Punch Drunk and Boxing Free: Part 4

In the fourth edition of Punch Drunk and Boxing Free, AKA the History of Boxing, we find ourselves in the middle of the 18th century, where people are just starting to stop watching boxing again for the first time since the Roman Empire banned it. Fun, fun. 

Part 3 (and the parts before it) can be found at this link.

Who Doesn’t Love Boxing?

The people in 1750 is who. We left off part three discussing the uptick in fixed games, which sports audiences did not appreciate. They wanted the element of chance.

Who wants to know who wins ahead of time? Where’s the gambling fun in that? People who grew up with WWE in the 1990s can agree with that sentiment.

So, everyone hates boxing. Now what?

There are always at least a few real ones in any batch. For example, Daniel Mendoza and Gentleman John Jackson were those guys in mid-18th-century boxing. Both men appear to have been the champions at one point.

Mendoza was a little guy at only 160 pounds who had to use skill over brute force, which was always an impressive watch. When Jackson beat Mendoza to become champion, they got the attention of people who used to love boxing. Of course, their matches were not fixed—just raw talent.

Boxing Back On The Map

Mendoza and Johnson brought a key audience to their boxing matches. The English aristocracy. In other words, rich people. If the bougee people liked it, who wouldn’t?

As a result, popularity grew, and by the mid-1800s, there were many English champions, and these athletes were the epitome of manliness and honor. How Andrew Tate of them.

Rules Revamped

The new rules of 1743 needed a facelift, and the English were happy to do so. Imagine that—the English were trying to take over things in the 1700s and 1800s.

What were these new and improved rules? The London Prize Ring rules. How dignified.

The London Prize ring rules were created in 1838 and updated in 1853.

What did these new and improved rules require?

1. The match had to happen in a square ring (because all of the best rings are square) that was 24 feet and enclosed in ropes.
2. A knockout ended a round.
3. A knocked-out boxer had a resting period of 30 seconds, with an additional eight seconds to get back in the center of the square ring. If you didn’t make it, you lost.
4. Butting, gouging, hitting below the waist, and kicking your opponent were all no-gos.

These rules would live on until 1889. As we know, it was a rapidly changing sport.

Because There’s Not Enough Rules

The Marquess of Queensbury rules were published in 1867. Allegedly, these are the rules that most closely influenced the rules of boxing today. Interestingly, the last of the 12 rules is that anything besides what the previous 11 cover is under the London Prize Ring rules.

The biggest difference between the two sets of rules is that the Marquees of Queensbury rules omitted bare-knuckle boxing. In other words, only gloving it.

The other 11 rules are:

1. The 24-foot-square ring thing.
2. No wrestling and no hugging.
3. Each round is three minutes long, with one minute in between.
4. If a boxer falls down, they get 10 seconds to get back up without help, and the three minutes continue. If they can’t get up in 10 seconds, the other guy wins.
5. If a man is up in the ropes and his toes are not on the ground, he is considered down.
6. Only the two men can be in the ring during the round.
7. If a boxing match has to end for any reason, both opponents agree on a time and a place to resume it as soon as possible. The exception is if both men agree to forfeit the prematurely ended match.
8. The gloves need to be fair-sized, of the “best quality,” and new (boxers on a budget beware).
9. If a glove “bursts” or comes off, it has to be replaced to the ref’s satisfaction.
10. A man on one knee is down, and if he gets hit anyway, he wins the match.
11. No shoes or boots with springs are allowed.

Globalization in Boxing

Meanwhile, the London Prize Ring rules spread to America by 1839.

This era of boxing, the “Regency England” era, is known as the peak of British boxing. Which at the time was considered the best boxing worldwide.

But that little assumption wouldn’t last long. In the next part, we will get into the spread of boxing in the Americas and how globalization has impacted the sport overall.

So move over English Aristocracy – we in here!