Early Boxing

Origins of Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting

Elliot J. Gorn's book The Manly Art follows the development of bare-knuckle prize fighting in America over the course of the 19th century. His traces the origins of its popularity in America all the way to the time when it is replaced by boxing matches which were fought under the Queensberry rules. He also traces the social climb of boxing. It began as a completely lower class sport that was seen as extremely disreputable. Bare-Knuckle boxing eventually worked itself up to a measure of acceptance from the mainstream culture, however it would never be able to completely shake its image as a shady lower class activity. Even when boxing began to introduce gentlemanly rules to the sport it was still seen as a disreputable activity and for that matter still is today.

The point of Gorn's that I find very interesting is that bare-knuckle prize fighting was popular in England way before it began to become common here. In many ways the rise of boxing seems to go hand in hand with the industrial revolution. England was ahead of America when the industrial revolution started and the cities of the country grew up incredibly fast. They were very tight and cramped because there was only a limited amount of land available. The industrial labors in the cities were no longer important parts of the economy. It must have seemed to them that the factories could pull someone off the street who could do the job just as well as they could. Therefore they had to find new ways to prove their self-worth, and bare-knuckle prize fighting was one of the ways to do that. The man you are fighting might be able to come in and do your job but if you could beat him in the ring you would know you were better than he. It also gave the spectators a release from the monotony of factory day in and day out. Also the onlookers could try placing bets on the fights to try to make a little extra money on the side while