Early years
Boxing first appeared as a formal Olympic event in the 23rd Olympiad (688 bce), but fist-fighting contests must certainly💹 have had their origin in mankind's prehistory.
The earliest visual evidence for boxing appears in Sumerian relief carvings from the 3rd💹 millennium bce.
A relief sculpture from Egyptian Thebes (c.
1350 bce) shows both boxers and spectators.
The few extant Middle Eastern and Egyptian💹 depictions are of bare-fisted contests with, at most, a simple band supporting the wrist; the earliest evidence of the use💹 of gloves or hand coverings in boxing is a carved vase from Minoan Crete (c.
1500 bce) that shows helmeted boxers💹 wearing a stiff plate strapped to the fist.
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The earliest evidence of rules for the💹 sport comes from ancient Greece.
These ancient contests had no rounds; they continued until one man either acknowledged defeat by holding💹 up a finger or was unable to continue.
Clinching (holding an opponent at close quarters with one or both arms) was💹 strictly forbidden.
Contests were held outdoors, which added the challenge of intense heat and bright sunlight to the fight.
Contestants represented all💹 social classes; in the early years of the major athletic festivals, a preponderance of the boxers came from wealthy and💹 distinguished backgrounds.
The Greeks considered boxing the most injurious of their sports.
A 1st-century-bce inscription praising a pugilist states, "A boxer's victory💹 is gained in blood.
" In fact, Greek literature offers much evidence that the sport caused disfigurement and, occasionally, even death.
An💹 amazingly bloody bout is recounted by Homer in the Iliad (c.675 bce):
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we invite two men, the best among you, to contend for these prizes
with their hands up for the💹 blows of boxing.He whom Apollo
grants to outlast the other, and all the Achaians
let him lead away the hard-working jenny [female💹 donkey] to his own shelter.
The beaten man shall take away the two-handled goblet."
He spoke, and a man huge and powerful,💹 well skilled in boxing,
rose up among them; the son of Panopeus, Epeios.
He laid his hand on the hard-working jenny, and💹 spoke out:
"Let the man come up who will carry off the two-handled goblet.
I say no other of the Achaians will💹 beat me at boxing
and lead off the jenny.
I claim I am the champion.Is it not
enough that I fall short in💹 battle? Since it could not be
ever, that a man could be a master in every endeavour.
For I tell you this💹 straight out, and it will be a thing accomplished.
I will smash his skin apart and break his bones on each💹 other.
Let those who care for him wait nearby in a
to carry him out, after my fists have beaten him under."
So💹 he spoke, and all of them stayed stricken to silence.
Alone Euryalos stood up to face him, a godlike
man, son of💹 lord Mekisteus of the seed of Talaos;
of him who came once to Thebes and the tomb of Oidipous after
his downfall,💹 and there in boxing defeated all the Kadmeians.
The spear-famed son of Tydeus was his second, and talked to him
in encouragement,💹 and much desired the victory for him.
First he pulled on the boxing belt about his waist, and then
gave him the💹 thongs carefully cut from the hide of a rangingox.The two men,
and faced each other, and put up their ponderous hands💹 at the same time
and closed, so that their heavy arms were crossing each other,
and there was a fierce grinding of💹 teeth, the sweat began to run
everywhere from their bodies.
Great Epeios came in, and hit him
as he peered out from his💹 guard, on the cheek, and he could no longer
keep his feet, but where he stood the glorious limbs gave.
As in💹 the water roughened by the north wind a fish jumps
in the weed of the beach-break, then the dark water closes💹 above him,
so Euryalos left the ground from the blow, but great-hearted Epeios
took him in his arms and set him upright,💹 and his true companions
stood about him, and led him out of the circle, feet draggingas he
He was dizzy when they💹 brought him back and set him among them.
But they themselves went and carried off the two-handled goblet.
(From Book XXIII of💹 Homer's Iliad, translated by Richmond Lattimore.
) "Sons of Atreus, and all you other strong-greaved Achaians,we invite two men, the best💹 among you, to contend for these prizeswith their hands up for the blows of boxing.
He whom Apollogrants to outlast the💹 other, and all the Achaians witness it,let him lead away the hard-working jenny [female donkey] to his own shelter.
The beaten💹 man shall take away the two-handled goblet.
"He spoke, and a man huge and powerful, well skilled in boxing,rose up among💹 them; the son of Panopeus, Epeios.
He laid his hand on the hard-working jenny, and spoke out:"Let the man come up💹 who will carry off the two-handled goblet.
