In the Middle Ages boxing was also popular in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia and in the Polish-Russian border area (boxing in the former Russia). In spite of its ancient origins boxing as we know it today develops especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries first in England and later in the United States. To speak about the old forms of boxing it would be necessary to use the term "pugilism" finally to underline the historical and cultural differences.
Etymology
The word boxing comes from the English verb to box which means to punch with the fist. In England the name was used in reference to the sport of bare fist fighting. However the etymology remains obscure. Three theories exist on the origins of the word boxing.
The first and simplest claims that the word is an onomatopoeic representation of the sound produced by impacts as in the ancient Greek word Pyks used in reference to the same type of sound.
The second theory claims that the word is a pan-Germanic expression used in England similar to the ancient German word baksen, modern baksen, boxen, or from the Danish baxe or the Swedish baxas, boxas.
The third theory is based on another German word, namely the ancient teutonic boki, Dutch beuk, Middle Dutch boke, böke, and Middle High Dutch boken. Regardless of all these assumptions the word box or boxing acquired its modern meaning in England in the 16th and 17th century. The best example of the use of the word boxing in the English language is contained in the book by R. Harvey Plaine Perceval the Pacemaker of England: "Boxing a shadow and striking a bare wall with your fingers". The oldest purely sporting reference was discovered in J. Studley's 1657 translation of Seneca's Hippolytus: "the naked fist was created for scratching and slapping, for boxing and punching".
In 1765 in Tucker's book The Light of Nature persuaded is the following fragment "Two men boxing in the next street". The English translation of Homer's Odyssey by the English poet W. Cowper contains the following fragment: "Jumping, Boxing, Wrestling".
History
The fights that gave birth to modern English boxing and then spread around the world were never linked to other similar European traditions.
Modern boxing developed rapidly in Great Britain thanks to the cultural and social conditions that also led to the development of modern sport in general.
The natural common sense of human beings in confrontation was transformed into a standardized system by the English aristocracy, who by organizing boxing matches tried to create an organizationally and aesthetically coherent spectacle.
The first written mention comes from the London Protestant Mercur of January 1689: "Yesterday a boxing match was held before the Duke of Albermale between his butler and his butcher . The latter won the prize as he had already done several times being considered, despite his small stature, as the best in England in this exercise ". The basic rules and technical terminology developed at this time. In 1719 James Figg, considered as the father of modern boxing, challenged anyone who wanted to win the title of English champion.
This initiative led to a series of championship matches during J. Figg managed to retain his title until 1730. In 1719, a first boxing school served as a model for twelve other famous schools operating in London until 1729.
In 1721, after the death of the boxer named G. Stevenson, J. Broughton (1704-1789) established new rules limiting the brutality of boxing. They introduced a ban on hitting below the waist, a 30-second pause after a knockout and finally the square ring surrounded by ropes. These rules were published in 1743, and considerably revised in 1838 by the London Prize Ring - the largest entertainment company promoting boxing matches. The new rules remained in force until 1865 when A. Chambers, the Marquis of Queensberry boxer and J. Chamberlain the journalist, prepared another set of rules which was widely accepted in Great Britain and adopted in 1873 in the United States. The rules introduced three-minute rounds, protective gloves and three weight classes. They also prohibited hair pulling and kicking. A separation between amateur and professional boxing also became more visible.
Professional Boxing
Amateur boxing separated from professional boxing in the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning it appeared in England as an applied fashion and sports art, one of the subjects taught to future gentlemen. Boxing has always been a professional sport in England and the United States. Irregular and lower paid boxing matches were transformed in the 19th century into a highly commercialized and well-organized entertainment industry.
The world professional championships date back to the American-British matches held in the 1810s to 1870s. The first unofficial world championship match was between T. Cribb and T. Molineaux (Cribb's victory). Subsequent world championships often took place but irregularly, often accompanied by disputes between managers, promoters, and boxers themselves over the rights of particular countries to organize these fights and to award the world championship title.
Until 1834 these matches were exclusively organized in Great Britain and then after J. Burke's visit to the United States in 1835 the two countries took turns organizing the world championships. The matches were generally played according to the rules of the London Prize Ring, in 1885 replaced by the rules of the Marquess of Queensberry. The first world championships organized according to the rules of the Marquis of Queensberry opposed J.L. Sullivan and D.F. MacCaffery in 1892. The development of professional boxing was hampered by the fact that several countries had outlawed public fist fights. In the United States this ban was cancelled by the State of New York in 1896.
From then on, the world boxing championships became one of the most popular public shows, as spectators identified with the boxers, so this sport had a stronger influence than other sports. This trend was accentuated with the development of the various media, radio, cinema, television.
