An exhibition fight is a sports match which is not part of a competition but instead serves the function of demonstrating the skills of the participants In

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, an exhibition fight normally consists of three to eight rounds. The participants generally wear larger gloves to minimize punch harm or impact on the combatants, headgear, and non-boxing related clothing. Exhibition fights involve opponents exhibiting their skills while usually being friendly and respectful. Although there is no specific laws pertaining to exhibition bouts, most bookmakers do not accept bets on exhibition fights whereas others do on a match-by-match basis. Exhibition bouts in boxing are not predetermined, although they may be in other sports. This will generally be made clear from the outset via advertising (such as the Harlem Globetrotters of exhibition basketball) or an open secret (such as

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

) that the exhibition is a performance. Many exhibition fights involve popular current or former world champions, and exhibition bouts are usually carried out for charity purposes or for the public's entertainment. Exhibition fights are usually not listed as having taken place on boxer's career records. In

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, such boxers as

Jem Mace James "Jem" Mace (8 April 1831 – 30 November 1910) was an English boxing champion, primarily during the bare-knuckle era. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani ethnicity in his autobiography. Fi ...

Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He held the IBU world flyweight title in 1916, the EBU European flyweight title twice; firstly in 1914 and again from 1916 to 1 ...

and

Tommy Farr Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

boxed both official and exhibition bouts at what were called "boxing booths". In

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

during the early 1890s, aristocrat Mikhail Kister performed at exhibition boxing fights.

Early 20th century

Early in the 20th century, boxing exhibitions became popular across the United States. Many times, official fights had to be advertised as exhibitions, due to state laws prohibiting professional boxing. As the century progressed,

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...

, Jack Johnson and others fought exhibition fights.

Benny Leonard Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was a Jewish American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ...

did an exhibition for the United Drive Rally on May 23, 1923.

Late 20th century

Exhibition fights became less common as the 20th century progressed. However, a number of notable ones, many including

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

, took place. Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life during this period, including

Michael Dokes Michael Marshall Dokes (August 10, 1958 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1997, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1982 to 1983. As an amateur he won a silver medal in the heavyweight division ...

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

Lyle Alzado Lyle Martin Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was an American professional All Pro football defensive end of the National Football League (NFL), famous for his intense and intimidating style of play. Alzado played 15 seasons, splitting hi ...

Dave Semenko David John Semenko (July 12, 1957 – June 29, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, scout and colour commentator. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career, Semenko played for the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and ...

, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with

Iris Chacon Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional en ...

acting as Agrelot's corner-woman). About six months after Ali beat him for the world Heavyweight title,

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

participated in five exhibition fights in one afternoon: on April 26, 1975, he boxed Jerry Judge,

Boone Kirkman Daniel Victor "Boone" Kirkman (born February 6, 1945) is a former amateur and professional heavyweight boxer. He compiled a 36-6 career record, with 26 knockouts, having limited success against the top fighters of the era he met in the ring - be ...

Charley Polite Charlie Polite is an American boxer, born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He is 6 feet 3 inches tall. Life Born in Garnet, SC, raised in Springfield, MA, he was described as an "odd American journeyman." Boxing career Charlie Polite started o ...

, Terry Daniels and

Alonzo Johnson Alonzo Al Johnson (born April 4, 1963) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the 1980s. Johnson played college football for the Universit ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. On January 1, 1985, a show including several world champion boxers in exhibition fights was staged in

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mex ...

to garner money for the victims of a 1984 gas explosion in Mexico. Among those who fought were

Lupe Pintor José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born 13 April 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He won the WBC bantamweight title in 1979 after defeating Carlos Zárate Serna, and made ...

German Torres German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...

and Hector Camacho Sr. The latter two would face each other in an actual official fight on September 1992, which Chávez won by unanimous decision.

21st century

In 2006,

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

announced he would do a world tour consisting of exhibition bouts. The only one of these fights to actually take place was a bout against his former sparring mate and fellow former professional boxer Corey "T-Rex" Sanders. This fight took place at

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. In 2009, recently retired boxer Óscar De La Hoya and basketball player

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

held an exhibition boxing fight as an episode of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television show '' Shaq Vs.''. Late in 2014,

returned to the ring for an exhibition with Vicente Sagrestano in a bout aimed at collecting toys for poor children. He and former rival Mario Martinez, against whom he earned his first world championship in 1984, faced each other again on July 3, 2015, in an event to benefit Chavez's two drug rehabilitation clinics. On

December 31 It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Years Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following ...

, 2018, boxer

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

and kickboxer

Tenshin Nasukawa is a Japanese professional kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. A generational talent, Nasukawa was regarded as a pound for pound talent throughout most of his career as a professional kickboxer and is regarded as one of the greatest kic ...

held an exhibition boxing fight at Rizin 14 Saitama. On November 28, 2020, boxers

and

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

faced each other in an exhibition fight resulting in a draw.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exhibition fight Terminology used in multiple sports Boxing terminology Kickboxing terminology Martial arts terminology

Early 20th century

Late 20th century

21st century

See also

References