Evolution of Boxing - Case Study Example

The evolution of boxing: Introduction: Boxing is a unique form of martial arts that has been adopted as a favorable means of sports and physical activity for long. Traditionally, fighters make use of blunt swords in sport-fights but no use of such aids is allowed in boxing. Boxers fundamentally rely on their physical power to win the match. Boxing is a physical fight between two or more boxers who fight using their fists remaining within certain pre-defined rules and limitations. It is essentially a fist-fight between boxers who use their fists to knock the opponent down. The boxing matches are particularly based on intervals of up to three minutes and are governed by a referee who decides the winner. Conventionally, boxers chosen for a match weigh the same. Ancient boxing: The Greek style of boxing: In the start, boxing was not introduced as a sport and was instead in a quite immature form in which men would fight each other with fists willing or otherwise. In fact, boxing has been into existence in such form for centuries. The official record so far mostly suggests that boxing finds its origin in ancient Greece, though there is a general consensus that it was known as a sport even before that particularly in North Africa. (Rich, 2010). The Greek people valued boxing above all other sports specially because they believed it was linked to their gods and was very dear to them. (Rich, 2010) further mentioned that the Greek firmly believed that boxing was the creation of their sun god – Apollo. According to them, it was when he was challenged by the Prince Forvanta, that Apollo defeated him to death for having dared to confront a god. This was followed by another incident when Apollo murdered Phorbas who was a boxer that had offended Apollo by gathering travelers to fight the god. In the same report, (Rich, 2010) has also referred to the views of other historians who are of the view that boxing is fundamentally an invention of the Greek King Theseus who also decided the rules and style of ancient boxing. Difference between the modern and ancient forms of boxing is sea-wide. Ancient boxing was a quite immature and uncivilized form of boxing. Violence in the ancient Greek boxing was quite prominent. Rules for the ancient style of boxing were quite less as compared to those for the modern form of boxing. There used to be no rounds for the matches. Not only this, there were no limitations in terms of rules, selection of opponents or the duration of match. Instead, the match went on as long as one boxer was knocked out by the more powerful of the two, or else, the loosing boxer willingly chose to loose. It was deemed acceptable to hit the opponent even in the most sensitive areas of the body. Violent bloody fights were usual. Occasionally, a boxer might even be killed by his opponent, yet it would not be considered a breach of the rules of boxing, because there almost used to be no rules whatsoever. Hitting a laid down opponent was not allowed as per the ancient rules of boxing because the lying boxer had already lost the match. In ancient boxing, while choosing the opponents for the boxing match, there was no defined criterion of selection. The boxers for a particular match were drawn at random from the crowd of boxers. Boxers were not categorized on the basis of their weight. This means that a weak boxer could be made to confront another bulky and massive opponent. Unlike modern age boxers, ancient boxers did not wear such boxing gloves that would cover their full hand. Instead, they chose to wrap leather around their palm and wrists while the fingers mostly remained bare. Occasionally, a boxer would wear thorny or spiked leather strips over his fingers in order to harm the opponent. Other than the wrists, ancient boxers did not at all cover their body. Specially, the Greek boxers of ancient times are known for nudity. The Roman style of boxing: Boxing has also been quite popular among the Romans. In fact, boxing was always in the form of fist-fighting until the Romans declared it as a sport. The transition of boxing from wild fight to a sport occurred under the influence of the Romans. However, boxing was in an equally uncivilized form in the Roman influence as the Greek. In fact, Romans added to the violence of the sport by introducing metallic studs in addition to the usual thongs that resulted into the development of a weapon they called as “myrmex” that was essentially a limb piercer. (Holland, 2008). The Roman boxing was violent to the extent that the match would continue until either of the boxers was fought to death. Unlike the Greek boxing style, Roman boxing essentially terminated at the death of a boxer. This was considered essential in order to maintain the integrity of the match and the spectators’ interest in it. That is why Roman boxing was more often than not, a match between slaves who were made to fight remaining within a circular area formerly defined on the boxing platform. The modern boxing ring can be traced back to this circular boxing field of the Romans. Such violent boxing continued until 393AD, when it got abolished in the Roman gladiator reign because of uncontrolled brutality. (Holland, 2008). Boxing remained banned for a considerable period of time after its abolishment in the period of the Roman gladiator. Reinvention of boxing in the 17th century: (statistics in this para. are retrieved from Holland (2008)) After having remained off the scene for long after the Roman empire, boxing re-emerged in full spirit in the 17th century specially in London where boxing matches were scheduled in the Royal Theatre in 1698. The new form of boxing made the boxers bare-knuckled. In addition to the traditional form of boxing, boxing in the 17th century also had a strong flavor of wrestling. The sport continued to mature and develop as a decent and civilized game since its re-invention in the 17th century. (Holland, 2008) mentioned one boxer, James Figg, who is particularly known for his exceptionally skilled boxing who remained unbeaten in his career of boxing based on 300 fights and finally, opened a Boxing Academy for providing training to the new boxers before his death in 1734. Boxing particularly gained respect in the eyes of people when in 1723, the King George developed