One Two Punch

 
The other night I watched "Cinderella Man". Such a good movie about the pugilist James J. Braddock, who was a boxing champion before the Crash of 1929, and then again later with his Heavyweight championship bout against Max Baer in 1936. It's the kind of movie that whether you are a boxing fan or not, you can't help get involved. It's nail-biting. It's talk back to the screen, "C'mon, man! Knock him out!" Frankly, I cried at the end. Braddock's portrayal is the good guy, dealt hard knocks in and out of the ring, but he prevails.

Got me to thinking about boxing, its origins, and its development in the 18th Century.Actually, sports like boxing were popular in ancient Greco-Roman times, but in the 5th Century, Emperor Theodoric the Great banned the excessive violence.

The ban stayed in place for over 1,000 years, then revived in the 17th Century in Britian. Though still illegal, boxing was promoted with a first bout taking place in 1681, with the 2nd Duke of Arbemarle arranging a contest between his butler and his butcher! The butcher won.

By the early 1700's prize fighting became a craze in England, even bouts being hosted in the Royal Theatre. A purse was established, but even fighters took side bets. They were furious contests with NO referee to keep order!

But with boxer James Figg, things began to change. He used some of the technique he acquired from fencing. He was a champion from 1719 to 1730, fighting about 300 times, winning every one! When he retired, he set up an actual school for the sport, where athletes could train.

 

One of Figg's students, Jack Broughton became the bare-knuckle champ from 1729-1750, with one opponent, George Taylor, dying as a result of injuries. Broughton was later known as the Father of English Boxing, because with Taylor's death, he established better rules and safer equipment."Boughton's Rules" as they were called, provided for the knock down count to thirty to get up or the match was called. Punching below the waist became outlawed, and he introduced "mufflers", a type of glove, for training.

In 1791-1795, Daniel Mendoza led the pack. Weighing in at 160 pounds, he emphasized speed and agility, "fancy footwork".

And then there was John "Gentleman" Jackson, an excellent fighter, a champ for one year in 1795, though he retired early, he brought the aristocracy the art of boxing, and one of his more affluent students was Lord Byron!

I found some of this research fascinating; interesting to see the development and evolution of a sport that is gritty and violent, yet has had its elegant and stylish moments, and of course, everyone enjoys an underdog win. Unfortunately, the boxing, in my opinion, has become really corrupted and ugly. Its ties to World Wrestling and all the antics, dilutes the contest. The enormous amounts of money involved bring a different group of fighters and promoters to the table, and that gives the sport a black eye.