The British Medical Association (BMA) said sports such as boxing and cage-fighting were "sometimes defended on the grounds that children learn to work through their aggression with discipline and control".

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The bout is the first act of a potentially huge night for British boxing, with Danny Williams fighting for Vitali Klitschko's WBC heavyweight crown in Las Vegas later today.

BBC: SPORT | Boxing | Live: Hatton v Oliveira

Back in London, Mr. Barton-Wright combined the Asian fighting skills he learned abroad, such as judo and jujitsu, with Western European styles of boxing, savate or kickboxing, and stick fighting.

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It won't stop me fighting again once the boxing season starts properly in the autumn.

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As a former college wrestler, he admires how competitors combine different fighting styles such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai and wrestling.

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Ali retired from boxing undefeated and has since taken her fighting skills outside of the ring.

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To give some indication of where men's boxing is at, on the same night Britain's Amir Khan will be fighting Danny Garcia in Las Vegas, having been reinstated as WBA welterweight champion after American Lamont Peterson was found guilty of doping following his controversial win when they met in December.

CNN: July 13, 2012 -- Updated 1727 GMT (0127 HKT)

Women's boxing can be seen to have started in England in the 1720s in the form of prize fighting.

BBC: Women in boxing over the years

Those that argue American sports fans do indeed love violence point to things such as (1) the precipitous increase in interest for mixed martial arts and UFC compared to boxing, or (2) the fact that hockey fans go nuts whenever 2 meat heads start fighting.

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