Why is boxing called boxing? I need to know!

[iPhoneKiller]

So, my girlfriend asked my why is a square called a ring, which I said they use to fight in circles in the past.

However I could not answer why it is called boxing. I even googled it, and there isn't much to say where it came from.

It is known as pugilism (sp) which I don't understand really.

Any ideas? I am on my phone so a bit lazy to do more googling!

[MacDaRippa]

Origin of PUGILISM

Latin pugil boxer; akin to Latin "pugnus" fist ... I'm also interested in why it is called Boxing.

[JAB5239]

So, my girlfriend asked my why is a square called a ring, which I said they use to fight in circles in the past.

However I could not answer why it is called boxing. I even googled it, and there isn't much to say where it came from.

It is known as pugilism (sp) which I don't understand really.

Any ideas? I am on my phone so a bit lazy to do more googling!

"In the early days of professional fist fighting, Groups of fighters would travel from town to town challenging the local men. The fighters would arrange a few of the spectators in a circle and have them hold a ring of rope. Any man wishing to challenge one of the boxers would "toss his hat into the ring." The bout would then take place in this early boxing "ring."

As the number of spectators increased, the hand-held ring no longer sufficed, and it became necessary to fashion an enclosure by attaching ropes to stakes driven into the ground. Four stakes were normally used, which produced a square enclosure, but it continued to be called a boxing ring."

My best guess is because it (the ring) resembles a box. The word pugilist was used to describe fighters during the bare knuckle days and as the sport progressed and the circle of people turned in a square en-closer with 4 posts, people undoubtedly called it boxing and its combatants boxers.

Thats the best I can do for you cuz.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Beat me to it, Jab.

I definitely knew the answer too.

[JAB5239]

Beat me to it, Jab.

I definitely knew the answer too.

Is that the right answer? I was just making an educated guess!

[Sugarj]

Pugilism comes from the Latin for 'fist' which is 'Pugnus'. So that one is easily explained.

'Boxing' is a little more confusing. Obviously it is easy to think 'square ring'. History indicates that travelling boxers would challenge local fighters to duels in a ring they constructed with rope and several posts. The number of posts varied, so.....hell pentagons, hexagons and no doubt octagons probably surfaced. Naturally, just rope in a circle may well have been used too!

'Boxiana' was an early publication by an author called Pierce Egan in the early 1800s (one I've read actually). I gather that a rough translation of 'boxiana' is to 'bruise'. But I don't know if the verb 'to box' meaning 'to strike' predates this, or if Mr Egan coined the phrase. I'm sure a historian far more serious than myself could expand on this.

Obviously 'pugilism' is the clear ancestor to boxing in the terms stakes as it can be traced back to the early Greek games.

[Sugarj]

Looks like Jab posted while I was typing my reply!!! Ha ha

[JAB5239]

Looks like Jab posted while I was typing my reply!!! Ha ha

I know exactly who to ask to be sure. If hhascup doesn't know for sure I doubt anyone else here will. The guy is an encyclopedia of boxing knowledge and history. I'll PM him.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Is that the right answer? I was just making an educated guess!

We're in history now, Jab. Writing it as we go along.

[hhascup]

Some Historians believe the term "boxing" came from the Greeks (some of the earliest practitioners of the sport) and their comparison of the clenched fist with a box (pyxis). Others attribute the orgin to a priest in Siena, Italy, who was later canonized as St. Bernardine. Early in the thirteenth century, Bernardine is alleged to have taught his male parishoners to fight with their fists rather than deadly weapons, emphasizing special techniques to "box up" (block) on opponent's punches with the hands and arms.