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Most Influential Boxing Nations
The toughest thing about essays like this are determining the best criteria, In this category I have three in order of descending import. Feel free to argue them of course.
1) Enduring Cultural Impact-Did this nation have an important role in creating the sport as we now know it?
2) Production of Great Fighters-How many ATG, HOFers and other important fighters came from a given nation
3) Location of Important Fights-Were major boxing spectacles held within a given country.
For our purposes, The United Kingdom as it exists now is treated as a single nation. the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will be treated as a separate Nation and the countries of the former Soviet Union will be treated as one. Professional boxing will take priority over amateur boxing.
Here is my top ten
1. United Kingdom-The nation that really spurred the bare knuckle sport beginning in the 17th century. The Broughton Rules, The London Prize Ring Rules and the Marquess of Queensbury Rules all come out of the UK. The mouthguard, weight divisions, amateur boxing and many training techniques still in use all came out of the UK. The UK produced the first significant boxing writer in Pierce Egan who's Boxiana must be read by all serious fans. Prominent UK fighters include James Figg the first bare knuckle champion, Daniel Mendoza, Jem Belcher, Jem Mace as well as gloved greats including Jimmy Wilde, Jack Kid Berg, Ken Buchanan, Jack Britton, Kid Lewis, Lennox Lewis and many others. The number of famous fights held in the UK is simply too numerous to mention.
2. USA-The country that first embraced the gloved era when John L Sullivan took the bare knuckle title from Jake Kilrain and then only defended with gloves according to the Marquess of Queensbury Rules. Has really been the epicenter of the sport since the end of WWI. Has been extremely influential in creative promotions, the role of television and radio and in producing boxing oriented films. It was, for a period, constraining the sport in that top black fighters often had more opportunities offered to them in Europe than in the USA going back as far as Tom Molineaux in 1810. Ring Magazine came out of the United States and for 75+ years the accepted recognition of world champions came solely out of the United States. Perhaps as many as 75% of the top 25 fighters in history are Americans including Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong, Ezzard Charles and Willie Pep. I'd venture to say over 1/2 of all the big fights in history have taken place on US soil.
3. Mexico-While Mexico did not see it's first world champion until featherweight Baby Arizmendi in the 1930's, it has created a powerful cultural legacy centering on the "Mexican style." More than any other nation, Mexico is identified with a particular fighting style. In this case it is a come forward, stalking, take one to get one, focus on bodypunching and a never stop punching approach. It requires enormous fitness, tremendous commitment and enduring courage. The nation has even created a boxing glove, the Reyes glove, which is believed to deliver a sharper blow. Right now the Mexican fan base may be the most economically important in the sport and much of the media focus is now driven by the Mexican and Mexican American communities. In terms of great fighters the Mexican Pantheon includes Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Ruben Olivares, Ricardo Lopez and the Marquez Brothers. One limitation is that Mexican fighters have to date really topped out in size around welterweight. In terms of being the site of great fights, the 1993 fight between JCC and Greg Haugan is one of the truly great scenes in boxing history. but is has been common for Mexican fighters to hold their biggest fights in the USA and for their fans to travel.
4. Phillipines-This might seem like an odd choice until one realizes that the entire sport of boxing in Asia began in the Phillipines after the Spanish-American War. American Eddie Tait went around the country giving free boxing lessons to which the Filipino's added pieces of the Filipino martial art Suntukan. That was a derivative of a knife oriented art and emphasized movement which became a common trait of Filipino fighters. The Phillipines also gave us the Bolo Punch. Boxing was legalized in 1921. From 1900-1946 or so the Phillipines dominated Asian boxing and began the tradition of Asian fighters coming to the US to test themselves. Famous Filipino fighters include Pancho Villa, Flash Elorde, Cefarino Garcia , Roland Navarette, Ben Villaflor and of course Manny Pacquioa. While not a home to series of major fights, Manila did host arguably the greatest fight in heavyweight history in 1975.
