Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: boxing from Dictionary of Sports and Games Terminology

(sport) a combat sport in which two competitors trade punches with fists enclosed in boxing gloves


boxing

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
sport of fighting with fists, also called pugilism and prizefighting. Depicted on the walls of tombs at Beni Hasan in Egypt, dating from about 2000 to 1500 B.C. , boxing is one of the oldest forms of competition. A part of the ancient Olympic games, the sport was exhausting and brutal. The Greeks fought without regard for weight differentials and without interruption, a match ending only when a fighter lost consciousness or raised his hand in resignation. Boxers wound heavy strips of leather around their hands and wrists. Under Roman rule, these thongs (the caestus) were laced with metal, ensuring an abundance of blood. Statues of maimed boxers from late antiquity attest to the carnage. After the demise of the Olympics, boxing survived as a common sport. It persisted at local fairs and religious festivals throughout medieval Europe and was especially popular in the west and north of England, where it was often a combination of wrestling and street fighting. In early 18th-century…
2,526 results

Full text Article BOXING

From The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
The urge of men - especially men - to fight is age-old, and the Welsh experience does not disappoint or edify. While it is rightly identified with the industrial communities of the southern coal field, fighting was also a common enough pastime in pre-industrial Wales, patronized, as it would be…
| 781 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article boxing

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Sport of fist fighting between two people wearing padded gloves within a roped-off ring. Boxers are classified in eight divisions according to weight: minimumweight (under 48kg/105lb), fly, bantam, feather, light, welter, middle and heavyweight (more than 88kg/195lb). Professional bouts are…
| 183 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article boxing

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
sport of fighting with fists, also called pugilism and prizefighting. Depicted on the walls of tombs at Beni Hasan in Egypt, dating from about 2000 to 1500 B.C. , boxing is one of the oldest forms of competition. A part of the ancient Olympic games, the sport was exhausting and brutal. The Greeks…
| 723 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Boxing

From The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness
(©Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com)
Boxing, also known as pugilism, is a sport involving the fighting with the fists of two participants within a boxing ring. The objective of each participant is to knock out the opposition fighter or inflict as much punishment so that a referee (or sometimes a team of judges) decides the fighter…
| 2,804 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article boxing

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Fighting with gloved fists. The sport dates from the 18th century, when fights were fought with bare knuckles and untimed rounds. Each round ended with a knockdown. Fighting with gloves became the accepted form in the latter part of the 19th century after the formulation of the Queensberry Rules in…
| 383 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article BOXING

From The Handy Answer Book Series: The Handy African American History Answer Book Full text Article SPORTS
Boxer Tom Molineaux literally fought his way out...
Bill (William) Richmond (1763–1829), born free on Staten Island, New York, was the first black to become a prominent boxer in England, in 1805. A semi-professional boxer, by 1800 he had built an impressive list of wins and scored enough wins to earn a title berth against Tom Cribb, who held the…
| 2,801 words , 4 images

Full text Article Boxing

From Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events Full text Article SPORTS
Tom Molineaux
The first black fighter on record is Joe Lashley, who fought in England. His place of birth is unknown. Sources: Ashe, A Hard Road to Glory , vol. 1, p. 21. Bill (William) Richmond (1763–1829), born on Staten Island, New York, was the first black to become a prominent boxer in England. He was active…
| 5,418 words , 11 images

Full text Article boxing

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Stag at Sharkey’s, oil on canvas by George...
Sport involving attack and defense with the fists. In the modern sport, boxers wear padded gloves and fight bouts of up to 12 three-minute rounds in a roped-off square known as the ring. In ancient Greece fighters used leather thongs on their hands and forearms, while in Rome gladiators used…
| 373 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article boxing.

From The Oxford Companion to British History
developed from uncontrolled encounters, in which wrestling, kicking, gouging, biting, hair-pulling, and kicking opponents when down were practised. Early prize fights went on until one of the combatants could not continue: Mendoza fought Henry Lee over 53 rounds in 1806. James Figg in the 1720s was…
| 176 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Boxing

From Ancient Roman Sports, A-Z
Like other Greek-style athletic events, boxing never attained widespread popularity in the ancient Roman sporting scene. There are scattered references to boxers in Roman literature; these references often occur in connection with some ceremony or celebration, or the dedication of a building or a…
| 1,360 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources