A closer look
Apparently, two men beating each other into a bloody pulp for entertainment used to be frowned upon by high society. Prizefighting was heavily associated with gambling, mob violence, and general debauchery, driving the sport completely underground. Matches had to be held in secret locations, on riverboats, or deep in the woods where local sheriffs wouldn't look. It took decades of sanitization and the introduction of padded gloves for politicians to finally realize they could tax it.
