Boxing is more than 3,500 years old. But it took a young fighter in 18th Century England to invent the “noble art” as we know it today – a battle of brains as well as brawn.
Boxing is more than 3,500 years old. But it took a young fighter in 18th Century England to invent the “noble art” as we know it today – a battle of brains as well as brawn.
The oldest known depiction of a boxing match is a fresco from the Minoan civilisation, circa 1500BC.
The sport was part of the Olympics in 668BC.
The first documented account of a British boxing match appeared in 1681 when a London newspaper, the Protestant Mercury, referred to a bout organised by the Duke of Albemarle between his butler and his butcher at his home in Essex.
James Figg is recognised as the first bare-knuckle boxing champion (1719).
A veteran of nearly 300 fights, Figg, backed by the Earl of Peterborough, set up a boxing academy in London where he taught fighters “the noble science of defence”.
A pupil of Figg’s, Jack Broughton, developed boxing from a bare-knuckle brawl into the beginnings of a sport with rules and regulations.
He became English champion in 1738 and is widely recognised as “the father of English boxing”.
In 1743, he devised seven “Broughton’s Rules” after accidentally killing an opponent.
They included giving fighters 30 seconds to recover from a knockdown and the invention of “mufflers” (boxing gloves).
These formed the basis of the London Prize Ring Rules, developed by the Pugilistic Society in 1838.
Broughton died and was buried at Westminster Abbey in 1789, the same year another boxer, Daniel Mendoza, published his book “The Art of Boxing”.
It detailed a list of techniques and emphasised the importance of brainpower in winning a fight.
Just 5ft 7ins and 160 pounds, Mendoza, who was Jewish and from East London, became a folk-hero in England, beating taller and heavier men with his pioneering use of footwork, jabs, counter-punching and defence.
He was English champion from 1792-95 and radically altered the stereotype of Jews as weak and inferior, gaining fame and fortune into the bargain.
The London Prize Ring Rules were replaced by the Queensbury Rules in 1867, endorsed by the eighth Marquess of Queensbury.
His friend John Graham Chambers drew up 12 guidelines, including three-minute rounds, the ten-count for a knockout and the mandatory use of gloves.
They have formed the basis of boxing rules ever since.
Bare-knuckle boxing continued for several years, the last significant fight taking place in 1889, when John L Sullivan triumphed over Jake Kilrain after a marathon 75 rounds in Richburg, Mississippi.
Sullivan is widely recognised as the first world heavyweight champion.
“Gentleman Jim” Corbett, one of history’s greatest boxers and dubbed the “father of modern boxing”, took the title in 1892.
His style was all about skill and technique and less about simple brawling.
The first black heavyweight champion, the “Galveston Giant” Jack Johnson, won the title in 1908 when he beat Tommy Burns.
But he was officially recognised as champion only when he beat James Jeffries, a white fighter, in the 15th round in Reno, Nevada, in 1910.
He triumphed despite the 22,000-strong crowd chanting racist abuse and a ringside band playing an offensively racist song.
Decades later, tennis star Arthur Ashe hailed Johnson as the most significant black athlete ever.
