prizefight: Definition from Answers.com

Technically speaking, prize-fighting is any physical contest that offers a prize or "purse" to one or more contestants. In the common vernacular, it refers primarily to boxing, the only form of prizefighting in the United States to gain some measure of prestige as well as commercial success. Boxing is a sport where two opponents, chosen by weight class, fight with their fists, usually wearing padded gloves. Contestants are judged based on the number and quality of blows delivered to their opponent's head and torso. Boxing history in the United States has been dominated by heavyweight boxers, but in recent decades boxers from lighter weight classes have occasionally grabbed the spotlight. Because of its nature as an individual sport, the peaks and valleys of the boxing world have been largely dependent on the personalities of the players.

Imported from England

John Graham Chambers, a British boxing official, drew up the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in the 1860s. The new rules became part of the British tradition, adding prestige to a sport favored by wealthy gentlemen who wagered considerable sums on contests or "bouts." The Queensberry Rules included gloves, in contrast to the more lowly form of bareknuckle fighting, and the introduction of three-minute rounds. The American tradition, however, was more associated with bareknuckle grudge matches in saloons and rural gathering spots. In slave states, boxing could be particularly gruesome, with some bouts involving several black slaves in the ring while white spectators wagered on which would be the last man standing. Its unsavory reputation resulted in the widespread prohibition of prizefighting in the mid-nineteenth century, led by northeastern states such as New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York. Nearing the end of the nineteenth century, most states had banned prizefighting. Nonetheless, the sport remained popular and fights were still promoted and exhibited, especially in the western United States.

Patriotism and Race

Beginning in the early nineteenth century, some bouts between English and American fighters gained widespread attention, thanks in no small part to promoters encouraging nationalistic pride. Bill Richmond (1763–1829), the son of a Georgia-born slave, caught the attention of General Earl Percy, who took him back to England to fight in championship-level bouts. In 1910, Richmond beat English champion George Maddox in the fifty-second round, adding fuel to the rivalry between England and the United States. The same year, Tom Molineaux (1784–1818), a former slave from Virginia, fought England's Tom Cribb (and lost) in the first black-white title fight, gaining international attention.

Later in the century, as American boxing became legalized and more institutionalized, promoters catered to the dominant white culture, who wanted blacks barred from the more prestigious heavyweight contests. As a result, blacks and whites generally fought in different circuits. Perhaps the most famous boxer of the era was Boston's John L. Sullivan (1858–1918), whose charisma and talent made him a star on the exhibition circuit. Sullivan's celebrity status increased the popularity of the sport and helped establish American dominance over British fighters.

In the later part of the nineteenth century, however, patriotic rivalries were replaced by racial rivalries. In 1908, black fighter Jack Johnson (1878–1946) defeated Canadian Tommy Burns for the heavyweight title. Johnson openly taunted white opponents and inflamed racial tensions, and promoters grew desperate to find a white fighter to beat him. In 1910, Johnson defeated white former champion Jim Jeffries in fifteen rounds, sparking race riots in the United States that left twelve people dead. Johnson's success as a fighter was eclipsed by his reputation for creating trouble for promoters and did not make it any easier for blacks to compete in prominent contests. Championship bouts were again dominated by whites until the 1930s, after which came the ascendancy of black fighters and, later, Hispanics.

The Highs and the Lows

In the 1920s, American heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey (1895–1983) became an international celebrity whose fights made front-page news. After Dempsey's retirement in 1927, however, boxing went into a lull. For the next decade, the title went to good but less exciting heavyweights such as Max Baer, Primo Carnera (Italy), James Braddock, and Max Schmeling (Germany).

The boxing hero of the 1930s and 1940s was Joe Louis (1914–1981), a black American originally from Alabama. Louis's talent in the ring, paired with his polite demeanor, made him one of the best-known boxers of all time, the reigning champion from 1937 to 1949. His most embarrassing defeat, to Germany's Max Schmeling in 1937, was avenged in a 1938 re-match that lasted just over two minutes, making "The Brown Bomber" a popular symbol of American superiority over Adolf Hitler's Germany.

