Boxing

Boxing is a competition between two contestants who, wearing gloves, fight with their fists only. Boxing contests date back to the early Greeks, who fought wearing gloves and wrappings on their arms, but nothing else. The word boxing was first coined in England during the 18th century to distinquish between street fighting and fighting for sport using agreed-upon rules.

Today, the term boxing refers to a sport in which the contestants pair off in a ring for a determined number of rounds. There are two recognized types of boxing- amateur and professional. Amateur boxing is primarily the version that is found at the Olympic games, and differs quite a bit from professional boxing.

Amateur boxing emphasizes hitting the opponent with scoring punches rather than actually doing physical damage. Boxers wear protective headgear, and fight for only three rounds which are three minutes long. Each punch that connects with the head or torso results in a point being awarded. A referee is in the ring to make sure that only legal punches are used, and a competitor repeatedly using illegal punches is disqualified. Referees also watch for the use of holding, or grappling, to prevent an opponent from using his arms. In amateur boxing, referees can award knockouts if one of the boxers is only slightly injured.

Professional boxing matches are much longer, and can go up to twelve rounds. The wearing of headgear is not allowed, and knockouts are only awarded when one of the boxers is knocked down and cannot get back up for ten seconds, or are repeatedly knocked down. During the match, the referee may stop the boxers if one of the competitors is unable to continue. If one of the boxers gives up, the other is also awarded a technical knockout.

The world of boxing has produced many champions of celebrity status over the years, in many countries across the globe. Bare knuckled fighters in the 1800's such as John L. Sullivan and "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, to the 20th century boxers Muhammed Ali and Japan's Jiro Watanabe have risen above the world of boxing to become household names.