This is a painting that was on the floor of Emperor Caracallas home, form the year 180 AD. http://www.bodybuildingreviews.net/ClassicallyBuilt/Caracalla4.jpg Is he wearing boxing gloves?
http://www.bodybuildingreviews.net/ClassicallyBuilt/MosaicDetail.jpg Boxing scene from the Aeneid (book 5), when the aged Sicilian champion Entellus defeats the young Trojan champion Dares. Blood spurts from Dares' injured head. Entellus sacrificed his prize, a bull, by landing a great blow to the animal's head. Both boxers wear cesti (weighted wrist braces, so bloody they were banned in the first century, BC.). Mosaic floor from a Gallo-Roman villa in Villelaure (France), ca. 175 AD. Now on display at the Getty Villa, California. Guarantee some of these guys could punch like hell.
