The first boxing bouts could be seen in ancient Greece, where the boxers performed at Olympic Games and other public events. Some of the rules they observed were very much like the ones we have today. But there was one big difference – instead of gloves, the fighters wore cestus. This was a wrapping of leather studded with lead or bronze plates. One blow from a cestus could cause serious injury.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, boxing disappeared, not to reappear until it was revived in England at the beginning of the 18th century. It soon became a fashionable sport, and has remained so for more than 100 years.
|
Fact File: Abner Doubleday is said to have laid out the first baseball diamond in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, and set up the rules which baseball still follows today. |
Picture Credit : Google