Boxing Day 2025

Boxing Day

In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, much to the bemusement of Americans who imagine a holiday devoted to boxing matches.  Actually, the name originated from the custom of giving a "Christmas box" of money or small gifts to servants and tradesmen on the day after Christmas.  Nowadays, it's another shopping holiday.

But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate Boxing Day with photos of pugilists.

This nameless boxer, photographed in 1915, is in the Hungarian National Digital Archive.

Boxer Erich Brandl in 1925.

Boxer Arturo Godoy drying off in the locker room of Stillman's Gym, New York in 1937.  Photo by Robert Capa.

South African boxer Willie Toweel weighing in in 1952.

British boxer Terry Spinks (left) shaking hands with Johnny Mantle in 1962.

American boxer Bobby Hunter weighing in in 1972.

American boxer Oscar de la Hoya weighing in at Caesar's Palace in 1992.

British boxer Joe Murray checking his weight before weighing in at the Beijing Olympics, 2008.

OK, Boxing Day is not really about boxers.  We end with a clip that was taken on Boxing Day, 2019, of a non-boxer, Jack Daniel, in the bushes of Little Congwong Beach in Sydney, Australia.  Happy Boxing Day!

Vintage Athletes - Part 49

 Boxing Day

In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, much to the bemusement of Americans who imagine a holiday devoted to boxing matches.  Actually, the name originated from the custom of giving a "Christmas box" of money or small gifts to servants and tradesmen on the day after Christmas.  Nowadays, it's another shopping holiday.

But I celebrate Boxing Day with photos of naked pugilists.  Last year I featured some boxing greats, including Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson, and Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali.  You can see that post here:

https://unashamedmale.blogspot.com/2022/12/boxing-day-2022.html

Today we look at some vintage boxers.

We start with the photo above by artist Thomas Eakins called James Wright and George Reynolds Nude, Boxing, 1886-1888.  There's a fascinating story behind this photo.  Eakins was the director of the art school at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  In January, 1886, Eakins had a male model remove his loincloth during an anatomy lecture with female students present.  The incident ignited a controversy.  Eakins protested that in the art world, nudity was not impropriety, but he was forced to resign.

All fifty-five of Eakins' male students and eighteen of the thirty female students threatened to resign if Eakins was not reinstated, and when he wasn't, sixteen of the male students did resign and formed their own art school, the Art Students' League, for Eakins to teach them.  Describing the school's purpose, Eakins said "The basis of study is the nude human figure."  Eakins taught them without pay.

The photograph above was taken in the studio of the Art Students' League, and the models, James Wright and George Reynolds, were among the 16 students who founded the school.

The gif above is from plate 335, called Boxing with Gloves, in Eadweard Muybridge's 1887 book Animal Locomotion.   The models are #52 and 53.  Model 52 was identified as an instructor at the Fencing and Sparring Club.

We've previously seen this photo of American boxer Billie Papke weighing in for a fight in France in 1912.  Papke was the world middleweight champion in 1908.

This 1930 photo by German photographer Gerhard Riebicke looks posed, not like a real fight.  Riebicke was an important photographer of the German Freikörperkultur (FKK) movement, which advocated nudity in the open air.  The FKK movement was popular in the 1920s and early 1930s until the Nazis banned it when they came into power in 1933.

German boxer Hein Müller won the European heavyweight title in 1930.  Photo c. 1929 by Hans Robertson.

Here's American boxer Henry Armstrong weighing in for a fight with Enrico Venturi in 1938 in Madison Square Garden.  This photo by LIFE photographer Carl Mydans was published in the Jan. 31, 1938 issue of LIFE.  In those days, even family magazines like LIFE were not prudish about rear nudity, although they did not show frontal nudity.

A photo from the same 1938 photo session by Carl Mydans shows Henry Armstrong getting rubbed down.  This photo was not published in LIFE.

Senegalese-French boxer Assane Diouf competed from 1935 to 1947.

Dutch boxer Luc Van Dam in the shower in 1949.  He held the Dutch middleweight title in the 1940s.

We end with boxers John Conteh (left) and Bunny Johnson (right) with manager George Francis (center) at Highgate Pond, Hampstead Heath, London, 1974.  Conteh held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1977, and Johnson was the British heavyweight champion in 1975.  Outdoors in a public park in broad daylight, these were unashamed males.

Weighing In - Part 40

 Shea Neary

Shea Neary, born in 1968, is a British boxer who competed from 1992 to 2000.  He held the WBU light-welterweight title from 1996 to 2000.  The photo above shows him weighing in for his last match on Nov. 11, 2000 against Eamonn Magee.  Now, that's the way all fighters should weigh in.  No towel, no shame!

Boxing Day 2022

 Boxing Day

In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, much to the bemusement of Americans who imagine a holiday devoted to boxing matches.  Actually, the name originated from the custom of giving a "Christmas box" of money or small gifts to servants and tradesmen on the day after Christmas.  Nowadays, it's another shopping holiday.

But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate Boxing Day with photos of pugilists.

