Boxing

D

3

Other Defensive Measures

A tired boxer can go into a clinch, grabbing the opponent’s arms and holding on tightly. Another defensive technique is covering up so that both arms cover the front of the body.

IV

Amateur Boxing

An amateur boxing match is one without prize money, sometimes known as a fight’s purse. Amateur boxers typically wear larger gloves than professional boxers and protective headgear, minimizing the risk of injury. Bouts usually consist of a maximum of three rounds. Different amateur boxing organizations have existed since the 19th century, including the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) in England, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) of the United States, the Golden Gloves Association of America, USA Boxing, and the International Amateur Boxing Association (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, or AIBA). Many amateurs begin boxing in their teens, and organizations such as Golden Gloves run competitions for young boxers in many communities.

Many of the greatest professional boxers in history first made a name for themselves in amateur boxing, especially at the Olympic Games. Boxing debuted as an Olympic sport in 1904 and is also a part of many other international competitions. Most amateur boxers are classified in the 12 Olympic weight divisions (listed here with maximum weight allowed): light flyweight, 106 lb (48 kg); flyweight, 112 lb (51 kg); bantamweight, 119 lb (54 kg); featherweight, 125 lb (57 kg); lightweight, 132 lb (60 kg); light welterweight, 139 lb (63 kg); welterweight, 147 lb (67 kg); light middleweight, 156 lb (71 kg); middleweight, 165 lb (75 kg); light heavyweight, 178 lb (81 kg); heavyweight, 201 lb (91 kg); and super heavyweight, over 201 lb (over 91 kg).

V

Professional Boxing

Professional boxing, once known as prizefighting, has a long and colorful history. Championship pro bouts have produced some of the most memorable events and colorful figures in sports, as well as some of the richest purses. With the development of pay-per-view broadcasting that can be sold worldwide, a modern heavyweight title fight can command guaranteed purses of as much as $10 million to $20 million or more per fighter. Lower divisions usually fight for less. Pro boxing matches are usually scheduled for between four and ten rounds, depending on the fighters’ experience. Championship bouts are set up for 12 rounds. Professional boxing uses the same divisions as amateur boxing, with slight variations in the weights, some interim divisions (such as junior bantamweight and junior featherweight), and the absence of a super heavyweight slot.

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Modern professional boxing is governed by a number of different sanctioning bodies. Major ones include the World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Council (WBC), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF). Championship titles are often symbolized by an ornate belt that goes to the winner. The same fighter can vie for the title of more than one organization, but different rankings and rules about who can fight the champion mean that the titles are almost always split between several boxers. If one fighter manages to capture the titles of all the major organizations at once, this is known as “unifying” the title and the boxer is the “undisputed” champion. As the names of the sanctioning bodies suggest, pro boxing is an international sport with competitors from many countries.

VI

Health and Safety

Though minimized by managers, promoters, and boxing officials, boxing’s physical tolls on competitors are real and serious. Not only are there immediate dangers—broken noses, bleeding, eyes swollen shut, and, rarely, death—but there is the possibility of lasting damage caused by repeated blows to the head, a condition known as pugilistica dementia, or punch drunkenness, with symptoms that include slurred speech and the dragging feet sometimes known as “boxer’s shuffle.” The beating that boxers take may also cause a variety of other serious problems, such as neurological damage, detached retinas, sinus problems, and deformed (“cauliflower”) ears.

These problems are compounded at many levels of the sport by inadequate regulation (such as allowing incompetent or injured fighters to compete) and poor supervision during and after a fight. There is no federal oversight of the sport—boxing is governed by state commissions that are often inexperienced and motivated by political objectives. Although monitoring of the physical condition of boxers has improved and medical facilities are now usually required during a bout, fighters are still vulnerable—boxing fatalities continue to occur every year. Although doctors disagree on the extent of permanent damage that boxers suffer, there is no question that boxers put their short- and long-term health at considerable risk. Various health groups and other organizations, including the American Medical Association (AMA), have at one time or another called for boxing to be banned altogether.

VII

Corruption

Boxing’s image also suffers from a long-running reputation for corruption. Criminal elements were attracted to the sport as boxing grew into a big-money business during the 20th century. In the past boxers were often more vulnerable than other athletes to criminal influence because of the individualistic nature of the sport combined with the fact that many fighters grew up in poverty and will do almost anything to escape from that life.

The scandals and “fixes” have occurred at all levels of the sport, and for every documented instance there are many more suspected but often unproved. Examples of scandal-plagued fighters and organizations include Italian heavyweight Primo Carnera, whose sensational rise during the 1930s proceeded from fixed fights in which his opponents had been paid to lose (“take a dive”); the International Boxing Club, a major East Coast fight promoter that sometimes colluded with racketeers in the 1940s and 1950s; and boxing czar Paul John (“Frankie”) Carbo, a powerful boxing manager with ties to organized crime in the 1940s and 1950s, who was convicted of extortion in 1961.

While corruption continues in boxing today, the fighter is almost always the innocent party. The governing bodies, which control the all-important rankings, are now the most likely sources of scandal. Robert Lee, the former president of the IBF, was banned from boxing for life and sent to prison in 2001 for accepting bribes from promoters. Many promoters sign multifight contracts with top fighters, functioning as managers without actually looking after the boxers’ best interests.

Despite some improvement in the sport’s image, boxing is still plagued by the presence of a rogue element. One of the most powerful figures in all of boxing since the 1970s is promoter Don King, a notorious figure who helped shape the careers of heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson. King’s checkered legal past includes a manslaughter conviction, an acquittal for tax evasion and fraud, and numerous other criminal investigations. King’s boxing business dealings, while presumably legal, are equally problematic. He often controls all the principal figures in a major fight, in effect administering the title himself. His influence with governing bodies is legendary. Boxing’s aura of corruption is reinforced by the fact that most of the sport’s big-money title fights now take place in Nevada, where the giant casinos can host the event and simultaneously take in millions of dollars in bets on the outcome. Gambling appears to have less direct influence on the sport than it once did, however.

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