Sports on Intersilo

Boxing Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Boxing, also known as pugilism or the sweet science, has roots that go all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome. Back then fights would take place without gloves but with just leather taped on to the hands. This resulted in even more gruesome, deadly battles.

The first documented "boxing match" took place in 1681 in Britian when the Duke of Albemarle engineered a bout between his butler and his butcher.

In the coming years, bare-knuckle boxing contests would be held in ampitheatres all over England. Jack Boughton, also known as "the Father of Boxing," developed the first set of rules for the sport and published them in 1743 as a result from a bout where he killed his opponent in 1741.

The most revolutionary change in the sport came in 1865 when John Sholto Douglass, the Eighth Marquess of Queensbury, drew up new rules of boxing which basically transformed the sport into what it is today. He is regarded as the "Patron Saint" of boxing and some of the most significant changes were three-minute roundsand the regulated use of approved boxing gloves. You can read the whole set of 12 rules here.

At this point the popularity of boxing continued to spread. It was included in the St. Louis Olympic Games in 1904 for the first time ever. From here on, talented fighters from all over the world would meet and fight for sanctioned titles all throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st.

In 1927 the National Boxing Association (NBA) became the first "sanctioning body" to govern over the sport. These sanctioning bodies ranked fighters and arranged matches between champions and the most deserving challengers, all for a healthy sanctioning fee of course. Today, three "recognized" sanctioning bodies control the world of boxing. The WBC, IBF and WBA are the only bodies whos titlists are recognized worldwide as "champions."

BaseBall Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:47:00.003-07:00

BaseBall Blog on Intersilo

BasketBall Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:47:00.001-07:00

BasketBall Blog on Intersilo

TableTennis Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:46:00.002-07:00

TableTennis Blog on Intersilo

Dragonboat Racing Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:46:00.001-07:00

The paddlers move in unison, combining strength with teamwork in a boat whose elaborate design originates in ancient China. Dragon boats are the world’s largest flat water racing canoes, propelled by a crew of 20 plus a drummer and a steersperson. Teamwork is everything in dragon boat racing. Synchronicity is more important than strength. A perfectly synchronized team will almost always beat a stronger, but less coordinated team.

Soccer Blog on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:45:00.002-07:00

Soccer Blog on Intersilo

Great Tennis Players on Intersilo

2009-10-11T02:45:00.001-07:00

Tennis may have started out as a gentleman's game, but it is has evolved into a full-blown competitive sport where opponents grunt, slam, sprint and smash with everything they have in an effort to out-duel their opponent. Tennis has evolved not only as a sport, but as a business as well.
Gone are the days of conservative, "proper" tennis attire. Nike, Reebok, and other athletic giants have turned the courts into a fashion show for the world, paying top players millions of dollars to showcase their attire. Equipment has also undergone several upgrades over the years. Gone are the heavy wooden rackets with catgut strings. Now Air Carbon Titanium Mesh and other equally "space age" technologies rule the day. The size, strength and athleticism of the players has increased in step with the technical advancements, and the pace at which the game is played nowadays is truly breathtaking. No doubt the greats of yesteryear would be quickly dispatched by even the average professional these days. Such is life and the evolution of sport. Still, when compiling the list of the top 10 male tennis players of all time I had to look at the dominance of players in the era they played in. To take a player from the 50s and suddenly drop him into a match in 2008 would hardly be fair. With that in mind, here is a list of the best male tennis players to ever pick up a racket:

1 - Roger Federer
2 - Pete Sampras
3 - Roy Emerson
4 - Rod Laver
5 - Bjorn Borg
6 - Ivan Lendl
7 - Jimmy Connors
8 - John McEnroe
9 - Boris Becker
10 - Bill Tilden