The first film on boxing consisting of a report on the fight between an African-American boxer J. Johnson and J. Jeffries that took place in 1910. The black fighter's victory over a white man greatly helped overcome racial barriers in the sport. As early as the 1920s, radio broadcast the matches live. The image and sound of television brought an end to the "player's era" and opened up the "spectator's era". As a result, several boxers, including Jack Dempsey - world champion in all categories in the years 1919, 1926 after defeating the Frenchman G. Carpentier, J.J Gene Tunney - world champion in the years 1926-1928 and J. Barrow Joe Louis - world champion in the years 1937-1949, were raised to the rank of celebrities. With television, boxing became more popular than ever, but at the same time with the close up images, the fighters lost their appearance as mythological heroes. Boxing introduced more and more elements of the entertainment world. The first boxer to gain fame through television was Rocky Marciano, world champion after defeating J. Walcott. Mohamed Ali, the name taken by Cassius Clay after his conversion to Islam, world champion on several occasions is one of those who tried alone to take advantage of the media.
Until the end of the 19th century boxing fights were often organized and promoted by small, often short-lived companies established only for a championship.
In the second half of the 19th century, the largest organizer of fights in the USA was the New Orleans Olympic Club. Boxing entrepreneurs, such as J.W. Coffroth from 1898 to 1910, appeared in large numbers, especially in California, which later turned to horse racing.
The most famous among them was G. Tex Rickard the first manager to win more than a million dollars with a single fight (Dempsey versus Carpentier in 1919). During his career, Rickard organized four other fights that again brought him more than a million dollars. After his death his assistant Mr. Jacobs took over his business and also became a prominent promoter. He founded the company Twentieth Century Sport Club which took over the monopoly of the organization of the most important fights in the United States. This company under the leadership of Mr. Jacobs organized 550 professional fights, and was later sold to J.N. Norris who named it the International Boxing Club of New York, with branches in New York, Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis.
With the arrival of television the era of the great promoters and managers came to an end. World championships began to be organized by large associations such as the World Boxing Council, established in 1963. Soon it was challenged by the World Boxing Association, WBA, which replaced the American National Boxing Association (established in 1926). There are other international associations such as the International Boxing Federation (IBF, established in 1983), and the World Boxing Organisation (WBO, established in 1988).
In addition, in the United States, there are several organisations which aspire to acquire a monopoly on international matches, such as the United Boxing Association (NBA) and the New York State Athletic Association. Europe also has the European Boxing Union. The first three organisations, the WBC, the WBA and the IBF, are the most important and compete fiercely with each other to attract the most famous boxers and thus increase their market share. Very rarely do they cooperate in awarding championship titles. Until 1978 the three organisations awarded "super champion" titles, then each organised their own world championships, sometimes resulting in a total of six heavyweight world championships per year!
After 1990 they recognised each other, but these agreements only referred to the heaviest categories. In 1991, for example, out of the fourteen weight categories in which the three federations organised world championships, they only recognised each other as the "super champion" in the medium (Evander Holyfield) and light (P. Whitaker) weight categories. The WBC and IBF also agreed to recognize the champions in two categories, half middleweight (S. Brow from the USA) and half junior middleweight (J. Ch Caesar from Mexico). The most popular champions in the 1980s and 1990s were Mike Tyson, WBA champion in 1986 and 1988, and Riddick Bowe, WBC champion in 1992. In 1991 Evander Holyfield became WBA and WBC champion.
The most prestigious boxing events often take place at Madison Square Garden in Las Vegas.
European professional championships have been held since 1913 and the winners often became world champions, for example I. Johansson of Sweden (European Champion 1956 and World Champion 1959) and L. Lewis of Great Britain (European Champion 1991 and World Champion 1992).
In view of the changes introduced in the Olympic Charter which, until 1991, excluded professionals, the difference between amateur and professional boxing is confused and real amateur boxers, under the wing of AIBA, no longer have the possibility to express themselves at the highest level. Participants in the Olympics receive bonuses and also monetize the result with the media and other sources.
The WBC, WBA and IBF therefore organize individual world championships, challenge matches, while AIBA maintains the ordinary system of competition with playoffs. The AIBA World Championships are held every four years, so boxing fights generally give a fragmented and confused picture with world championship titles awarded by many organizations.
The first known women's fight took place in London in 1720, and another famous fight was between Nell Saunders and Rose Harland at the Hills Theater in New York in 1876.
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References and Citations:
https://www.britannica.com/sports/boxing
http://fightclubamerica.com/about/history-of-boxing/
https://muay-thai.ovh/