We start with John L. Sullivan in 1892, the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing and the de facto first heavyweight champion of boxing with gloves (from 1882 to 1892).  He was the first boxing superstar.

Jack Dempsey, world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926.

German boxer Max Schmeling, world heavyweight champion from 1930 to 1932.

Joe Louis, world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949.  He is regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time.

Rocky Graziano, world middleweight champion in 1947, in a photo by Stanley Kubrick that appeared in LOOK magazine.

Sugar Ray Robinson, world welterweight champion from 1946 to 1951.  Some regard him as the greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.

Mike Tyson, world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990.

We end with Cassius Clay at the 1960 Rome Olympics.  He later changed his name to Muhammad Ali and was world heavyweight champion, with some interruptions, from 1964 to 1978.  He is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

Happy Boxing Day!

Vintage Athletes - Part 21

Henry Armstrong

Henry Jackson, Jr. (1912-1988) was an American boxer who competed under the name Henry Armstrong.  On Jan. 12, 1938, LIFE photographer Carl Mydans photographed his fight against Enrico Venturi at Madison Square Garden.  In a previous post on naked weigh-ins, I showed this photo of Armstrong weighing in.

LIFE published that picture in the Jan. 31, 1938 issue, above, in a feature about Armstrong on the day of the fight.  In those days, even family magazines like LIFE were not prudish about rear nudity, although they didn't show frontal nudity.

My previous post also showed his opponent, Enrico Venturi, weighing in naked, above.

But the LIFE photo set included many more naked photos besides the weigh-ins.  Here's Venturi being examined by a doctor.

And here's Armstrong with the same doctor.

Here, Armstrong is taking off his shorts ...

And putting on his jockstrap before the fight.

Here's Armstrong getting a rubdown, a side view ...

And a front view.  None of these photos (except the very first one) were published in the magazine.

What happened in the fight?  Armstrong knocked out Venturi in the 6th round.  ESPN ranked Armstrong as #3 in their list of greatest boxers of all time.

Weighing In -- Part 16

Rueda & Osorio, Managua

I don't know the name of this fighter.  The video was from a fight called Rueda & Osorio in Managua, Nicaragua, but this may have been another fighter on the undercard.  In any case, this is a lesson in how to hold the towel.  Hold it so low that it hides nothing!

Boxing Day

Boxing Day

In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, much to the bemusement of Americans who imagine a holiday devoted to boxing matches.  Actually, the name originated from the custom of giving a "Christmas box" of money or small gifts to servants and tradesmen on the day after Christmas.  Nowadays, it's another shopping holiday.

But today we celebrate Boxing Day with some photos of unashamed males in boxes, from a 2012 rugby game in New Zealand.

As always, when New Zealand's international rugby team, the All Blacks, plays a home game in Dunedin, New Zealand, the locals play a nude rugby game, with local lads making up the teams on both sides.  Above is Devon Latoa, team captain of the Nude Blacks team.

In this case, the official game was the All Blacks against the South African rugby team called the Springboks (named after a South African antelope).  So in the nude game, the Nude Blacks played the Springbox, who came onto the field each wearing a cardboard box.

Here, Devon is performing the traditional Maori haka, a men's dance performed before battle to taunt and intimidate the opposition.  Note Devon's tongue sticking out.

And the game begins.

The "Springbox" boxes were not up to the physical rigors of a rugby game.  Soon, most of the boxes fell apart.

Then both teams just played naked.

Weighing In - Part 15

Managua, Nicaragua

I don't know the name of this boxer, but he was captured on video at a weigh-in in Managua, Nicaragua on July 29, 2017.  He's not the fighter weighing in.  He's another fighter waiting his turn to weigh in.  He stripped off his shorts while he was waiting, and we can see him in the background on the right side of the video.

Finally, when it's his turn to weigh in, he covers up with his hand, which is pretty pointless, because everyone has already seen everything.

Thanks to Bill Brown for sending me the video.

UPDATE - Bill says the boxer's name is Dixon Flores.

Weighing In - Part 13

Ben Hall

This is 23-year-old English super welterweight boxer Ben Hall weighing in for a 2016 bout against Carson Jones at Wembley Arena, London.  The official was trying to screen Ben from our view with a T-shirt as Ben picked up his shorts after weighing in.

As an added bonus, we have a video from another angle as Ben puts on his shorts.  The announcer tells the official, "You need a bigger T-shirt, Eddie."

Weighing In - Part 12

Dan Murray

There appear to be several boxers named Dan Murray.  This one, born in 1991, also goes by Danny Murray and Danny Boy Murray.  He is an American super lightweight boxer currently living in New Jersey.  The video is from his weigh-in on July 29, 2017 for a fight against Kenny Robles in Brooklyn (Murray won).  Like our last weigh-in video, Murray steps out from behind the towel before putting his shorts back on.  We get a fleeting frontal glimpse.

Weighing In - Part 11

Ryan Farrag

Ryan Ferrag, born in 1988, is an English boxer who held the European bantamweight title from 2015 to 2016.