The 1950s saw the emergence of popular boxers from lighter weight classes, including Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989), the virtually unstoppable welterweight champion of the 1940s. Robinson moved up to capture and retain the middleweight title in the 1950s and became a national celebrity. Heavyweight bouts continued to be the most publicized and most prestigious events, however. Heavyweight champs from the era included Rocky Marciano (1923–1969), who retired undefeated, and Floyd Patterson (b. 1935), who held the title from 1956 until 1959, and then again from 1960 until 1962, when he lost to Charles "Sonny" Liston (1932–1970).

Bold and brash challenger Cassius Clay (b. 1942) was the light heavyweight champion of the 1960 Olympics who moved up to beat Liston in the 1964 title bout. Clay, a black Muslim, changed his name to Muhammad Ali and went on to become one of the most famous athletes of the twentieth century. In 1967, Ali made headlines outside the ring when he was stripped of his title and lost his license to box for refusing on religious grounds to be inducted into the Army during the Vietnam War. Ali was later allowed to box again and was vindicated by the Supreme Court in 1971.

Joe Frazier (b. 1944) won a tough decision over Ali in 1970, but lost to George Foreman in 1973. Ali defeated Foreman in Zaire in 1974 and regained the title in a media spectacle dubbed "The Rumble in the Jungle." Ali's charisma made him a popular culture icon in both Africa and the United States, and the contest made the history books as one of the greatest comebacks in sports. Ali won in eight rounds by leaning against the ropes of the ring and taking punch after punch until, finally, Foreman exhausted himself. Ali called his strategy the "Rope-A-Dope," a term that immediately entered the popular lexicon. In another hyped bout in 1975, Ali fought Frazier in the Philippines—"The Thrilla in Manila"—one of the most brutal fights in modern history between two of the sport's most bitter rivals. Ali beat Frazier and held the championship title, but age was catching up to him. Ali lost in 1978 to Leon Spinks (b. 1953), regained the title briefly, then lost again to Larry Holmes (b. 1949) and retired in 1981.

Holmes won twenty straight title fights between 1978 and 1985, but never gained the superstar status of Louis or Ali, partly due to organizational chaos in the boxing industry. In the 1980s, the public turned its attention to lighter weight divisions and captivating personalities such as Sugar Ray Leonard (b. 1956), "Marvelous Marvin" Hagler (b. 1954), and Thomas Hearns (b. 1958), although big money matches were still the province of the heavyweights.

In 1987, Mike Tyson (b. 1966) became the undisputed world champion at the age of twenty, the youngest to ever hold the title. Short and stocky, "Iron Mike" over-whelmed opponents with strength and speed, but lost the crown in 1990 to James "Buster" Douglas (b. 1960) in one of boxing's biggest upsets. Douglas held the title for less than a year, then lost to Evander Holyfield (b. 1962) in a third-round knockout. Meanwhile, Tyson's most famous fights were outside the ring and inside the courtroom. After a brief marriage came a highly publicized divorce from actress Robin Givens, then a 1992 rape conviction that led to three years in prison. After jail, Tyson made a comeback, but in a bizarre incident, he bit the ear of Holyfield during a 1997 title fight. In spite of the controversy in his personal life and his strange antics in the ring, Tyson continued to generate millions of dollars for the boxing industry, thanks in large part to the advent of pay-per-view matches on cable television. In 2002, Tyson's last-ditch effort to gain respectability and the title fell short and he was soundly defeated by British champion Lennox Lewis (b. 1965), in what was popularly considered a contest between the gentleman (Lewis) and the brute (Tyson).

By the end of the twentieth century, professional boxing still hinged on the ability of fighters to excite the public, and heavyweight bouts continued to be the most publicized and the most lucrative. But the ascendancy of Hispanics, who generally fight in lighter weight divisions, helped hold the attention of fans in the absence of a captivating heavyweight fighter, and smaller fighters like Oscar De la Hoya (b. 1973) and Puerto Rico's Felix Trinidad (b. 1973) became stars in their own right.

Bibliography

Andre, Sam E., and Nat Fleischer, updated by Dan Rafael. Prize-fighting: An Illustrated History of Boxing. 6th rev. ed. New York: Citadel, 2001.

Mee, Bob. Bare Fists: The History of Bare-Knuckle Prize-Fighting. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2001.

Pacheco, Ferdie, and Jim Moskovitz. The Twelve Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories. Kingston, N.Y.: Total/Sports Illustrated, 2000.

Seltzer, Robert. Inside Boxing. New York: MetroBooks, 2000.