Several outstanding boxers of the golden age held the championship title in more than one weight class. In 1951, in his last fight, Louis was knocked out by Rocky Marciano. Louis came out of retirement in 1950, but lost to the heavyweight champion, Ezzard Charles. He held the heavyweight title longer than any other fighter-from 1937 until he retired in 1949. Joe Louis became one of the most famous boxers of the golden age. When Dempsey and Tunney fought again in 1927, more than 100,000 persons paid $2,658,660, a record at that time, to watch the bout, which Tunney won. Dempsey reigned as heavyweight champion from 1919 until 1926, when Gene Tunney defeated him for the title. heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and the French challenger Georges Carpentier, the light heavyweight champion. In 1921, he promoted the first match to draw a "million-dollar gate." The bout was between the U.S. (Tex) Rickard was the leading fight promoter of the 1920's. Boxing then grew quickly as a spectator sport and entered its golden age. Then in 1920, New York passed the Walker Law, which permitted public prizefighting. During the early 1900's, boxing remained illegal in many parts of the United States. Corbett knocked out Sullivan in the 21st round. Corbett to decide the heavyweight championship under the Queensberry Rules. The fight was the last world heavyweight bare-knuckle championship ever fought. He defended the title the last time in 1889, when he defeated Jake Kilrain in the 75th round. Huge crowds turned out to watch these exhibitions.ĭuring the 1880's, Sullivan occasionally took time off from theatrical appearances to defend his bare-knuckle championship. Sullivan therefore joined a traveling theatrical group and staged gloved boxing matches throughout the country. But he realized that there was no future in bare-knuckle fighting and that the police allowed matches held under the Queensberry Rules. Sullivan, an American, claimed the world bare-knuckle championship. The matches themselves drew only small crowds that watched boxers battle with bare knuckles. The rules further state that a man down on one knee may not be struck and that a fallen man must be given 10 seconds to get back on his feet.ĭuring the 1850's and 1860's, British boxers visited the United States, where they tried to create greater interest in boxing. They also call for three-minute rounds with a one-minute rest period between rounds. They have been used throughout the world ever since with only slight changes. In the mid-1860's, the Marquess of Queensberry,a British sportsman, sponsored a new boxing code of 12 rules.In 1872, the Queensberry Rules were first used in a professional tournament in London. They were known as the London Prize Ring Rules, and they helped make boxing less savage.īOXING GLOVES. Broughton's rules, with some additions, became standard for all bouts. Under Broughton's rules, a fight ended when one man was knocked down and could not get up within 30 seconds. In 1743, Jack Broughton, a well-known British boxer, introduced new rules. For example, one rule required that boxers continue to fight without rest periods until one man could not go on. In 1719, he opened a boxing school in London and began to teach his style of bare-knuckle (gloveless) fighting.įigg's boxing rules were still brutal, however. Figg became successful by punching instead of wrestling. In Figg's day, boxing involved much wrestling. In the early 1700's, James Figg, one of England's most famous athletes, introduced modern boxing. However, it remained a cruel sport, and many fighters were crippled, blinded, or even killed while fighting. MODERN BOXING: Boxing almost disappeared as a sport until the late 1600's, when it reappeared in England. In the last hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Romans prohibited boxing. In time, the sport became so savage that the Romans forbade the use of cestuses. On their hands and forearms,the fighters wore cestuses, which consisted of leather straps plated with metal. The Romans also staged brutal boxing matches. According to legend, the thongs were later fitted with metal spikes so that the fights ended more quickly. The other man then continued to beat his opponent until he died. At a signal, they began to hit each other until one of them fell to the ground unconscious. Two young men would sit on flat stones, face to face, with their fists wrapped in thongs (strips of leather). The sport probably spread from the Sumerians to peoples throughout the ancient worldīoxing was a brutal spectacle in ancient Greece. Stone carvings indicate that the Sumerians, who lived in what is now Iraq, boxed at least 5,000 years ago. Boxing is one of the oldest known sports.
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