a ring for boxing in the Hyde Park in London. Figg’s unremarkable boxing was followed by Daniel Mendoza who also belonged to London and had a big role in changing the traditional ways of boxing that had been in use for centuries. Like Figg, Mendoza also opened a school for teaching boxing. Boxing gradually converted from a brutal match to a sophisticated sport with the advent of footwork and punches into it. Besides, boxers of the 17th and 18th centuries started to wear clothes and belts. Figg and Mendoza are among the pioneers of modern boxing and did much to convert the activity into a civilized sport of the modern world. Later in the 1800s, various renowned boxers surfaced that included but were not limited to Jem Belcher and James Bruce. Boxing in the 19th century: In the later half of the 19th century particularly in 1867, certain rules were defined by the Marquis of Queensbury, John G. Chambers and John Sholto Douglas to be followed in boxing from then onwards that were named as the “Queensbury Rules”. (http://www.ugottawannamartialarts.com , n.d.). According to the Queensbury Rules, individual rounds were supposed to be three minutes long. There was a 10 seconds count. The most special thing about the Queensbury Rules was that they made it compulsory for the boxers to wear the gloves in the match. These rules were so well defined and appropriately chosen that they are used in boxing matches even today. It was in the last decade of the 19th century when the hold of boxing shifted in the hands of the Americans with John L. Sullivan holding title for a decade. “1899 saw the first and last British Heavyweight Champion, Bob Fitzsimmons, for nearly 100 years.” (Holland, 2008). By the start of the 20th century, America was all set to invite the new sport. American influence on the 20th century boxing: Boxing chiefly remained under the American influence in the 1900s. Specifically in the 1960, Muhammad Ali formerly known as Cassius Clay before having embraced Islam led his boxing career with flying colors and did not take long to be entitled as the most famous boxer of the world. “At the Rome Olympics in 1960, Ali crushed his opponents to win a gold medal in the light heavyweight division.” (Evans, 2000). Ali had an exceptionally quick speed and hold over the fight. He made use of certain tactics right from the very start of his career as a boxer that are extremely rare to be seen. Ali was capable of boxing while holding the left hand. “Clay employed the best jab in boxing and had handspeed comparable to a welterweight.” (Montgomery, 2009). He was very good at avoiding the opponents’ punches because he was quick and flexible enough to pull himself straight away from the opponent’s punch. Ali had a unique ability to make accurate prediction about the specific round that he would knock the opponent out. This is particularly what named him “the loudmouth” and he used to have this edge over the other boxers right from the start of the match. (Montgomery, 2009). Although Ali used to have slight fear of loosing occasionally, yet he had a strong control over his nerves and knew the art of hiding his fears. He would literally “dance” in the boxing field and made smart and intelligent use of his reflexes and senses. Muhammad Ali Clay decided to retire in 1979 till when, he had lost merely three matches from a total of 59 boxing matches fought. (Evans, 2000). Ali was a boxer of outstanding abilities. In addition to Muhammad Ali, there have been various other world champions from America in the late 1900s. Muhammad Ali’s victory influenced many other boxers. One such boxer was Mike Tyson, who was quite impressed by the popularity and fame of Ali. Tyson was only 20 years old in 1986, when he happened to win the belt after knocking out Trevor Berbick and was declared the world’s youngest heavyweight champion and only two years later, he won one more belt along with a $15 million sum for having defeated Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds. (Thomson Gale, 2006). Modern age boxing: Modern age boxing is a quite civilized form of boxing and differs considerably from the ancient boxing style. In today’s boxing, boxers are clothed, strict and comprehensive rules are defined, violence is lessened to a great extent and matches do not terminate at the death of a boxer unlike the old Roman style. Instead, the modern age boxing lists three fundamental methods for the match to end. Either a knocked down opponent does not manage to get up until the referee finishes counting the 10 seconds, or either of the two boxers becomes too bruised to carry on further. In the third case, the winner is decided by the scorecards of the judges or the referee as deemed appropriate whenever an indecisive match continues beyond a pre-defined round numbers. Conclusion: Boxing is one of the most significant physical fights that has gathered the attention of various nations in the past including the North Africans, the Greeks, the Romans, the British and the Americans and is still an extremely popular sport. There is a long history of boxing and it has changed considerably over the centuries for good. It has seen various transitional phases and has matured to a great extent as a sport. Today’s boxing is quite different from the ancient boxing and has become very civilized and is played as a popular sport in the most advanced countries of the present age. References: Evans, C, T. (2000). 1998: MUHAMMAD ALI. Retrieved from http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/events/ali98.htm. Holland, G. (2008, April). History of London Boxing. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/11/13/early_boxing_history_feature.shtml. Montgomery, C. (2009). Learning from Muhammad Ali. Retrieved from http://www.extremeprosports.com/full_contact_fighting/muhammad_ali.html. Rich, M. (2010). History of Ancient Greek Boxing. Retrieved from http://www.life123.com/sports/martial-arts/boxing/ancient-greek-boxing.shtml. Thomson Gale. (2005-2006). World of Criminal Justice on Mike Tyson. Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/biography/mike-tyson-cri/. http://www.ugottawannamartialarts.com. (n.d.). From where did the foundation Martial Arts style/system of Boxing originate? Retrieved from http://www.ugottawannamartialarts.com/boxing.php Read More