What is the history of boxing?

Hi Lydia, I found the following information on the history of boxing online. Hope that it is what you were looking for!

Boxing is one of the oldest contact sports known to human history. While it cannot be said for certain whether boxing back then was a regular sport with rules and regulations, evidence that boxing existed are found in the archaeological findings of the Egyptians, Berbers, Sumerian, Greek and Mediterranean civilizations. Other evidences of boxing has found as early as 1500 BC and 3000 BC. Therefore one can safely say that the origin of boxing was around 3000 BC.

Differences Between Modern Boxing and Ancient Boxing:

There is a vast difference between the boxing of today and ancient boxing. Right from the way the fights took place to the attire and accessories, ancient boxing was totally different as compared to modern boxing.

Ancient boxers obviously did not have access to the boxing gloves and head and ear pads that the modern boxers have today. In fact, boxing was not always called boxing. In the ancient Greek and Roman times, the sport of bashing up the teeth of your opponent during fist fighting was called pugilism.

Also, the rules of ancient boxing were quite different from the boxing prevalent today. The fights were not divided into rounds and there was no defeat as such. The winner of the match would be judged only by the Knock Out and in extreme cases, death of the opponent.

Ancient boxing was also quiet more brutal than modern boxing, in the sense that the boxers would usually have strips of leather around their fists and fingers, or even gloves with spikes, which would help them deliver more lethal blows than modern boxing.

Boxing began in Ancient Egypt, then progressed to Rome and from there to Britain when the Romans, under Caesar, invaded in 4th century BC.  The modern history of boxing radiates from Britain, first with bare-knuckle then into a gloved form.