PLAYING BY THE RULES

We look at the origins of Queensberry

- GERRY CALLAN ON THE ROPES

ALL fans have heard of the Queensberry Rules, but how much do they actually know about them?

Do people know, for instance, that there were a dozen of them, or that the Marquis of Queensberry did not write a single one?

Prior to the introduction of the Queensberry Rules, boxing - or prizefighting as it was more commonly known at the time — was governed by first the Broughton Rules, published by Jack Broughton in 1743, and then updated by the London Prize Ring Rules, initially published in 1838 and updated in 1853.

Compiled in 1865 and first published two years later, the Queensberry Rules were actually written by a Welshman named John Graham Chambers, one of the pioneers of sport on the far side of the Irish sea.