Boxing

Atlanta, 3 August 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad. Men's boxing: Cuban Felix SAVON in action versus Canadian David DEFIAGBON during the heavyweight final bout. Savon won the gold. Credit: Getty Images/BELLO Al

Boxing ranks among the Olympic Games' most illustrious sports.
When it first arrived in the Ancient Olympic Games, the tools of the trade were long strips of leather wrapped around boxers' fists. The fight continued until one man or the other went down or conceded. The Romans followed with a gladiator dimension. They used gloves studded with spikes or weighted with lead, and fights often ended in death, like other entertainment of the day.