BASIC BOXING HISTORY II [RECYCLED]

The Golden Age-In WWI boxing is used as a conditioning tool and an entire generation of American men learn and embrace the sport. When the War ends the rise of Jack Dempsey launches boxing into its Golden Era. Dempsey is a revolution in boxing. He is shockingly aggressive, fast handed, athletic, fierce and exciting. With his promoter Tex Rickard, boxing becomes big business. By this time the divisions have expanded to the eight we will know for decades Flyweight (under 112) Bantamweight (under 118) Featherweight (under 126) lightweight (under 135) welterweight (under 147) middleweight (under 160) light heavyweight (under 175) and heavyweight. At this time the National Boxing Association and the State of New York are the recognized governing bodies. They rarely disagree on a champion and when they do, a fight quickly settles it. For the next 60 years, with only a few exceptions, there are 8 belts, one for each division. That means contenders face a tough road to the top but that once you get there you are a household name and big money is available. You are a the UNDISPUTED CHAMPION, THE MAN. In these years the gate is all that matters, who buys tickets and shows up. Because baseball is the only other major sport and it is played during the day, at night boxing has the sports world to itself. There have ben no significant technical advancements in the sport in terms of boxing technique since this period. In 1927 there were 2000 licensed boxers in NY state alone and over 900 boxing shows that year. By comparison in 2006 there were 38 shows in New York and 50 licensed fighters. Boxing got the best athletes, the biggest crowds, the best coaching minds.

The Television Era-That all changed after WWII. A booming economy gave the poor other options than getting punched for a living, the rise of the suburbs cause a flight of the core boxing fan (read white people) from the cities to the new suburbs. Television, searching for programming, latched onto boxing as a staple. In simple terms for Americans, why pay for boxing downtown when you could get it for free at home? This destroyed the small boxing clubs, meant fewer boxing gyms, fewer talented trainers etc. By 1952, the number of professional boxers had fallen by 50% from the 1920's. By the early 1960's the NFL, NBA and other sports were on the rise drawing gifted athletes further and further away from boxing. In 1962, on national TV, Benny Kid Paret dies after a fight with Emil Griffith and boxing is now removed from television for several years. In 1962 the NAB grew into the WBA as the sport grew internationally. In 1963, the WBC was formed to govern boxing internationally. This for the first time created split championships, but as a matter of fact they were rarely in dispute and when they were, fights were usually quickly scheduled so there would be a single champion. Boxing returned to television in the late 1960's principally via Wide World Of Sports and fights were frequently shown on Saturday afternoons.