Who Invented Boxing- By: Musarrat Sheikh

Description : Boxing is a combat sport that involves the participation of two people who have the same mass weights fighting with each other using their fists only. Many people may not know who invented boxing, this is believed to have been invented by an individual by the name Apollo, and this is according to the legends. This sport was launched in 688 BCE as part of the Olympic Games where all the participants were required to put on himantes, which were soft thongs, or straps which were made from the hide of oxen.

These straps used to be tied around the hands of each of the contestants in order to make their wrists as well as the fingers stronger. These himantes were to be later transformed to some hardened straps of leather that made the blows stronger. They later changed into gloves that had wood layers on the inner sides. In the early days of boxing the sport did not have any limited time, weight tutorials as well as cheering squads and this was because the matches came to an end when one of the contestants raised a finger or two to indicate a break or a defeat. Whenever a contestant signaled these with the fingers the match officials would decide to either end the match or permit for resting breaks. Genital blows and holding each other were not included in the boxing regulations.

The contestants were also not allowed to wear pigskin himantes. Today boxing is an action sport or martial art and this includes a referee who supervises the match. Today a boxing match ends when one of the fighters knocks out the other. This fist fighting can be traced back to the traditional Assyrians, Sumerians as well as Egyptians but it was the traditional Greeks that first documented boxing as a sport. There is consensus on the person that invented boxing as a sport as is with the issue of genital blows as well as holding each other.

This is because holding one another defeats the purpose of the sport seeing that it will include the usage of the fists that are supposed to be hitting the opponent. In case one opponent kicks the other in the groin, he may be deducted points or even be disqualified. Because of the individual who invented boxing, we will continue enjoying the sport even though the rules have changed considerable over the years. There are however specific guidelines that all the contestants are required to follow. One of the main guidelines is refraining from using himantes, as they are not allowed in the boxing ring today.

Modern boxing only allows the contestants to use gloves and these are nothing like what the Romans used in the traditional days. The biggest change in boxing however is the introduction of time limits unlike the old days where contestants had to signal for the end of the match and this change has helped in that people in the old days contestants would end the match with serious injuries. Today boxing matches run for a couple of rounds that consist of a couple of minutes that any human body will be able to withstand. If there is no clear winner after all the round, the referees use the point system to identify the winner.

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Author Resource : This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are who invented boxing and boxing bag. Do consider reading them.