ANSWERING THE BELL

From bare-knuckle brawling to modern fisticuffs, the “sweet science” has a violent yet colourful history.

The sport of boxing dates back centuries, with matches taking place as early as the Olympic Games in ancient Greece.

The first recorded match occurred in Britain in 1681. Fighters fought with bare knuckles, and there were no weight divisions. Attacking opponents after they had fallen was permitted, hence the term “hit a man when he’s down.” Fights continued until one combatant was incapacitated.

In 1743, a British boxer introduced the first official regulations; he was reportedly inspired to action after personally killing an opponent in the ring. In 1867, new Queensberry Rules called for padded gloves, threeminute rounds, and a ten-second count for fighters knocked to the ground. Wrestling holds were banned, and the first weight divisions were introduced. Matches lasted far longer than today. The longest recorded fight took place in 1893 in Louisiana, going 110 rounds over a seven-hour-and-nineteen-minute span before ending in a draw, with both boxers suffering broken hands and unable to throw punches.

In North America, boxing was embraced by immigrants, with some of the top brawlers coming from Irish, Jewish, and African-American communities. Boxers typically fought dozens of fights over their careers, with little care given to their long-term health. Many veterans became punch-drunk from head trauma after “getting their bell rung” too many times.

By the early twentieth century, boxing had grown into the premier sport in the world, with its champions exalted as celebrities. While boxing’s allure has been somewhat supplanted by an up-and-comer — mixed martial arts — today’s top boxing matches still draw millions of viewers via pay-per-view events, with some purses measured in hundreds of millions of dollars for the fighters. — M.C. Reid