Boxing and Ethnic Diversity

Early Years

With roots extending to Greco-Roman times, boxing is one of the oldest sports still practiced today. English colonists brought boxing to American shores, although political and religious opposition to pugilism in the early-to-mid 1800s drove the sport underground, causing many bouts to be staged secretly on barges or farms. From the earliest days of the republic, enslaved people and immigrants (particularly the Irish) constituted the majority of boxers. The modern era of boxing dates to 1892, when gloves replaced bare-knuckle fighting. That year, “Gentleman” James Corbett defeated the “Boston Strong Boy,” John L. Sullivan, to capture the heavyweight title. The last of the great bare-knuckle champions, Sullivan was known for entering bars and challenging, “I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in the house.”

Irish, Italian, and Jewish Americans dominated boxing during the first half of the 20th century, as the sport proved extremely popular with European immigrants living in urban communities. Jack Dempsey, of Irish, English, Cherokee, and Jewish descent, was heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 and become a cultural icon of the Roaring Twenties. Along with his contemporary Babe Ruth, Dempsey is credited for pioneering the rise of the modern professional athlete in American society. Dempsey produced the first $1 million and $2 million gates in the sport's history. He ultimately lost the championship to fellow Irish American Gene Tunney in September 1926.

Boxing was one of the few sports in American society that actually flourished during the Great Depression, as working-class youth in cities throughout the nation took up the sport in hope of achieving economic prosperity. James J. Braddock, the son of Irish immigrants, upset Max Baer to win the heavyweight title in June 1935. Laboring as a longshoreman during the Depression in order to support himself and his family, Braddock epitomized the rags-to-riches journey that symbolized hope and inspiration for millions of Americans struggling through the economic crisis, and his life is chronicled in the film Cinderella Man (2005).

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