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3 Sports Law. J. 75 (1996)
Boxing in the Legal Arena

handle is hein.journals/sportlj3 and id is 81 raw text is: BOXING IN THE LEGAL ARENA IAN FORMAN* I. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Boxing has been integrated into the culture of societies dating back to ancient times. In both ancient Greece and ancient Rome, boxing exhibitions, which resembled modem day prize fights, were extremely popular.' In fact, the term boxing can be traced back to the Greek word for box, puxos, which was derived from the word pugme, the word for a clenched fist which resembles the shape of a box. Furthermore, the modem term pugilism comes from the Latin term pugilatus, which means fighting with the fist.2 The Greeks began to recognize the need for safety measures and required boxers to wear protective gear on their hands and heads during Olympic competitions.3 The traditions in ancient Rome were quite the opposite. Instead of moving to protect the combatants, their exhibitions grew into increasingly brutal gladiatorial contests where serious injuries were commonplace and men were frequently beaten to death in the ring.4 This level of brutality eventually led to the prohibition of boxing exhibitions around the fourth century A.D.5 Boxing began to gain popular appeal again midway through the 17th Century in Great Britain. Then, the contests were bare knuckle fights where the spectators placed bets on who would knock the other one down or draw blood first.6 In the early 18th Century, the industry of * B.A. Psychology 1992, Washington University; J.D. Candidate, May 1996, Loyola University School of Law (New Orleans, Louisiana). 1. Peter E. Millspaugh, The Federal Regulation of Professional Boxing: Will Congress Answer the Bell?, 19 SETON HALL LEGIS. J. 33, 35 (1994). 2. Id. (citing JOHN V. GROMBACH, THE SAGA OF THE FIST (1976)). 3. Id. (citing SHIRLEY GLUBOK & ALFRED TAMARIN, OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT GREECE 77 (1976)). 4. Id. (citing THE OXFORD COMPANION TO WORLD SPORTS AND GAMES 109 (John Arlott ed., 1975)). 5. Id. at 36 (citing Arlott, supra note 4, at 109). 6. Daniel E. Lazaroff, Torts & Sports: Participant Liability to Co-Participants For Injuries Sustained During Competition, 7 U. MIAMI ENT. & SPORTS L. REv. 191 (1990).

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