Why is boxing referred to as the SWEET SCIENCE?

[elveiel]

Its the science of hitting without being hit, its far too technical for it to be considered anything else. Science is the study of the physical universe, its observation, experiment and measurment which are all part of boxing in some way or another. I get really annoyed when people say boxing is just two people hitting each other, anyone who thinks that would change their mind if they ever come up against a skilled boxer.

[masterdirector]

yeah SlipX, I think HBO had it a little better than Friday Night Fights. The final punch stats, according to Compubox:

Mayweather Gatti
295 Punches thrown 245

168 Punches connected 41

57 Percentage 17

112 Jabs thrown 189



53 Jabs connected 31

47 Percentage 16

Power punches
183 thrown 56

Power punches

115 connected 10

63 Percentage 18

http://cbs.sportsline.com/print/boxing/story/8601342

And give it a couple weeks, it'll be up officially on CompuBox's official site too. Gatti supposedly landed 10 power shots.

[GasPed]

An excerpt from an essay by someone named Jon Christensen:

'The phrase “the sweet science of boxing” was popularized by Liebling. He got it from Pierce Egan’s Boxiana, collections of articles about boxing in England in the 1700s. Egan called boxing “The Sweet Science of Bruising.”'

Liebling's book The Sweet Science was a collection of his boxing pieces for The New Yorker in the 50's.

[The_One77]

Lennox Lewis once said,
" Boxing is chess except with muscles, like boxing you find openings and strike"

Well, it was something along those lines anyway.

[DiegoFuego]

can someone give me a detailed answer?

basically, most people that use this are the ones who like boxers that are afraid to mix it up (Roy Jones, Chris Byrd, etc) and justify that their fighters are "talented" by saying boxing is about tapping people with yours gloves, before bailing out. people that use this term look down on the Jose Luis Castillo's for being brawlers. Good example is the poster on here named BadMagick, who scored the first Castillo-Mayweather fight in favor of MAYWEATHER!!!! I've never heard anything that ****** in my life. He said he didn't give Castillo some rounds because Castillo was using "rough tactics" or something. Very humorous, and a classic example of a guy favoring a boxer (albeit one who's getting beat) over the brawler, who looks less marvelous (albeit more effective). I think the whole idea is very ******. Everybody has a style.

[DiegoFuego]

Cory Spinks fans' are even worse at using this term. they know Spinks does not belong in a boxing ring, but they try to justify his presence by saying he's some "terrific boxer", a master of the "sweet science" when really he just gets gift decisions and gets knocked out when he tries to fight at all.