Ancient Egyptian civilization has the original records of just hand-to-hand combat. Further records were found among the archives and works of art of Greek and Roman civilization, and these clearly suggest that boxing was already a public favorite. The reason for this is during these civilizations, boxing has already become a well-prepared and highly favored public spectacle.
But only in the 18th century did England popularize boxing as a sport and not a brutal and bloody spectacle comparable to the fights seen in the gladiatorial arenas. But even in 18th-century England, boxing was seen more of a bloody fight than a game. Still, this was the time when the first boxing champions were formally recognized and actually held titles in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The so-called boxing pioneers then fought with bare bones. While these pioneers had already gone out of history, they put the drug in boxing as a sport as we understand it at the moment.
The Bare Knuckles Era is basically the period when formal boxing matches were introduced. During these times, boxers fought freely, and they fought only in an arbitrary ring created by the circle of spectators alone. Judges and mittens were about to be introduced, so during this period warriors fought for as much as they could endure. Fighting could then occasionally last for hours, for there were no time limits yet, and they could continue through the next day, counting on the arrangements between the ประวัติมวยสากล.
Also, rules were not yet present, so the game was basically governed by the warriors’ sense of sportsmanship. Of course, there were no violations for hitting under the belt or for using a small cudgel. Blood was naturally present and injuries were common. The main goal of the game is nevertheless something identical to the updated goal – defeating the opponent.
This form of boxing remained largely constant before modern boxing came on the scene. So for many decades, there were no rules, no judges, no directives and no proper training that boxers received. In fact, there were no considerations for the weight classes of the warriors. So heavy weights can struggle with flying weights, and bantam weights can struggle with super heavy weights and so on. During these times, fights were prepared by sending invitation letters between rivals.
The running class was at first condescending with the sport until it caught the attention of the title class and royalty. Rich enthusiasts then worked on organizing the matches somewhat by sponsoring them. It was at this moment that rings permanently became a square platform rather than the ring of people surrounding the boxes. That was also at the moment when the first formal rules were set by Jack Broughton, who himself was a former boxing champion.
Until 1838, the rudimentary rules as described in Broughton’s rules were followed until a more detailed and more prepared rule of the London Prize Ring Rules was put forward. This was immediately followed by the appearance of Daniel Mendoza, who introduced a more scientific approach to boxing.
He was English champion for four years and he helped recreate boxing matches minus the typical all-going rawness. And then it was partly thanks to him that boxing eventually grew out of its marathon-like configuration, its rawness and its traits that lent championship to boxers who were not skilled at boxing but were only cunning enough to defeat their opponents.