The early 19th century
topic that I chose to pick was the birth of boxing. Something new that I
learned and may be new to other people is that boxing actually came from
ancient times mainly in Greece. However, it was quite different because in
those times boxing was even more of a violent sport than it is today. While
this may be hard to believe, boxing during those times was till death. A winner
was not crowned until the other person had been killed, compared to today where
you can just knock somebody out. Also, in the ancient times, boxers used
strapped leather forearms and studded medal shards for their hands. This caused
even more pain to the opponent when hit, which is why it was so much more
violent back then.
Boxing continued like this and soon
changed to just “bare knuckle” fighting where there was no gloves but also
there was nothing else attached to the fighters arms and hands. Around 1743
gloves are finally incorporated into the sport in Europe (where at the time it
was most popular)Rules are also finally set down by John Broughton (champion
from 1734-1758); such as, three minute rounds, one minute rest break in between
rounds, and a ten second recovery period if knocked down. Europe was the
country who most widely held boxing and was most popular. It was not actually
that well known, much less a sport until around the 1880’s when it was brought
over to the United States. During this time period many men saw boxing as a way
to judge ones masculinity. The more you could fight, and the more you could
take hits and win matches, then the more of a man you were. Possibly the most
interesting fact of boxing before the emergence in the 20th century
was that there were no judges. Newspapers actually decided the winner by votes,
and certain “scoring” beliefs. Not until 1888 when the sport became officially
organized were there any judges.
While boxing was most popular for
the enjoyment of the working class, and most whites participated in the sport,
there was also a very big ethnic diversity to it. Jews during this time period
were actually considered a “race” and added diversity to boxing. Jews also
thrived through Anti-Semitism, which is quite an accomplishment when you have a
lot of people that pretty much hate you. African Americans and Latino’s also
are very well known (and still are today) for having some of the best fighters.
Their category was known as “African-American Boxing and it was strictly just
Latino’s and blacks. The reason that these two ethnic groups did not have a
chance to become so much better known was because many of them were slaves, and
they were being used by their master to win bets. However, many slaves
participated in boxing because in certain matches against specific match ups
they were given freedom if they won. Tom Molineaux was the first example of
this when he knocked out a rival from an adjoining plantation.
Boxing really began to emerge and
become popular in the middle class from around 1900-1910. The main reason for
this was that only people with more money could attend the matches and then
also contribute to another exciting feature; which was betting. Betting allowed
the fans to have more input and feel as if they could get something out of it.
While this was exciting, it also causes many flaws in the system. Soon middle
class members started to hold their own private matches mostly in underground
locations where it was not easy to be caught. The small matches were mainly
fought by the lower class and ethnic races which provided them an opportunity
to show how strong and courageous they could be. Betting also corrupted the
sport though because it involved money, and sometimes a very large amount of
money. Because of this, people would try to cheat the system and give some
fighters an advantage. People corrupted the scoring system and tried bribing
judges before matches so that they could then gain larger amounts of money. To
help solve this problem and not have as much corruption the Walker Law was
passed in 1920. This law provided an athletic commission to fully oversee the
sport and make sure everything was happening as it should.
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| Old Boxing Poster |
Two of the more well known boxers
around the birth of boxing in the US (the 1880’s) were Jack Johnson and John L.
Sullivan. Jack Johnson was the first African American heavy weight boxing
champion of the world. From a young age he was very ambitious in the sport and
in 1897 he turned to pro boxing as a career. During the time that he turned pro
a man named Tommy Burns had been the heavyweight champion of the world for many
years. Jackson pursued Burns everywhere and finally had a chance to fight him
in Canada. The main reason the Burns agreed to this match was because it had a
$30,000 prize. Johnson ended up defeating Burns and won the prize of money
which at the time a very large amount of money. He was world champion from
1908-1915 and finally lost his title in Havana Cuba to Jess Willard. John L.
Sullivan was also a very successful boxer. He was known as the “Boston Strong
Boy” and was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of the world in 1882
all the way to 1892. He was the first athlete to ever earn over one million
dollars. Both of these men were inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
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| Jack Johnson |
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