The sport of boxing is the art of attack and defense with the fists. Some people feel that boxing is a violent and dangerous sport and that it should be abolished. It has, however, endured in one form or another since ancient times and continues to have an enthusiastic following.

The Technique of Boxing

Right-handed boxers usually fight from an orthodox stance. This means putting the left foot slightly ahead of the right with both feet spread apart and the weight of the body evenly distributed on both. This position enables the boxer to move quickly in any direction. The left arm is partly extended to the front. The right arm is held close to the body to guard the stomach and jaw. Left-handed boxers stand with the right foot and right arm forward. The chief points of attack are the tip of the jaw, the spot just below the ear, and the midsection of the body. A solid punch delivered to one of these points often results in a knockout.

A good offense is usually built around the four recognized classes of punches—jab, straight blow, hook or cross, and uppercut. The jab is a sharp, light punch delivered by straightening out the bent arm. The jab can be used effectively to harass an opponent and to keep him off-balance. A straight punch may carry the weight of the body behind it and will result in a knockout if it is landed in a vital spot.

The hook or cross, either left or right, is a swinging blow, aimed to slip by the opponent's guard. The uppercut is a blow directed upward, usually aimed at the jaw or the midsection. When delivered with full power either punch can be a knockout blow.

The defense may also may be built around several basic maneuvers. Blocking is parrying with the glove, forearm, elbow, or shoulder to deflect the opponent's punches. Slipping, which depends upon fast footwork, consists of stepping aside and making the rival miss. Another trick is to roll with the punch—that is, to soften the effect of a blow by moving in the direction it is aimed. Ducking is bobbing down so that the blow goes over the head. Clinching, when done legally, ties up the opponent's arms and gives the boxer an opportunity to rest.

Other maneuvers, offensive and defensive, are also useful to a boxer. Feinting is bluffing with one hand preparatory to delivering a blow with the other. Leading is opening an attack, usually with a left jab. Countering is throwing a hard punch at the opponent at the exact moment he leads off.

Opportunities for Amateurs

In high schools and colleges, boxing has been popular chiefly as an intramural sport. Many colleges have teams that compete with one another in dual meets and in an annual tournament sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most amateur boxing in the United States is regulated by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which conducts a national tournament each year. Amateur boxing has been a part of the Olympic Games program since 1904.

The Golden Gloves amateur tournaments were originated by the New York Daily News in 1927. The Chicago Tribune began sponsoring them in 1928. National champions were selected from thousands of boxers. Bouts between American and European champions were held until 1956. Since 1964 Golden Gloves meets have been held only on the local level.

Many boxers have turned professional after successful amateur careers; and several were Olympics medal winners, including Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and Joe Frazier. Professional boxing rules vary slightly from one state to another, but most states abide by the laws of the World Boxing Association (WBA)—formerly the National Boxing Association. A number of foreign nations are also members of the WBA.

The History of Boxing

Boxing played an important part in the holiday celebrations of ancient Greece and Rome. Boxers wrapped each fist in a leather thong (called a cestus when studded with bits of metal or metal spikes). Many bouts ended only when one fighter killed his opponent. Just before the Christian Era a Roman emperor banned all types of fighting with the fists. Boxing, as a sport, then disappeared from history until it was revived in England in the 1700s.

The first man to popularize boxing with bare knuckles was James Figg of England. Between 1719 and 1730 he defeated all challengers and was acclaimed the first boxing champion. The contestants battled without rest until one had definitely won. In 1745 Jack Broughton devised London Prize Ring rules (amended as the Revised London Prize Ring rules). These governed all succeeding bareknuckle fights.

Under the London Prize Ring rules, bouts were divided into rounds that ended only when one of the boxers fell or was knocked to the ground. If the fallen man was unable to resume the contest in 30 seconds the referee awarded the bout to his opponent. The referee, however, had no power to stop the boxers from kicking, wrestling, or gouging, and these maneuvers usually played an important part in every fight. Most matches lasted until one of the contestants was badly beaten.

In an effort to improve the sport, the marquis of Queensberry framed the set of rules which still bears his name. The new regulations, first used in England about 1872, soon replaced the old rules in all bouts.

Boxing in the United States

The first boxing matches in the United States were bareknuckle bouts fought under the London Prize Ring rules. Such bouts were illegal, and the battles usually took place in isolated spots away from the police. The matches drew only small crowds, however, for the rough-and-tumble tactics of the bareknuckle fighters found little favor with the public.

The man who did the most to improve the standing of the sport was John L. Sullivan, whose name has become almost legendary in boxing history. In 1882 he defeated Paddy Ryan to win the undisputed bareknuckle championship of the world. Sullivan then temporarily abandoned bareknuckle fighting and toured the country fighting all challengers under the Queensberry rules. Spectators welcomed these well-regulated matches fought with gloves, and the sport rose in popularity. Sullivan also defended his bareknuckle crown several times, but after 1889 there were no contenders for the London Prize Ring title. Sullivan never lost a bareknuckle bout.

The Early Heavyweight Champions

In 1892 at New Orleans Sullivan fought James J. Corbett for the world's heavyweight championship under the Queensberry rules. Corbett's footwork and boxing skill proved superior to Sullivan's and in the 21st round he won on a knockout. Five years later Corbett lost the title to Bob Fitzsimmons, who featured a “solar plexus” punch. Fitzsimmons, a former middleweight champion, was knocked out in 1899 by James J. Jeffries in his first defense of the title.

