Boxing

Talk Boxing takes a look at the history and rules of boxing, as well as a boxer’s moves and training regimen. It’s a British site, so it does tend to focus on British boxing, but much of the information is universal.

Encyclopedia Britannica covers the early history and the current state of boxing, with information on rules, technique, equipment, and competitions. The content is broken up into several short sections, which are best navigated using the navigation bar on the left-hand side.

HowStuffWorks gives a good overview of the rules of boxing, terms, strategy, and history along with photos taken from actual fights.

Ringside by Gus has the Association of Boxing Commission’s Unified Boxing Rules, which are applicable to professional title fights in the United States. The site also has a good glossary of boxing terms and a list of fouls.

Encyclopedia Britannica covers the Queensberry rules, which revolutionized the sport of boxing when they were created by the Marquess of Queensberry in 1867. The same basic rules are still in use today.

BBC Sport presents amateur boxing rules. It clearly explains amateur boxing’s strict scoring system, which is based on the number of punches thrown and not the power of the punch.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, is the more respected of the two international boxing halls of fame. Its site includes biographies of inductees and articles about boxing’s history.

The World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles is the oldest international boxing hall of fame, founded in 1980. Its site features short biographies of all its inductees, as well as induction ceremony information and pictures.

Boxinggyms.com has a collection of newspaper articles covering fights from the 1800s to 1955. Many famous fights are covered here, including Johnson–Burns, Dempsey–Tunney, and Louis–Schmeling.

PBS ’s “American Experience” presents The Fight, a documentary on the epic 1938 bout between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. The fight became a symbolic battle between the United States and the Nazi regime, and Louis’s first-round knockout of Schmeling made him an American hero. The site includes an overview of the fight, a timeline, pictures, radio calls of both Louis–Schmeling bouts, and a transcript of the film. It also encourages further study, with a collection of primary sources, further reading, and a teacher’s guide.

PBS also offers Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a documentary by Ken Burns. In 1908, Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion of the world, challenging the racist ideals of the white establishment and paving the way for civil-rights trailblazers like Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali. The site features a walk-through of the documentary, with pictures and selected audio snippets, and a teacher’s resource designed for high school students. The documentary is also available on DVD.

The New York Times has an archive of articles chronicling the life and career of Muhammad Ali, from his first victory over Sonny Liston to his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Several book reviews are also included.