The Sport Of Boxing

Why would two grown men stand in a ring throwing punches at each while people whooped and hollered in the crowds? Why would two grown men aim to knock the other out for the count? Why you ask? Well it’s all part of the sport of boxing!

Ever heard the phrase “toe the line?” Wonder where it came from? Well it’s the earliest form of boxing where two components would get into the ring with no gloves and no doctors onsite. They would fight until one or both were in a state of disrepair no longer capable of fighting.

This form of boxing was highly illegal and prone to regular police raids but it didn’t stop the sport from continuing and from spectators attending. Exactly the same thing would happen today if modern boxing became a banned sport.

Boxing is one of those sports you love or hate. If you hate it that’s just fine go find some other sport to amuse yourself. If you love it you’ve got an appreciation for a good fight and aren’t likely to miss too many matches if you have it your way.

And just as hockey cards and baseball cards are collectable so are boxing cards. There are cards dating back to the bare knuckle fights of an era long gone to the modern day boxing champs. The 1922 Rising Stars were a very popular set of cards to collect because the photos. There were 15 cards in total.

So which boxers were you likely to find on boxing cards at the beginning? Well George Cook was definitely a card hit. This heavyweight Australian champ as was Great Jack Sharkey who actually kicked George Cook’s butt.

Johnny Brown a lightweight from Scotland was another boxer to make the cards. In 1920 he won the featherweight ABA championship but he eventually lost to Tommy Milligan and Alf Mancini. Jim Higgins was another popular Scottish boxer. Information is rather scarce on him but he did hold the Longsdale Belt Record.

Then there was Seaman James Hall of Peebles Scotland, a Royal Navy member who was thought to be one of the best lightweight fighters ever. He however was once knocked out cold by Matt Wells. Johnny Basham of South Wales won the Lonsdale Belt but lost the British and the European Middleweight champs back in 1921.

Charles Ledoux and Carpentier were the two greatest boxers in France. Ledoux won many fights in England and he was known as a crowd pleaser. The youngest Bantam Championship was held by Bugler Lake a member of the Royal Marines. He even had a couple of awesome fights with Teddy Murton and Charles Ledoux, but he was beaten by Johnny Brown.

Then there was the Canadian Heavyweight Soldier Horace Jones who beat Penwill, George, and Davis in just one round. Not a bad record especially for an army boy who didn’t have nearly the time to commit to training.

The best boxer out of Belgium was Arthur Wyns who won the European Featherweight Champion title back in 1920. There are very few boxers that originate from Belgium so information is pretty scarce however he has been found on a couple of sports cards.

Tommy Harrison was the British Boxer famed by his knock out fight with Charles Ledoux but finding him on a sport card. It’s hard to believe that he beat Ledoux on skill critics believe it was more of a fluke but you’ll have to make your own decision.

In more modern day boxing Muhammad Ali is probably one of the most recognized boxers. His career started at the early age of 12 when he began taking boxing lessons. Muhammad Ali has a long history of wins over his years as a boxing professional.

Of course there are many boxers that deserve mention. Hasim Rahman, Nicolay Valuev, Chris Byrd, and Lamon Brewster have all held heavyweight championships. Jermain Taylor, Maselino Masoe, and Arthur Abraham have all held middleweight championships. Diego Corrales, Juan Diaz, Jesus Chavez, and Diego Corrales have all held lightweight championships. Then there are all the other categories that there simply isn’t room to mention.

There is no question that boxing as a sport and collecting boxing sports cards both remain very popular today. So who’s the next champion that will be immortalized in the card world?

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.