As Mick would say, by the end of this article you’re going to eat lightning and crap thunder. Boxing, explained.
In 2014, we introduced our Saturday Sports Explained feature, in which we take an off-beat look at familiar and unfamiliar sports, using humor and pop culture references. In 2014, we brought baseball, football, basketball, soccer, rugby, ultimate Frisbee, golf, lacrosse, bowling, figure skating, and weightlifting under the Sports Explained microscope.
We kicked off 2015 with karate and kung fu, and keep the physicality going this week with boxing.
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“Boxing is the toughest and loneliest sport in the world. You’ve got all the fans, lots of hangers – on jumping up and shouting different words. But when you actually go in the ring, it’s a very lonely and scary place. It’s just you and the other guy.”
– Frank Bruno
Boxing, otherwise known as ” the sweet science” can be seen as a violent sport or as a beautiful, artistic display of athleticism.
This is neither:
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A boxer can win a fight before entering the ring, the mental game is just as strong as the physical game. Which makes the entrance, all the more important.
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Though boxing is violent, it is actually a skillful art that involves strategy and planning – just like a chess match. One of the greatest fighters of all time, Roy Jones once referred to it as a cock fight. Here’s Jones with his best rooster impression.
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A boxing match is not a brawl or street fight. There are rules to designate a winner and the rules vary between amateur boxing and professional boxing. Although sometimes a professional match can look like an amateur match and vice versa. Regardless, a great fight at any level can leave you breathless as a spectator.
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On scoring:
Points are given to the boxers based on four factors – clean punching, aggressiveness, ring generalship and defense.
Decision of the bouts are decided as unanimous, split, majority, and a draw.
A bout can be stop before schedule duration due to KO (Knockout) or TKO (Technical Knockout).
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“Boxing is for men, and is about men, and is men. A celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost.”
– Carol Joyce Oates
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Photo Credit: Fateh Ullah/Flickr
Good Men Project Sports thanks contributor Shiney Sparks for her assistance with this piece!
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Very good write up about Boxing the sports.. Love to hear how an ordinary person can become a boxer ..