1. There are two forms of boxing – amateur and professional.
2. It is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds
3. Boxing as a sport dates back to ancient Greeks who made it part of Olympic games as early as 688 BC.
4. Onomastos Smyrnaios is the first winner in Olympic boxing of ancient Greek.
5. Boxing is also called pugilism.
6. Amateur boxing is an Olympic sport since its introduction in the 1904 Summer Olympic Games.
7. In Ancient Greek culture, the god, Apollo, was regarded as the inventor and guardian of the sport of boxing.
8. Archie Moore holds the record for most knockouts during a career — a staggering 141.
9. The result is decided when an opponent is deemed incapable to continue match by a referee or if an opponent is disqualified for breaking a rule, resigning by throwing in a towel, or by judges’ scorecards at the end of the bout.
10. The most prolific boxer in history was Great Britain’s Len Wickwar who, between 1928 and 1947, fought 463 bouts. He also holds the records for the most wins (336) and most losses (127) of any boxer.
11. George Foreman has made more money selling his grills than for his boxing career in which he was a 2-time heavyweight champion.
12. The record for most first round KO’s is held by Wilfred Benitez.
13. The most heavyweight title defenses is 25 by Joe Louis.
14. The youngest boxer to win a title is Wilfred Benitez at 17.
15. Boxing gloves are actually more dangerous and result in more deaths than bareknuckle boxing. In fact, gloves were introduced into boxing not for safety reasons, but to increase hits to the head and dramatic knockouts.
16. In 1949, an official boxing match between a bear and a man was held. The bear won.
17. Hall of Fame boxer Sugar Ray Robinson backed out of a fight because he had a dream that he was going to kill his opponent in the ring. After a priest and minister convinced Robinson to fight, Robinson went into the ring and killed his opponent, Jimmy Doyle.
18. Ronda Rousey, UFC Women’s bantamweight champion, claims that having a lot of sex before a match is good for female fighters because it boosts testosterone levels.
19. Boxer John Heenan got his ass handed to him so badly in an 1860 bare knuckle boxing match that they hired an artist to capture his rearranged face in oil.
20. Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali reportedly went two months without sex before a big fight, claiming it made him unbeatable in the ring.