The obvious example would be the story of the Venetian Gondalier, although his only known fight was in England, however Godfrey writes of him Pugilistica was what realy got me looking however, claiming Italian boxing went back as far as 1200! Forsyth's book can actually be found online, but I couldn't find anything more in it apart from a transcription A couple of helpful redditors gave me translations of it A Vice article also makes a vague mention to mass boxing matches known as guerre di pugni, of which this bridge would appear an example. This describes group fist fights on an Italian bridge, a tradition which is says goes back to 1600, before being banned in 1705 https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ponte-dei-pugni-bridge-of-fists Italian wikipedia also speaks about this saying (auto-translated) https://translate.google.com/transl...ikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_dei_Pugni&prev=search It also adds However all of this is unsourced If I find any more I'll add it, if anyone has any more information, please post it.[/quote][/quote]
One of the questions I always wondered about the English boxing origin story is where the Venetian got whatever skills he had. Just seems obvious Italy or at least parts of Italy was boxing well before Figg. I don't know that they ever actually stopped post Rome. I know I've seen no records of a continuation post 390s AD but given how strict law was it'd be crazy to record breaking it. I never looked into it explicitly. Maybe with some effort it'll come around like the Russian thing. It was a good decade of telling folks Russia boxed before the Soviet Union before I ever heard anyone else give it any credence. Maybe I can dig around, find some snippets and get some folks inspired to figure out what happened between the 390s and Figg in former roman empire.
Makes you wonder how many places had some sort of boxing going on. It'd be interesting to see if more of the names (and specific dates). It's interesting that both Italy and Russia seemed to have "group boxing", which does make you wonder if this was more widespread. I suspect part of the lack of information is that so much of the writings are "upper class". It's not exactly boxing, but I suspect mob football (which was closer to a fight than modern football) kept fist fighting alive if nothing else did, and that seems to have been all over, but very poorly documented, I think the earliest known reference is to it being banned.
Caledonian Mercury - Saturday 01 November 1766 has writings of a man in Italy, saying that people are prone to going to kife fighting, and it gives him an appreciation for English boxing, as a more innocent way to vent anger. Which does go against boxing being prominant in Italy at that time. Edit: Very speculationy, but since Latin was popular in Italy I'll include this July 12, 1711 London Spectator When I was some Years younger than I am at present I used to emply my self as a more labourious Diversion, which I learned from a Latin Treatice of Exercises, that is written with great Erudition. It is there called the [word unreadable], or the Fighting with a Man's own Shadow, and consists in the brandishing of two short Sticks griped in each Hand, and loaded with Plugs of Lead at either end. This Opens the Chest, exercises the Limbs, and gaves a Man all the pleasure of Boxing, without the Blows. I could with that several Learned Men would lay out that Time which they employ in Controversies and Disputes about nothing, in this method of fighting with their own Shadows. It might conduce very much to evaoirate the Spleen, which makes them uneasy to the Publick as well as to themselves
