Boxing was already practiced as such during the Olympic Games of Antiquity, in which it was included in the 7th century BC. However, some representations have survived that show that the Minoan culture, characteristic of Crete and the nearby islands, knew this discipline at least around 1500 BC. Furthermore, the boxers who are represented in the famous Boxers' Fresco, found in Santorini and dated approximately to that date, wear protections on their hands that are reminiscent of the gloves that are used today.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the practice of boxing, which at that time was carried out with a bare fist, began to normalize, especially in the British Empire. In 1743, wrestler Jack Broughton introduced a code designed to prevent athletes from suffering fatal injuries, which was not uncommon. This proposed, for example, not hitting the opponent on the head if he was prostrate or below the waist. The British Association for the Protection of Fighters further developed these standards in 1838. But what we understand today as modern boxing was instituted in the last decades of the 19th century.
In 1867, John Graham Chambers, a key figure in the development of the sport in the United Kingdom, established with the support of the Marquis of Queensberry twelve rules that are basically still in force in these competitions. These establish from the dimensions of the ring and the obligation to wear good quality gloves to the famous ten-second count that is applied to the boxer who falls before being eliminated.
