Boxing is a sport played between two players. Boxing is the act, activity, or sport of fighting with the fists, especially according to rules requiring the use of boxing gloves and limiting legal blows to those striking above the waist and on the front or sides of the opponent. Boxing is also called pugilism and prizefighting.
Boxing in British
Boxing and Britain have a very long association. Way back in 1681 there is a mention of a boxing match in the Protestant Mercury, a London newspaper. The Royal Theatre in London held regular boxing matches way back in 1698. King George was a great fan along with many of his noblemen. The King set up a boxing ring in Hyde Park in 1723.
These days boxing fights were still brutal, and rules were few and far between. Champion boxers were very hard men indeed and they took a lot of very real physical punishment in the ring. After 1734, boxing began to develop towards the type of fighting we would recognize in a ring today as professional boxing.
James Figg had a pupil called John ‘Jack’ Broughton. He became champion from 1729 to 1750 and was known as the father of English boxing. Broughton laid down some basic rules for boxing to try and organize what was still pretty much a free for all in the ring. In 1734, the same year he set out his first set of boxing rules, he established a school known as Broughton’s Amphitheatre in Oxford Road, near Oxford Street. Daniel Mendoza, another London boxer, was champion from 1791 to 1795. He also taught the art of boxing at his Mendoza School where he put greater emphasis on footwork, sparring and counter punching than had previously been used in boxing. His work helped move boxing on from brutal brawls to more sophisticated fighting, closer to the much more tactical professional boxing of today.
The 1800s were good years for British fighters with many claiming the World Title including James Burke, Tom Cribb, Jem Mace and Jim Belcher. This was the most important era of boxing because of the introduction of the Queensbury Rules. By 1838 London Prize Ring rules were in use, with a roped-off ring. The Queensberry rules from 1867 onwards took some time to establish themselves; they included padded gloves, 3-minute rounds, and a 10-second knock-out. It became the admittedly still brutal but more graceful game that it is today. The Queensbury Rules of 1867 helped to bring sporting behavior, tactics, and sophistication into boxing.
Boxers love to collect belts. The first boxer who receives the belt was Freddie Walsh who was awarded it in 1909 for winning the British lightweight title. The boxer from London’s East End received the belt in 1911 when he knocked out opponent Ian Hague in the sixth round. British hero Henry Cooper won three Lonsdale Belts outright during his career.
The Amateur Boxing Association was set up in 1880 and boxing was brought into the Olympic Games in 1904. In professional boxing, the British Board of Control has supervised since 1919, though international authorities have proliferated.
Later in the century Britain enjoyed some Olympic success including in 1956 when East London boxer Terry Spinks won the flyweight gold in Melbourne. The list of British fighters who managed to claim titles during the 20th century includes such boxing legends as Loyd Honeyghan, Welterweight 1986; Nigel Benn , Middleweight 1990, 1992-96; Chris Eubank , Middleweight 1990-91, 1991-95; Frank Bruno , Heavyweight 1995-1996.
Britain finally got firmly to the top of boxing again with the success of Lennox Lewis , Heavyweight champion in 1993-1994, 1997-2001, 2001-2004. While other fighters like Bruno had managed to claim a world title belt, Lewis did it with the style and consistency of a true world champion. One of Lennox’s greatest claims to fame is his defeat of the great Mike Tyson in 2002 with an eighth round knock down.
Boxing began to move away from its earlier association with noblemen and courtiers and found itself firmly entrenched in London’s culture. Boxing also has a strong link with many pubs in London. British boxing has a place in our history, The Queensbury Rules, the code that underpins boxing, was formulated by the British sportsman John Graham Chambers on British soil almost 150 years ago. Britain has enjoyed a good deal of competitive success in boxing over many decades. Lennox Lewis has made sure that we have had some recent representation at World Heavyweight level. Meanwhile a myriad of talented boxers have brought title after title home in the lower weights.
Boxing has been included among the Olympic Games since 1904. Today there are 17 primary weight classes in professional boxing. Women’s boxing will be introduced for the first time in Summer Olympics 2012.
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