boxing: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	pugilism • prizefighting

Photos and Videos

Floyd Mayweather Jr., wearing black and gold trunks, lands a left punch on Manny Pacquiao, in yellow trunks, during their welterweight title fight in a boxing ring.

Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)

Bronze sculpture The Boxer at Rest by Apollonius the Athenian shows a seated, bearded man with muscular build and wrapped hands, gazing upward, displayed on a stone base.

bare-knuckle championship fight

Barney Ross, wearing boxing gloves, shorts, and boots, poses in a boxing stance inside a boxing ring in a 1935 black-and-white photograph.

Joe Louis and Max Schmeling

Sugar Ray Robinson and Randy Turpin

Referee Lane Mills steps in as Evander Holyfield reacts in pain, clutching Mike Tyson during their 1997 heavyweight boxing match after Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.

Thailand's Wijan Ponlid celebrates in a boxing ring, draped in the Thai flag and holding up a framed portrait of the king of Thailand after winning Olympic gold in 2000.

Muhammad Ali: One of the greatest boxers of all time

Hear about the first Olympic gold medal winner in women's boxing, Nicola Adams

Weight divisions in boxing explained

View a “white-collar boxing” match, London, form of amateur boxing featuring men and women fighters from white-collar professions

Observe how a hook punch's force is generated mostly from the hips while the elbow remains bent

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Topics

hook knockout weight division decision scientific boxing heavyweight round ring punch uppercut Baseball golf American football football cricket rugby Basketball tennis ice hockey horse racing

Key People

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Trevor Berbick

Canadian boxer

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Ken Norton

American boxer

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Bob Foster

American boxer

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Oscar De La Hoya

American boxer

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

American boxer

Muhammad Ali, shirtless and sweating, trains with a speed bag in a wood-paneled gym at his Pennsylvania training camp, circa 1974.

Muhammad Ali

American boxer

Sugar Shane Mosley

Shane Mosley

American boxer

Jake Paul speaks at a press conference, wearing a red hat reading Make Boxing Great Again and a patterned denim jacket, with a microphone in front of him.

Jake Paul

American boxer, influencer, and actor

Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao

Filipino boxer and politician

Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury

English-born boxer

Oleksandr Usyk

Oleksandr Usyk

Ukrainian boxer

Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

American boxer

Canelo Alvarez stands in a boxing stance inside the ring, wearing teal gloves and black trunks, with dramatic overhead lights shining down and the crowd in the background.

Canelo Álvarez

Mexican professional boxer

Naseem Hamed versus Sergio Liendo

Naseem Hamed

British boxer

Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield

American boxer

Bernard Hopkins, left, lands a punch on Oscar De La Hoya during their world middleweight title boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Bernard Hopkins

American boxer

Joe Louis posing shirtless in boxing gloves and shorts, arms raised in a fighting stance, photographed in 1946.

Joe Louis

American boxer

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Vitali Klitschko

Ukrainian boxer and politician

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Roy Jones, Jr.

American boxer

Rodolfo Gonzales

Rodolfo Gonzales

Mexican American boxer, writer, and civil rights activist

Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women's Singles final against Venus Williams of the United States on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (tennis, sports)

Great Moments in Sports Quiz

Men fencing (sport; swordplay; sword)

Sports Season

Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the world record with a time of 19.30 to win the gold medal as Churandy Martina (left) of Netherlands Antilles and Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe come in after him in the Men's 200m Final at the National Stadium during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Summer Olympics, track and field, athletics)

I Am the Greatest (Athlete)

Assorted sports balls including a basketball, football, soccer ball, tennis ball, baseball and others.

American Sports Nicknames

Joe Louis, 1946.

Boxing Quiz

Volleyball match

Sports Fun Facts Quiz

Bobby Riggs (bottom) and Billie Jean King during the "Battle of the Sexes" match at the Houston Astrodome, Texas, September 20, 1973. (tennis)

Sports Moments Nicknames Quiz

Cricket bat and ball. cricket sport of cricket.Homepage blog 2011, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics

Sports Quiz