Sumerian civilization reliefs from around 3000 BC are the earliest known depictions of boxing. Reliefs are a sculpture technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background. A relief sculpture from 1350 BC from Egyptian Thebes shows boxers and spectators. The Mahabharata describes fighting with clenched fists, throwing kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts. Duels were often fought to death. Ancient Greece introduced boxing in the 23rd Olympiad, 688 BC. Boxers would wear leather thongs around their hands to protect them. In Ancient Rome even hard leather was used turning it almost into a weapon.
First boxing rules, called the Broughton’s rules were introduced by Jack Broughton in 1743. Under these rules, if a man went down and could not continue after 30 seconds, the fight was over. Hitting a downed fighter or grasping below the belt was prohibited. Some fighters did use these rules to their advantage. Fighters would drop to one knee in order to avoid harsh blows and take time to recover. Many spectators though, considered it “unmanly”. In modern boxing, doing the same would cost the fighter to lose points.
Marquess of Queensberry rules in 1867 laid the foundation for the future of boxing. It introduced the 10-second count. The use of larger gloves and using it as shield to block opponents blows. This made the bouts longer and more strategic.
During 19th and 20th centuries boxing had a bad reputation and was outlawed in England and most of United States. In 1897 it was censored from films as many states banned showing prizefighting films from Nevada where it was legal at the time. Boxers struggled to gain legitimacy throughout the 20th century.
Modern boxing arose from illegal venues and outlawed prizefighting and has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Floyd Mayweather Vs Manny Pacquiao on May 3, 2015 was the biggest fight in the history of boxing. Floyd won by unanimous decision and took home a whopping $120 million and Manny took home $80 million.
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