Few sports are as dynamic as boxing. Ever since men started competing against one another (probably by beating each other up for food), boxing has been at the forefront of human competition. In fact, along with running, it is one of the oldest known sports in the world. Why? Well most likely because you don’t need anything except a couple people. No equipment, no ball, no nothing. It is about as raw as you can get when it comes to physical competition. But since those early days of hunting and gathering, fighting has changed quite a bit. These days boxing has become a multi million dollar business. Fights are broadcast around the world and people gather to watch their favorite champion. But these are but a few reasons why boxing is the original sport.
Today we are going to take a look back in history at some of the greatest fighters that helped to shape the sport into what it is today. We’ll look as their accomplishments and try to understand what drove them to conquer the ring. Did you know, for example, that boxing gloves were not introduced to make boxing safer? They were actually introduced to encourage head shots! In fact, more people have died boxing since the introduction of gloves than did before! These are 25 reasons that boxing is the original sport and other things that you never knew about it!
Evander Holyfield got "get well" cards from fans before his fight against Mike Tyson because he was a massive underdog. Evander went on to win in one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
Source: apnewsarchive.com, Image: pixabayBefore one of his fights, Sugar Ray Robinson had a dream that he would kill his opponent. He wanted to back out but was convinced to fight anyway. He ended up killing his opponent (Jimmy Doyle).
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn his younger years Liam Neeson was an Irish boxing champion. Some more fun facts - he also dropped out of a degree in computer science and worked as a forklift operator.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAt 5' 7", Tommy Burns was the shortest heavyweight boxer ever. What he was really known for, however, was his respect for other fighters, especially of different races. That was something that didn't exist in his day.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAfter 93 fights which included 18 losses, Canadian boxer George Chuvalo never suffered a knock out.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaMexican boxer Julio César Chávez won his first 87 fights in a row.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn 1949 Gus Waldorf boxed against a bear and lost.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn the culture of ancient Greece, the god Apollo was seen as being the inventor and protector of boxing
Source: aljazeera.com, Image: wikipediaBoxing is also called pugilism (literally, fighting with your fists)
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaOne of Bruce Lee's mentors, Wong Shun Leung, was a bare knuckle boxing champion on the underground circuit (which was illegal). He quit fighting, however, after accidentally blinding an opponent.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn 1860, John Heenan, a bareknuckle boxer, was beat so badly that an artist was hired to paint a picture of his face after the match. It recently sold for 3000 pounds
Source: telegraph.co.uk, Image: wikipediaIf you enjoyed these boxing facts, take a look at the 25 Greatest Boxers In History Outside Of North America.
Chess boxing is on the rise in Europe. This new sport alternates rounds of chess with rounds in the ring.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaBoxer Willie Pep is the only fighter to ever win without throwing any punches.
Source: wikipediaSugar Ray Robinson was the first person to which the phrase "pound for pound" was applied. It was meant to indicate a comparison between him and other fighters, regardless of their weight class.
Source: wikipedia, Image: pdpicsSalamo Arouch was a Jewish boxer who was imprisoned at Auschwitz. During his imprisonment he was forced to fight other prisoners and the losers were executed. Salamo survived for 2 years until the Allies liberated the concentration camp.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaGloves weren't introduced to boxing for safety. They were actually introduced in order to increase the number of punches to the head.
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabayIn fact, boxing was much safer before gloves. This is because boxers would rarely hit the head. It was hard and many fights would end with broken knuckles because of head shots.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaEver since the advent of boxing gloves, the number of deaths due to boxing has dramatically increased. Of course, medicine has improved as well, so boxers tend to survive what would have been fatal blows in the past.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaArchie ‘The Old Mongoose’ Moore holds the record for the most knockouts at 131. In fact, he only fought 219 fights. That means that more than half of his fights ended with him knocking out the other boxer.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe Greeks included boxing in the Olympic games as early as 688 BC
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaWhen Muhammad Ali was a child, Sugar Ray Robinson turned him down for an autograph. Ali swore that he would never do that to anybody, and so he never turned anybody down for autograph requests.
Source: biography.com, Image: pixabayIn 1912 boxing was excluded from the Summer Olympics in Stockholm because boxing was illegal in Sweden.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaGeorge Foreman made more money selling his grills than he ever did during his boxing career.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaJohn L. Sullivan is the fighter in the manly man meme. He was a bareknuckle boxer who once went for 75 rounds before winning.
Source: wikipediaBoxing, along with things like marathon running, is one of the oldest sports known to man. Sumerian reliefs from 3,000 BC show some of the first competitions.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaLists Going Viral Right Now
