The History Of Boxing by: shawn royster

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The History Of Boxing

Boxing, often called "the manly art of self-defense," is a sport in which two competitors try to hit each other with their glove or encased fists while trying to avoid each other's blows. The competition is divided into a specified number of rounds, usually 3 minutes long, with 1-minute rest periods between rounds. Although amateur boxing is widespread, professional boxing has flourished on an even grander scale since the early 18th century. Before the competitors used gloves, they would fight with bare-fists. Boxing goes all the way back into the ancient Greek times. They greeks believed that boxing was a game done by the gods,so they made it part of their olympic games in 688 b.c.

During Roman times, they would put leather bands around their hands for protection and even wear metal-filled, leather hand coverings that they would call cesti, which would be used mostly for really bloody fights or duels to the death.

Jack Broughton of England, drew his own set of rules for his own fights, and these were recognized in 1743. They outlawed some of the gorier aspects that the sport had acquired, such as hitting below the belt line. Instead of a ring of spectators--hence, the name ring--Broughton insisted upon a squared-off area. His rules made what is was known as the "bareknuckle era."

In 1866 the Marquess of Queensberry gave his support to a new set of rules, which were named in his honor. These rules limited the number of 3-minute rounds, eliminated gouging and wrestling, and made the use of gloves mandatory. Bareknuckle fights were not stopped immediately but did begin to die down after a while. A new era began in 1892, when James J. Corbett defeated the last of the great bare-fisted fighters, John L. SUullivan, under...