Boxing: A Manly History Of the Sweet Science Of Bruising

All sports have the potential of becoming about much more than athletics, transforming into symbols of a culture's and country's mood, insecurities, conflicts, and hopes. But perhaps no sport lends itself to this kind of ansposition more than boxing.

For the purity of boxing gives it the nature of a blank canvas; there is no playing field or special equipment; the rules are few and easy to understand. Boxing easily becomes a metaphor for debates over our values: good vs. evil, immigrant vs. nativist, bravado vs. humility, intellect vs brute strength.

(via Neatorama)