Boxing
Boxing is a punching combat sport with a 5,000-year-old history and is popular all around the world.
Understand
| “ | Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see. | ” |
—Muhammad Ali | ||
The history of boxing stretches back to Ancient Egypt in 3000 BC where bare-knuckle boxing was eagerly watched by the pharaohs and royalty. In Greece, boxing was incorporated into the Ancient Olympics by the 7th century BC. During Roman times, centus gladiatorial duels were common, where the only weapon worn by the gladiators were gloves made from leather and filled with iron plates, blades or spikes.
At the turn of the 20th century, the sport branched into amateur boxing, which is still contested in the Olympics, and professional boxing, where the most successful boxers are some of the highest paid athletes in the world.
Destinations
- 1 Farnborough, United Kingdom. Hosted illegal boxing bouts through the 19th century, including the first "international championship" between American Heenan and English Sayers in 1860. It was a brutal bare-knuckle bout that went for 42 rounds.
- Las Vegas, USA. Vegas has become the capital of modern boxing, home to T-Mobile Arena, the MGM Grand, Thomas & Mack Center and Caesars Palace.
- New York City, USA. Madison Square Garden is one of the world's most iconic boxing venues and was host to the "Fight of the Century", the first of three fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The International Boxing Hall of Fame is in upstate New York, specifically in the central community of Canastota, about halfway between Syracuse and Utica.
- Quezon City, Philippines. The Smart Araneta Coluseum in Cubao was for decades the largest boxing arena in Asia. It staged the third and final fight between Ali and Frazier, known as the "Thrilla in Manila", as well as many of Manny Pacquiao's biggest bouts.
