Quote from Budo Info Gallery (click here)
"Boxing itself was banned by Rome about 30 B.C. The Romans had made one small contribution to the sport: They invented the ring, originally a simple marked circle. With the spread of Christianity, pugilism in any form evidently disappeared from Europe completely. It resurfaced in England in the late 17th century. A London newspaper referred to a bout in 1681, and the Royal Theatre in London was the site of regularly scheduled matches in 1698. The sport at that time was actually a mixture of wrestling and boxing. Although hitting with fists was emphasized, a boxer could grab and throw his opponent, then jump on him and hit him while he was down. James Figg, who opened a boxing academy in London in 1719, introduced a measure of skill to the sport. Figg was an expert fencer as well as a boxer, and his academy was patterned after the fencing academies of the period. He taught parrying and counter-punching, just as fencing masters taught parries and ripostes to their students. Figg won great publicity for his academy by challenging all comers to bouts of boxing or cudgelling. He never lost, and was generally considered champion of Great Britain until he retired...."
Copyright © 2007 Phillip Hogan (c/o. Hogan Leisure, 2nd Flr, 127 Charlotte St, Brisbane, Qld 4000 Australia).