Gold Coast Boxing – A brief history from Empire Boxing

What You Might Not Know About the History of Boxing

The sport of boxing has been around for more than a thousand years, originating with the Olympic fights of Ancient Greece. Since that time, a host of rules, safety precautions and traditions have grown up around the sport. At times, boxing has even been banned. Now it’s a popular amateur and spectator sport with clubs and tournaments all over the world, as well as a Hall of Fame. Here’s a look at a few things you might not know about the history of boxing.

Early Fistfighting

Carvings, paintings and other artwork depicting ritualized fistfights can be found in archaeological sites as old as 3,000 B.C., with gloved boxing dating back to Minoan Crete between 1,500 and 900 B.C. The tradition continued into Ancient Greece, where fighters engaged in a punching sport at the Olympic games. Called pygmachia, it involved training with punching bags and wearing rigid leather straps over the hands, like a harder version of modern boxing gloves. The ancient version of the sport prohibited wrestling, gouging and holds, but had no time limits or weight classes. Judges enforced the rules by hitting rulebreakers with a switch or whip.

16th Century Boxing

Boxing fell out of popularity with the fall of the ancient world, though some fistfighting sports did continue during the Medieval period. For instance, there are records of fights in parts of Italy and ancient Russia. By the 16th century fistfighting had become much more popular, possibly because fewer people wore swords and duels had become less common. Bare knuckle boxing, known as prizefighting, is documented to the 16th and 17th century. By the early 18th century, England even had an official boxing champion, James Figg.

18th and 19th Century Changes

The term “boxing” first appears at the beginning of the 18th century, but the sport itself was very different from the one most modern people know. It had no referee, no weight divisions and no limit to the length or number of rounds. The sport itself was very chaotic and rules were introduced only in 1743, primarily to keep participants from dying. These rules, designed by Jack Broughton, also re-introduced boxing gloves, though they were considered optional at the time. By 1838, the rules outlawed hitting below the belt, headbutting the opponent, and biting, but the fights themselves were still fairly brutal. It wasn’t until 1867, with the advent of the Marquess of Queensberry rules, that the sport began to resemble modern boxing.

Modern Boxing

Queensberry rules made boxing gloves mandatory and changed the way boxers fought. Once fighters began to adhere to these rules, the sport became much more respectable and was publicly promoted. This went on through the early 20th century, which saw the first true professional boxers. Sanctioning bodies such as the World Boxing Organization were formed and televised matches became popular. While the sport has waned somewhat in popularity due to the rise of MMA competitions, it still remains a popular international sport.

Come and get a taste of modern boxing at Empire Boxing Upper Coomera Gold Coast