History of boxing:

Development of Amateur Boxing:

Marquis John Szolto Douglas, the developer of the "Queensberry" Rules, initiated the first amateur boxing competitions in 1867. In 1880 the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) was founded and since 1881 the first regular championships had been arranged among amateurs. In 1888 in the USA the Amateur Sporting Union (AAU) was founded and since then annual national championships among amateurs had been conducted.

In 1926 the "Chicago Tribune" arranged the "Golden Gloves" amateur competitions with the status of national championship, which were competing with bouts arranged by AAU. The law forbidding the AAU to control more than one Olympic sport was passed in 1978 in the USA. This resulted in the establishment of the USA Amateur Boxing Federation (USA/ABF).

The amateur boxing quickly gained polpularity worldwide. This resulted in the arrangement of international tournaments, held every year, every two years, or as in the Olympic Games case, every four years. European Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan-American Games, All-African Championships, World Military Games are among internationally recognized competitions among amateur boxers.

All amateur competitions are conducted under the control of Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur - AIBA), established in 1946 with its headquarters in London.

In 1950 the Soviet Union joined the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur - AIBA and took part in the Olympic games in 1952, where the high level of professionalism of Soviet sportsmen in this kind of sports was demonstrated along with the East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Cuba. The professional boxing is still forbidden by the F. Castro's government in Cuba, therefore the Cuban boxers dominate in the international amateur boxing.

Teofilio Stevenson, the Cuban heavyweight won the Olympic Gold in 1972, 1976 and 1980. Boxing in Africa started developing in the 50-s - 60-s, after the majority of countries of that continent became politically independent.

Professional Boxing Managers and Promoters:

Managers are , frequently, the most influential people in a professional boxers' career. A manager is responsible for maintaining his boxers' fitness and motivation levels, handling contracts, coaching, supervision and preparation for fights.

In the fistfights times, the best fighters had patrons who defended their financial interests. However, when boxing became less popular among nobility, boxers were engaged by professionals, who took care of money issues and chose appropriate opponents for boxers as well. This very function became managers' major task.

A good manager thoughtfully leads his protege to fame and in reward for a job well-done, receives a portion of profits. The most successful managers often become as popular as the boxing champions themselves. Promoters are people responsible for fight planning and organization, invitation of boxers, and probably play the most important role benind the scene (or outside the ring!).

George "Tex" Rickard, the first prominent promoter, was the man who turned boxing into a big business. In 1906, after he arranged the fight for the lightweight World Champion title between Joe Gans and Oscar "Battling" Nelson in a small miners' settlement Nev. Goldfield, he understood that he could get considerable profits arranging professional boxing fights. Rickard, playing up the public feelings and professionally using the advertising for attracting spectators to the boxing tournaments, had considerably increased the earnings from ticket sales. He also was the first person to suggest the idea of broadcasting boxing matches that increased boxing audience and the number of fans. He invested over $1million into each of the five matches to promote Jack Dempsey, the World Champion, in 1919-1926. During the years of the "Great Depression", when the sporting career of Jack Dempsey was over, the dividends from Rickard's previous investments gradually decreased. Then, in 1935 promoter Mike Jacobs signed the contract with Joe Louis, starting the new era of big profits. The earnings gained throughout Louis sporting career exceeded $5,000,000.

The English promoter Jack Solomons, who helped one of the ailing British boxers to get on his feet after the World War II, encouraged many leading American boxers to cross Atlantic, while they would rather have stayed at home. Many outstanding English promoters such as Harry Liven, Mikky Daff, Mike Berrett and Berry Irn followed Solomons' way.

Lately, promoters are often suspected in dubious deals and undertakings. Scandalously known American promoters Don King and Bob Arum were under close FBI investigation. King is probably one of the most controversial people in modern boxing. Although he worked hard to promote the sport of boxing and his boxers, Tyson and Chavez, his methods and style were rather questionable.

The spotlight of the English promoter Franck Warren in 1990 gave rise to the anxiety about the integrity of the sport.

Previous -- Queensberry Code of Rules | Next -- Professionals