Basketball and boxing are two of America’s best-known sports. Professionals from these sports are seen as national and worldwide celebrities.
Basketball was first played in 1891. The game consists of two teams of five players who try to score points by throwing a ball through a basketball hoop. Each team have a hoop to attack and a hoop to try and defend. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins. It is now seen as a huge craze in the US, with stadiums that are capable of holding up to 20,000 people! Some of the most famous star players in history are Lebron James, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
Boxing can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks where fighters would fight either bare fist or they wore leather straps called himantes over their fists. Competitors would even fight to the death to be glorified as the winner! In 1743 heavyweight champion Jack Broughton introduced a series of rules that were designed to protect fighters and to prevent deaths in the ring.
The sport is as popular today as it was thousands of years ago although it is seen as much safer now! Some of the best known boxers in history are Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. |
