What an outstanding ode to the Sweet Science. The boxing gym is the greatest place to meet people as people; nationality, ethnicity, social standing are all irrelevant.
Yes, I agree; the gyms helped me realize what a narrow world I was living in. Meeting people as people--that's the idea. Taking a few punches helped sharpen my sense of who people were. Every boxer has a style. So does every person. Getting hit gave me a new idea of who was in the ring with me. Thanks for your comment.
My experience is that the older we get, the more condensed our social circles become, so breaking out of those circles becomes even more important. The boxing gym is the perfect solution for that.
Thanks Allen. Fascinating. Like you, I had no idea of Byron's boxing when I dabbled in reading him as an undergraduate. It puts a different light on it indeed.
39 rounds???? what? How long would those fights last? How long was each round? wow! I had no idea.
Before the Queensbury Rules (1867), a round was over when a boxer was down but then got up. Boxers fought until one of them could not rise. I think the longest fight ever lasted 7 hours, over 100 rounds. Hard to imagine. The 3-min. round gave boxers 1 minute of rest but also encourage boxers to use strategy, to think of a fight in terms of time, and to make the most of the pressure. Pro fights have a 10-second warning before the bell. Good to remember, too, that in the old days (including Dempsey-Tunney), crowds of up to 100,000 watched (but how?) matches outside.
Wonderful piece, Allen. Byron is unfortunately undervalued in literary circles. But i'm an advocate. He was a great poet with a marvelous sense of humour. And as you point out, a great man in many ways. I love the boxing angle here.
What an outstanding ode to the Sweet Science. The boxing gym is the greatest place to meet people as people; nationality, ethnicity, social standing are all irrelevant.
Yes, I agree; the gyms helped me realize what a narrow world I was living in. Meeting people as people--that's the idea. Taking a few punches helped sharpen my sense of who people were. Every boxer has a style. So does every person. Getting hit gave me a new idea of who was in the ring with me. Thanks for your comment.
My experience is that the older we get, the more condensed our social circles become, so breaking out of those circles becomes even more important. The boxing gym is the perfect solution for that.
Thanks Allen. Fascinating. Like you, I had no idea of Byron's boxing when I dabbled in reading him as an undergraduate. It puts a different light on it indeed.
39 rounds???? what? How long would those fights last? How long was each round? wow! I had no idea.
Before the Queensbury Rules (1867), a round was over when a boxer was down but then got up. Boxers fought until one of them could not rise. I think the longest fight ever lasted 7 hours, over 100 rounds. Hard to imagine. The 3-min. round gave boxers 1 minute of rest but also encourage boxers to use strategy, to think of a fight in terms of time, and to make the most of the pressure. Pro fights have a 10-second warning before the bell. Good to remember, too, that in the old days (including Dempsey-Tunney), crowds of up to 100,000 watched (but how?) matches outside.
Thanks Allen. I had no idea. 100k watching outside fights? Wow.
Wonderful piece, Allen. Byron is unfortunately undervalued in literary circles. But i'm an advocate. He was a great poet with a marvelous sense of humour. And as you point out, a great man in many ways. I love the boxing angle here.