The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #141457   Message #3261036
Posted By: BTNG
21-Nov-11 - 02:18 PM
Thread Name: BS: Boxing; cruel, primitive & nauseating
Subject: RE: BS: Boxing; cruel, primitive & nauseating
"drive boxing underground? Sure thats where it was over 100 years ago"

Through the late nineteenth century, boxing or prizefighting was primarily a sport of dubious legitimacy. Outlawed in England and much of the United States, prizefights were often held at gambling venues and broken up by police.

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Doing a wee bit of googling, I came upon this interesting snippet:

An English court case,   in 1882 found that a bare-knuckle fight was found to be an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, despite the consent of the participants. This marked the end of widespread public bare-knuckle contests in England.

The judgement ran as follows:

R v. Coney (1882) QBD 534 is an English case in which the Court for Crown Cases Reserved found that a bare-knuckle fight was an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, despite the consent of the participants. This marked the end of widespread public bare-knuckle contests in England.

The case also found that voluntary attendance as a spectator was evidence that could be put to the jury to support a charge of aiding and abetting the assault.

Could boxing being driven underground happen again?
Yes if we allow "The Aunties" among us to tell us what is and what is not good for us.