Page 107 - Doug Werner Boxer's Start-Up

History

fencing can be seen particularly in the early boxing
stance which included a straight back and a wide, side-
ways stance with one arm leading.

Boxing was a bare knuckle affair at this time and
remained so for almost another 200 years. The sport
became popular across the board and drew large crowds
who loved to gamble and watch the bloodletting. In the
beginning it was all so brutally simple. Rich patrons
(eventually, even royalty) backed likely candidates and
pitted them against each other wherever they could do
so legally.

From Gouging to Gloves
Rules were spare.At first there really weren’t any. Guys
just faced each other and slugged,kicked,bit and gouged
away until only one was left standing.Technique wasn’t
much either. Except for a notable exception or two,
boxers squared off and bashed away.

In 1741,things got a bit more polished with a set of rules
created by Jack Broughton after he killed an opponent
in the ring. Rounds were created based on knockdowns
--- once a man went down he had 30 seconds to get back
up. Once he did, another round began. Since there were
no time limits, fights sometimes lasted hours. You
couldn’t hit a man if he was down or wrestle below the
waist. Broughton is also credited with developing basic
boxing skills including blocking and retreating.

Almost 100 years later another boxing death led to a
safer set of rules. In 1838 the Pugilists’ Protective
Association of London created the London Prize Ring
Rules which were revised in 1853 and again in 1866.

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