A boxing area is square. So why is it called a ring?
by 
wickedwillie
ANSWERS: 1
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The term "ring" comes from the original practice of having a circle of spectators form a ring around the two contestants. Often a rope would be held by the crowd to designate the area the fighters would have to move around. There weren't even stools, since the fights were usually outdoors and in isolated areas, so one of the fighter's supporters, called a "second", would kneel with one knee on the ground and the other up to form a seat for the resting fighter between rounds. Also, since boxing was illegal almost everywhere in its early days, if the "proper authorities" dropped in uninvited, the spectators simply dropped the rope and ran in every direction. The police might round up a few of the slow footed, but all the promoters would be out would be the cost of a rope.
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