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The name "Boxing" was introduced in England in the seventeenth century, when men boxed each other with bare fists. The modern era of boxing began in 1866 about 30 years before the revival of the modern Olympic Games, which was held in Athens, Greece in 1896.

In 1867, John Sholto Douglas, the ninth Marquees of Queensberry gave his full support to a new set of rules for boxing which were named in his honor, and became known as the "Queensberry rules". These rules limited the number of rounds, eliminated the negative aspects of the sport and made the use of padded gloves mandatory. Most of these rules are more or less still in use today and as much marked the beginning of modern boxing.

With the growing popularity of boxing, weight classes other than the unlimited heavyweights emerged. These classes became popular as world championships were held at the new weights. In recent years, there has been some recognition of the junior or lighter weights and the in-between weights.

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