5. Puerto Rico-The island's cultural contribution to the sport rests primarily on its fan base. It has two extraordinary characteristics. First the sheer exuberance of the crowds matches any in the world. Second, PR embraces gifted foreign fighters more readily than any other place I can think of. If you are great? The Puerto Ricans will take you to their heart. The real reason this tiny island ranks so high is that it is pound for pound the most prolific producer of great fighters the world has known. 4 million people have produced Carlos Ortiz, Wilfredo Benitez, Sixto Escobar, Esteban DeJesus, Bazooka Gomez, Felix Trinidad, Edwin Rosario, Jose Torres, Ivan Calderon, Miguel Cotto, Jaun LaPorte, Sammy Serrano, Hector Camacho and Jose Torres. I am sure I have left guys out. It is simply astounding. The island has also been a wonderful host to fights like the Bloodbath at Bayamon, Benitez-Palomino, Rosario-Ramirez and many others. Boxing's tiny treasure.
6. Cuba-Cuba's recent contributions culturally to the sport have been at the amateur level. It's fighters remain the best trained and most technically sound young fighters on the planet. Cuba has been the keeper of the sport as an art for over 40 years now. Prior to the Communist takeover, Cuba produced all time great fighters like Kid Chocolate, Kid Gavilan, Sugar Ramos, Jose Napoles and Luis Manuel Rodriguez. Since then it has produced probably the greatest collection of amateurs of any nation on earth in Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Lorenzo Aragon, Angel Hererra and a series of others. The best news of all is the wave of Cuban fighters coming to the US recently and and if we can get them to spread their fundamental skill set to American trainers and fighters, we could see a resurgence in the Sweet Science.
7. Japan-This nation got an early start as Yujiro Watanabe had emigrated to the US in 1910, had a fine career, returned to Japan in 1921 and became the Pied Piper of Japanese boxing. But the sport didn't really take off until after World War II and Japan became one of the hubs of Asian boxing, which it remains today. In fact it was Japan that really drove the inter-Asian boxing scene so central to the lower weight classes today. One cultural thing that pervades Asia is the frequency with which a single loss ends a career. I hope that doesn't spread. Top Japanese fighters include the immortal Fighting Harada as well as Yoshio Shihara, Jiro Watanabe, Masao Obha,and many others. Japan has also hosted great fights including Fighting Harada and Eder Jofre, Watanabe and Gilberto Roman and of course Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas
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8. Panama-Like the Philippines the early boxing success is likely the result of the American Military presence as well as the poverty of the nation. The very first Latin American champion was bantamweight Panama Al Brown in the 1920's and 1930's. He fought primarily in Europe but also saw substantial action in the US. His mere existence paved the way for Latin world champions to follow. Like his successors Brown was a slick boxer and that has tended to be defining characteristic of the Panamanian boxing scene. This small nation has produced Ismael Laguna, Ernesto Marcel, Eusabio Pedroza, and the man who combined skill and savagery like no one else Roberto Duran. Two generations of young fighters around the world grew up idolizing and trying to mimic Duran. This is a nation with declining influence at the moment.
9. Argentina-Culturally this nation has embraced two things that stand out. They are entirely comfortable supporting fighters who rarely if ever leave Argentina as treasures and they have a very sensitive attitude towards young fighters. Many Argentine greats have a large number of draws in their record. That is intentional. The Argentine attitude for decades has been that young fighters should be encouraged and set up for long careers. As such when two good prospects are matched and they both give a good account the result is frequently a draw. These kinds of fights are simply viewed as learning experiences. This is an approach the sport might benefit from were it more widely adopted. It emphasizes fighter development, not win-loss. Argentina has produced three truly great fighters including Pascual Perez, Nicolino Locche and Carlos Monzon as well as very good fighters like Santos Laciar, Luis Firpo and Oscar Bonavena.
10. Greece-That boxing was thought to come from the Greek culture legitimized it in British eyes as a gentlemen's sport and enabled it to get a foothold in the modern world. That it was also one of the core events in the ancient Olympics also allowed for the creation of Olympic Boxing, for so long a wonderful part of the sport. While the country plays almost no role in the sport today? It is the cultural underpinning of the whole affair.
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Originally Posted by CutMeMick
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