This video shows him weighing in at a fight defending his bantamweight title against Karim Guerfi on June 4, 2016 in Liverpool, England.  The towel obscures our view of him weighing in naked, but he is so excited to have made weight that he runs out from behind the towel before putting on his shorts.

Weighing In - Part 10

 Ashley Sexton

Ashley Sexton, born in 1987, is an English flyweight boxer.

This video shows him weighing in naked three times for a fight in 2010.  The first time, he weighs 8 stone 1 pound (113 pounds), which is over the 112 pound limit for flyweights.  Upon re-weighing, he weighs 8 stone, 1/2 pound, still 1/2 pound over.  112 pounds may seem a ridiculously low limit, but flyweights are always little guys.  Ashley is 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall.

If a boxer fails to make weight, the rules allow him 2 hours to try to lose the extra weight, usually by sweating it off in a steam room.  If he is still over the limit, the bout is cancelled and a pro boxer faces financial penalties.

In this video, Ashley's third weigh-in, after 2 hours, is successful.  He weighs 8 stone (112 pounds).  He then won the fight against Usman Ahmed, winning the English flyweight title.

Although Ashley holds his hands in front of himself, he removes one hand in the last second of the video, giving us a glimpse.

Weighing In - Part 8

 Kerry Foley

This is Australian boxer Kerry Foley, born 1987.  I don't know the date of the event.  Clearly he was not concerned about modesty, and the briefcase that they pushed in front of him was too little, too late.

Weighing In - Part 4

Bobby Hunter

Bobby Hunter's story is unusual.  In 1967, at the age of 16, in Charleston, South Carolina, he got into an argument and stuck a knife into a man who later died.  Bobby was sentenced to 18 years in prison for manslaughter.

Hunter was small but scrappy.  In prison, he was mentored by a prison guard and taught how to box.  What's unusual about that?  Well, he was so good at boxing that, with the warden's permission, the guard took him to compete in boxing matches outside the prison.  By 1971 he had won the national flyweight championship.

LIFE photographer Ralph Morse took these photos of Hunter in January, 1972.  None of them were published in the magazine.  Hunter was 21 years old and was considered a shoo-in for the American team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  The idea of having a convict on the Olympic team was controversial, though.

Here's Bobby Hunter weighing in.  His mentor arranged fights for him anywhere he could, so this was undoubtedly not an official title fight, hence the casual atmosphere.

This isn't an official weigh-in, just checking his weight.  But the photo is a bit dark.

Through the magic of Photoshop, we can brighten the photo.  Now we get to see how Hunter measures up in more ways than one.

Unexpectedly, Bobby Hunter lost in the Olympic qualifying trials, so he never joined the Olympic team.  However, the next year, 1973, he was paroled and got out of prison.  He had a short boxing career, and we then lose sight of him.  But his moment of fame was captured by these photos as the convict who could have been an Olympic contender.

Weighing In - Part 3

 What to Wear When Weighing In

Pat at Big Whack Attack commented on my previous Weighing In post, asking "When did they switch to bike shorts? for the weigh-in?"  That inspired me to create this post.  So, this is for you, Pat.  (You can see Pat's blog at https://bigwhackattack.blogspot.com.)

There's no rule for what fighters wear when weighing in.  They've worn all sorts of things, generally lightweight (since they're trying to keep their weight under the limit).  So, the fashion-conscious fighter might ask, what should I wear when weighing in?

In the early days, fighters just weighed in nude, and no one thought anything about it.  This is American boxer Billie Papke before a fight in Paris with a French boxer in 1912.

In 1954, Don Cockell wore underpants, while Roland LaStarza wore his boxing trunks.  They're doing the ceremonial handshake after the weighing-in.

In 1962, British featherweights Terry Spinks (left) and Billy Davis both wore tighty whities.

But here's Spinks for the last fight of his career, against Johnny Mantle in 1962 (Spinks won).  Of course, fighters strip naked if necessary for the actual weighing, but after the weighing (and before the handshake) they put back on their shorts or whatever.  So, it looks like Spinks showed up naked for his last weigh-in, like the good old days.

In a British middleweight title fight in 1963, Mick Leahy wore see-through underwear.

But this unidentified fighter went him one better by wearing really see-through underwear.  And he appears to be wearing a cock ring – what's up with that?  This looks like a regular UFC event (a type of mixed martial arts), so I think the photo is real.

There is no weight limit for heavyweights, so they can wear anything to the weigh-in.  Most just wear their boxing trunks.  Here, former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson weighs in for a rematch with Floyd Patterson in 1961, wearing plaid shorts.  Really, Ingemar?  Plaid?

British heavyweight champion John L. Gardner (right)  looks more fashion-conscious at a 1979 heavyweight title fight weigh-in, wearing stylish bikini briefs.

MMA fighter Nick "the goat" Thompson wore a jock strap in 2008.  This is the ceremonial "face off" after weighing in.  Is it just me, or do you also want to adjust his jock strap so it's not twisted?

Boxer Paulie Malignaggi wins the prize for most original weigh-in costume with his elephant G-string in 2014.

So, what to wear when weighing in?  I recommend what Paul Lloyd wore in this weigh-in video. It never goes out of style.