Boxing was long viewed sickly. Generally forbidden by law in earlier days, the fighting was usually done with bare fists, and matches often lasted forty or fifty rounds. 

In 1882 John L. Sullivan, a fighter of great power, won the world heavyweight championship from Paddy Ryan in a bare fisted battle marked by hitting, scratching, and biting without any rule. Five years later, while fighting Patsy Cardiff at Minneapolis, Sullivan broke his right arm in the third round, but he continued fighting to the sixth round and won. In 1889, Sullivan defeated Jade Kilrain with his bare fists in another championship fight, winning twenty thousand dollars and a diamond prize medal. His admirers talked then of running him for the next governor, but he traveled to Australia for a boxing tour instead, coming back only to lose his title in a twenty-one-round match with a young Californian named James J. Corbett. 

"Gentleman James" victory in this match marked a turning point, for it showed scientific boxing was over strength. But Corbett's title ended in 1897, when another boxer, Bob Fitzsimmons, in less than three seconds, achieved his feats and then Fitzsimmons knocked out an Irishman, won the heavyweight championship of the world, and invented the terrible "solar plexus punch."
How was boxing viewed?
Was it allowed by law?
How many rounds do matches last?
Who won the 1882 world heavyweight championship?
What happened to Sullivan five years later?
Was he defeated?
How did he fight?
How much did he win?
What else?
When did Corbett's title end?
Who beat him?
What did he create?
sickly
sickly
no
Generally forbidden by law in earlier days
forty or fifty
forty or fifty
John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan
he broke his right arm in a match
broke his right arm
no
Sullivan broke his right arm in the third round, but he continued fighting to the sixth round and won
with his bare fists
Sullivan defeated Jade Kilrain with his bare fists
twenty thousand dollars
 twenty thousand dollars
a diamond prize medal
a diamond prize medal
1897
1897
Bob Fitzsimmons
Bob Fitzsimmons
the "solar plexus punch."
"solar plexus punch."