Jeffries retired in 1905. The following year Tommy Burns (real name, Noah Brusso) claimed the championship on a 20-round decision over Marvin Hart. In 1908 at Sydney, Australia, Burns lost the title to Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight titleholder. The championship remained in dispute, however, until Jeffries came out of retirement in 1910 to fight Johnson at Reno, Nev. Jeffries had never been defeated in a professional bout, but he was no match for the controversial black boxer and was knocked out in the 15th round. Johnson went on to defeat all challengers until, in 1915, at Havana, Cuba, he was defeated by Jess Willard, a powerful ex-cowboy who stood 6 feet 7 inches and weighed over 250 pounds. (See also Johnson, Jack.)

In 1919 Tex Rickard became boxing promoter for Madison Square Garden in New York City, and under his direction boxing reached its first great popularity. One of his promotions was a championship fight between Willard and Jack Dempsey at Toledo, Ohio, in 1919. Willard was a heavy favorite to win, but Dempsey slipped through his guard and knocked him down seven times in the first three minutes. Willard lasted only three rounds. (See also Dempsey.)

In 1921 Dempsey defeated Georges Carpentier of France in four rounds, and two years later he knocked out Luis Angel Firpo of Argentina in the second round. The Dempsey-Carpentier bout was the first in ring history with a million-dollar gate.

In 1926 Dempsey lost the title on a 10-round decision to Gene Tunney, a cool scientific puncher who was a master of defensive tactics. The following year in a return match in Chicago, Dempsey knocked Tunney down in the 7th round for a count of 9. Many spectators thought that the count actually could have reached 14, but Dempsey did not move immediately to a neutral corner as provided by the rules. The referee refused to declare a knockout, and Tunney rallied to retain his crown on a 10-round decision.

Tunney defended his title once more and then in 1928 retired as the first undefeated heavyweight champion of modern times. In 1930 Jack Sharkey of Boston and Max Schmeling of Germany were matched for the title. The German won on a foul and was “elected” champion despite considerable protest. Sharkey won a return bout in 1932, but he lost the crown in 1933, in his first defense, to Primo Carnera of Italy. Carnera—at 260 pounds the heaviest of all world champions—lost to Max Baer a year later; the fight was stopped in the 11th round after the champion had been knocked down 12 times. In 1935 James J. Braddock defeated Baer.

Joe Louis, a former Golden Gloves fighter, built a string of 27 victories before he was defeated by Max Schmeling in 1936. In 1937, however, Louis knocked out Braddock to become the second black heavyweight champion. He held the title longer than any other heavyweight (see Louis, Joe).

Postwar Era

The heavyweight title was frozen during World War II while Louis was in the Army. After Louis' first retirement, in 1949, Ezzard Charles was named the champion when he defeated Jersey Joe Walcott. Charles clinched his claim to the crown in 1950 by defeating Louis, who was attempting a comeback. In 1952 Charles lost to Walcott in a knockout.

Rocky Marciano gained the title in 1952 by knocking out Walcott. In one of the fastest heavyweight title bouts ever fought—in 2:25 of the first round—Marciano again knocked out Walcott in 1953. When he retired in 1956, Marciano had won all 49 of his professional bouts.

Floyd Patterson won the vacant world title in 1956 when he knocked out Archie Moore. Patterson lost to Ingemar Johansson of Sweden in 1959. In 1960 Patterson won a rematch with Johansson and became the first defeated heavyweight champion ever to regain his crown. In 1962 Patterson was knocked out by Sonny Liston. In 1964 Liston lost the title to Cassius Clay (later, Muhammad Ali), whose crown was withdrawn in 1967 because he refused to be drafted (see Ali). After a round of elimination bouts Jimmy Ellis became champion in 1968 but lost to Joe Frazier in 1970. Dispute still clouded the championship title until Frazier's defeat of Ali in 1971. In 1974, ten years after he first won the title, Ali regained it by knocking out George Foreman. Ali was then the only undisputed champion in boxing's 12 weight divisions. In other divisions the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the WBA each recognized different champions.

Ali lost the crown to Leon Spinks in February 1978 but in September regained it for an unprecedented second time. The WBC, however, had disputed Spinks's title because he did not defend it against Ken Norton. Designated the WBC champion, Norton lost the crown to Larry Holmes on a split decision in 1978. After Ali relinquished the WBA title in 1979, Spinks and John Tate both contended for the crown. Tate won, but in 1980, in his first title defense, he was knocked out by Mike Weaver. Ali came out of retirement in 1980 but lost to Holmes. After a long controversy with the WBC, Holmes relinquished his title in 1983 and was designated champion of the newly formed International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Michael Dokes easily defeated Weaver for the WBA crown in 1982 but in 1983 lost to Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa, the first white titleholder since Johansson. In March 1984 Tim Witherspoon took the WBC title with a 12-round decision over Greg Page, a contender whom Holmes had refused to fight. In August Witherspoon lost to Pinklon Thomas. Page took the WBA title in December when he knocked out Coetzee. Four months later Tony Tubbs defeated Page.

In 1985 Michael Spinks became the first light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight crown when he defeated Holmes. (Spinks was the brother of former heavyweight titlist Leon Spinks.) Witherspoon came back to win the WBA championship in 1986.

Also in 1986 Trevor Berbick took the WBC title from Thomas. This was the first fight in a seven-bout television series planned to unify the heavyweight crown. The series continued with a Spinks-Holmes IBF rematch, won by Spinks. In 1987 Mike Tyson—at 20 the youngest heavyweight champion—took the unified crown with successive defeats of Berbick (WBC), James Smith (WBA), and Tony Tucker (IBF). (Spinks had declined to defend his crown against Tucker.)

In 1937–38 Henry Armstrong was the first boxer to hold three titles at the same time (featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight). Sugar Ray Robinson became the first five-time middleweight winner in 1958. Other great champions were: Johnny Kilbane, featherweight, 1912–23; Benny Leonard, lightweight, 1917–24, retired undefeated; Harry Greb, middleweight, 1923–26, lost only nine of 288 bouts.