MAIN Sports 2012 Summer Olympics Boxing

With almost 100 years of Olympic history under its belt, boxing is one of the most popular events at the Summer Games.

Going back for millennia, boxing was part of the original Olympic games in ancient Greece, in which fighters squared off wearing leather straps around their hands to protect against injury. Unlike the modern version, boxing was an endurance sport without many rules or timed rounds, and the winner was often the last man standing!

Famous American boxers who rose to world prominence at the modern Olympic games include light welterweight Sugar Ray Leonard (1976) as well as heavyweights Joe Frazier, (1964), George Foreman (1968) and an 18-year-old Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali, who took the gold at the Rome Olympics in 1960.

In London, watch as yet another generation of young hopefuls compete in elimination rounds until the final when the last boxer standing wins the gold.

In 2012, also witness history in the making as women's boxing makes its first official Olympic debut at the London games ...

More about Olympic boxing around the Web:

Boxing | Olympic sport | London 2012 - Good overview of the Olympic venue with interesting facts and background information plus related photos, news, blog posts.

USA Boxing - USA boxing site lists rules, events, news on the team and the results. A special section on the summer games focuses on team members. They offer a poster of the boxing team for collectors.

BBC Olympics - Boxing - In-depth Olympic boxing featuring the latest updates, opinion pieces, articles and history with profiles on the world's top contenders.

NBC Olympics - Boxing - Who to watch, feature stories & athlete profiles, live updates along with photos, video and complete U.S. TV schedule.

International Amateur Boxing Association - News on boxing events worldwide with links to national boxing federations to keep updated no matter who you're rooting for.

Gateway to the Summer Games - Nice page on boxing with interesting facts and plenty of related resources to additional information, tickets and history. Lesson plans and paralympics sections for anyone looking for kids information or special events.

US Olympic Team Boxing - The latest on the US boxing team with feature stories, news & updates.

Women's Boxing - Learn all about women's place in boxing with this comprehensive resource from the Women Boxing Archive Network.