought only in an arbitrary ring created by the circling of the spectators by themselves. Referees and mitts were just about to be introduced so during this period, fighters fought for given that they can endure. Fight then could occasionally last for hours for there were no time limits yet and they might continue through the next day reckoning on the arrangements between the boxers.

Also, rules weren’t yet present so the game was fundamentally governed by the fighter’s sense of sportsmanship. Naturally, there were no violations for hitting under the belt or for using a tiny cudgel. Blood was naturally present and injuries were common. The principle objective of the game, nevertheless, is somewhat identical with the up-to-date objective- defeat the opponent.

This kind of boxing basically remained constant before modern boxing came into scene. So for many decades, there were no rules, no referees, no directives and no correct trainings that boxers received. In point of fact, there were no considerations for the weight classes of the fighters. So heavy weights can fight with flyweight and bantam weight can fight with super heavy weight and so on. During these times, bouts were prepared by the use of sending letter of invitations between rivals.

The running class was first to patronize the sport until it caught the attention of the titled class and the royalty. Wealthy enthusiasts then worked to somewhat organize the fights by sponsoring them. It was during this moment that rings permanently became a square platform rather than the ring of people who surround the boxers. It was also at present when the first formal rules were set by Jack Broughton, who himself was a former boxing champion.

Until 1838, the rudimentary rules as outlined by Broughton’s Rules were followed until a more detailed and more prepared rule of the London Prize Ring Rules was put forth. This was followed right away by the look of Daniel Mendoza who introduced a more scientific approach to boxing.


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