Marquis of Queensberry Obit - Feb. 1, 1900

[APerno]

[Kalan]

The Maquis of Queensberry loved to box in pugilistic fashion, but he very much hated the London Prize Rules -- which allowed wrestling and disallowed the use of gloves. He envisioned a more gentlemanly form of combat where only blows with the end of the fist were allowed... no blows to the back or back of the head were allowed... and instead of getting 30 seconds to "come to scratch" which led to hours long fights and punch drunk fighters, a boxer had to recover and be on his feet by the count of 10 -- or he was out. No holding or wrestling was allowed... boxers would fight for 3 minutes and get 1 minute's rest... fights did not continue indefinitely until you had a winner, but fought for a predetermined number of rounds and were judged on a per-round basis.

I doubt that he felt he had revolutionized the sport -- but his Queensberry rules spread to over 150 countries worldwide... He's the key figure in the sport.

[wouter]

... fights did not continue indefinitely until you had a winner, but fought for a predetermined number of rounds and were judged on a per-round basis.

Really? I assume he also introduced the 10-point must system and the 3-knockdown rule then.

[Kalan]

NOPE!!! Don't assume.

[SteveO]

The Maquis of Queensberry loved to box in pugilistic fashion, but he very much hated the London Prize Rules -- which allowed wrestling and disallowed the use of gloves. He envisioned a more gentlemanly form of combat where only blows with the end of the fist were allowed... no blows to the back or back of the head were allowed... and instead of getting 30 seconds to "come to scratch" which led to hours long fights and punch drunk fighters, a boxer had to recover and be on his feet by the count of 10 -- or he was out. No holding or wrestling was allowed... boxers would fight for 3 minutes and get 1 minute's rest... fights did not continue indefinitely until you had a winner, but fought for a predetermined number of rounds and were judged on a per-round basis.

I doubt that he felt he had revolutionized the sport -- but his Queensberry rules spread to over 150 countries worldwide... He's the key figure in the sport.

Published in 1865 these rules (3 minute rounds, 1 minute rest between rounds, and gloved fists) had been formulated by John Graham Chambers and sponsored by John Sholto Douglas, the 8th Marquess of Queensberry.