I say no other of the Achaians will beat me at boxingand lead off💹 the jenny.
I claim I am the champion.
Is it notenough that I fall short in battle? Since it could not beever,💹 that a man could be a master in every endeavour.
For I tell you this straight out, and it will be💹 a thing accomplished.
I will smash his skin apart and break his bones on each other.
Let those who care for him💹 wait nearby in a huddle about himto carry him out, after my fists have beaten him under.
"So he spoke, and💹 all of them stayed stricken to silence.
Alone Euryalos stood up to face him, a godlikeman, son of lord Mekisteus of💹 the seed of Talaos;of him who came once to Thebes and the tomb of Oidipous afterhis downfall, and there in💹 boxing defeated all the Kadmeians.
The spear-famed son of Tydeus was his second, and talked to himin encouragement, and much desired💹 the victory for him.
First he pulled on the boxing belt about his waist, and thengave him the thongs carefully cut💹 from the hide of a rangingox.
The two men, girt up, strode into the midst of the circleand faced each other,💹 and put up their ponderous hands at the same timeand closed, so that their heavy arms were crossing each other,and💹 there was a fierce grinding of teeth, the sweat began to runeverywhere from their bodies.
Great Epeios came in, and hit💹 himas he peered out from his guard, on the cheek, and he could no longerkeep his feet, but where he💹 stood the glorious limbs gave.
As in the water roughened by the north wind a fish jumpsin the weed of the💹 beach-break, then the dark water closes above him,so Euryalos left the ground from the blow, but great-hearted Epeiostook him in💹 his arms and set him upright, and his true companionsstood about him, and led him out of the circle, feet💹 draggingas he spat up the thick blood and rolled his head over on one side.
He was dizzy when they brought💹 him back and set him among them.
But they themselves went and carried off the two-handled goblet.
By the 4th century bce,💹 the simple ox-hide thongs described in the Iliad had been replaced by what the Greeks called "sharp thongs," which had💹 a thick strip of hard leather over the knuckles that made them into lacerative weapons.
Although the Greeks used padded gloves💹 for practice, not dissimilar from the modern boxing glove, these gloves had no role in actual contests.
The Romans developed a💹 glove called the caestus (cestus) that is seen in Roman mosaics and described in their literature; this glove often had💹 lumps of metal or spikes sewn into the leather.
The caestus is an important feature in a boxing match in Virgil's💹 Aeneid (1st century bce).
The story of the match between Dares and Entellus is majestically told in this passage from the💹 pugilism article in the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica:
Further on we find the account of the games on the occasion💹 of the funeral of Anchises, in the course of which Dares, the Trojan, receiving no answer to his challenge from💹 the Sicilians, who stood aghast at his mighty proportions, claims the prize; but, just as it is about to be💹 awarded him, Entellus, an aged but huge and sinewy Sicilian, arises and casts into the arena as a sign of💹 his acceptance of the combat the massive cesti, all stained with blood and brains, which he has inherited from King💹 Eryx, his master in the art of boxing.
The Trojans are now appalled in their turn, and Dares, aghast at the💹 fearful implements, refused the battle, which, however, is at length begun after Aeneas has furnished the heroes with equally matched💹 cesti.
For some time the young and lusty Dares circles about his gigantic but old and stiff opponent, upon whom he💹 rains a torrent of blows which are avoided by the clever guarding and dodging of the Sicilian hero.
At last Entellus,💹 having got his opponent into a favourable position, raises his tremendous right hand on high and aims a terrible blow💹 at the Trojan's head; but the wary Dares deftly steps aside, and Entellus, missing his adversary altogether, falls headlong by💹 the impetus of his own blow, with a crash like that of a falling pine.
Shouts of mingled exultation and dismay💹 break from the multitude, and the friends of the aged Sicilian rush forward to raise their fallen champion and bear💹 him from the arena; but, greatly to the astonishment of all, Entellus motions them away and returns to the fight💹 more keenly than before.
The old man's blood is stirred, and he attacks his youthful enemy with such furious and headlong💹 rushes, buffeting him grievously with both hands, that Aeneas put an end to the battle, though barely in time to💹 save the discomfited Trojan from being beaten into insensibility.
Roman boxing took place in both the sporting and gladiatorial arenas.
Roman soldiers💹 often boxed each other for sport and as training for hand-to-hand combat.
The gladiatorial boxing contests usually ended only with the💹 death of the losing boxer.
With the rise of Christianity and the concurrent decline of the Roman Empire, pugilism as entertainment💹 apparently ceased to exist for many centuries.
