The game of boxing is unknown to none.
Since we witnessed the first ever boxing competition at the Olympics in 1904, the sport has been witness to the rise of many great sportsmen and legends who have taken the game to a completely new level of awe and excellence.
The names like Muhammad Ali (1960), George Foreman (1968) and Oscar de la Hoya (1992) are Olympic medal winners whose names have become a part of the folklore in the boxing arena today.
The first ever Olympic Games held during 7th century B.
C.
saw men fight against each other with leather straps wrapping their fists.
Rules penned down by Marquess of Queensberry were accepted in 1867.
These rules are still keeping a leash on this awesome spectacle of a sport today.
This time, in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, boxing will be held at ExCel sports centre, which is the largest venue in this year's edition.
ExCel will also host Judo, table tennis, wrestling, fencing, taekwondo and weight lifting.
The competition will be held between July 28th and August 12th with 250 men and, for the first time in Olympic history, 36 women competing against each other.
The boxing ring measures 6.
1 X 6.
1 meters inside the 1.
32 meter high ropes.
The Summer Olympics 2012 at London will be witness to history as Women's Boxers will be included into Olympics as this will be a first in women boxing history.
The audience can be positively content for much more action this time around! Brute strength is not the only key to success in boxing.
A boxer must have excellent stamina along with weight.
Height is an added advantage.
A boxer must also have speed, agility, proper in-ring technique, adequate knowledge of the ring, clear thought process and well laid-out tactics to succeed.
It is not a game where a player can be over confident or positively content at any given point.
They must be alert at all times because at the end, it will be the survival of the fittest.
There will be 10 weight categories for the men in this year's Olympics - from 46-49kgs (light-fly-weight) to over 91kgs (super-heavy-weight).
The Games will host a complete event with women competing for all the three medals (gold, silver, bronze) for the first time ever.
The categories for the women are 48-51kgs (fly-weight), 57-60kgs (light-weight) and 69-75kgs (middle-weight).
The rules are also different for the men and the women's group.
Every man will fight in a match comprising of three rounds, each spanning three minutes.
There will be four rounds, two minute each for the women.
Rau'shee Warren, Errol Spence Junior and Joseph Diaz are some of the boxers to watch out for.
The boxers are scored for every successful punch they hit on their opposition's upper body or head.
A boxer, failing to answer to the 10 count by the umpire or the referee, will automatically loose the bout.
Apart from this, retirement or getting disqualified are other ways to lose a bout.
If the referee feels that a player is indisposed and incapable to fight anymore, he has the authority to call-off a fight.
There is one referee with the boxers inside the ring to ensure a clean fight.
The five judges sitting outside the ring give points to the boxers for every legitimate hit.
No player can be positively content about a punch as the decision as to whether the hit was clean or not rests with the judges only.
The format for the game is single elimination for both men and women.
The semi-final winners from each group fight to win the gold while the losers are presented with a bronze medal each.