Boxing culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Boxing culture - Research Paper Example Boxing goes as far back as the second and third millennium BC. Archaeologists have found drawings and tablets that suggest that fist fighting was something that begun a long time ago, it may not have been as sophisticated as it is right now, and usually they would result in dangerous and deadly battles. Homer’s Iliad gives a good depiction of a possibly early era boxing fight. He writes it in the Mycenaean era and sometimes they would beat each other with fists until one of them died. (Fleischer) The very first ever boxing match was documented in 1681 and it took place in Britain. This happened when the Duke of Albemarle initiated a fight between his own butler and butcher and offered a prize to the winner. After a few years, boxing began to grow. All over England, matches were held. Years later, a match resulted to an opponent being killed, and this prompted a man known as Jack Boughton to develop the very first set of rules and had them published in 1743. There were twelve p rominent rules and this was when wearing of gloves was first brought in. This is where the knockout rule came about that stated that if a man was down and couldn’t continue for thirty seconds, then the fight was over. Broughton’s rules had the welfare of the players in mind. Because of his contribution, he is considered â€Å"the Father of Boxing†. The point where boxing really began to revolutionize was in 1865 when John Sholto Douglass, the Eighth Marquess of Queensberry wrote new boxing rules that basically transformed the sport to what it is today. In these new rules, he introduced the time of three minutes per round. He also made the wearing of gloves mandatory and prohibited wrestling during the match. These rules really kicked in when James Corbett defeated John Sullivan with the new established rules. He was the first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry rules. It was in the early 19th century that boxing was first included in the St. Louis O lympic Games. Beginning with that, many talented fighters all over the world began flocking and they would fight for titles. This went on, really well into the 21st century. In 1927, the National Boxing Association (NBA) was formed. This was the very first authorization body to oversee the sport. The main goal of the NBA was to get talented boxers together to fight, to make sure there were no ethical problems, and to make the sport even more popular than it was at the time. Today, there are three governing bodies over boxing. They are the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and the World Boxing Association (WBA). (Fox) Today, the Marquis of Queensberry rules are still being used. Some of the rules include that there should be up to three judges at ringside to score the game. Each boxer is also assigned a ring corner where he will take breaks, and enter in at. Another general rule of boxing is that hitting below the belt, biting, pushing or any of the l ike is prohibited. To avoid this, the boxer should have his shorts pulled up so as to not hit the genitals. A boxer cannot hold the ropes for support while he is punching or drop anywhere below the waist of the opponent while punching.