Editing Boxing (section)

===Late 19th and early 20th centuries===
Through the late 19th century, the martial art of 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/11/15/unlicensed_boxing_feature.shtml|title= London – History – Unlicensed Boxing |website=BBC |first1=Gary |last1=Holland |date=2008 |access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Brawling and wrestling tactics continued, and riots at prizefights were common occurrences. Still, throughout this period, there arose some notable bare knuckle champions who developed fairly sophisticated fighting tactics.
[[File:Amateur Boxing Club, Porthaethwy (7005565417).jpg|thumb|Amateur Boxing Club, [[Wales]], 1963]]
The English case of ''[[R v. Coney]]'' in 1882 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 first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry Rules was [[James J. Corbett|"Gentleman Jim" Corbett]], who defeated [[John L. Sullivan]] in 1892 at the Pelican Athletic Club in [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/corbett.htm |title=Jim Corbett |first1=Tracy |last1=Callis |publisher=Cyber Boxing Zone  |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>

The first instance of film censorship in the United States occurred in 1897 when several states banned the showing of prize fighting films from the state of Nevada,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Orbach|first1=Barak|title=Prizefighting and the Birth of Movie Censorship|url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=yjlh|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref> where it was legal at the time.

Throughout the early 20th century, boxers struggled to achieve legitimacy.<ref>{{cite news|author1-link=Michael J. Socolow|last1=Socolow |first1=Michael |title=Why boxing disappeared after the Rumble in the Jungle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/29/why-boxing-disappeared-after-rumble-jungle-why-football-could-too/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> They were aided by the influence of promoters like [[Tex Rickard]] and the popularity of great champions such as John L. Sullivan.