Das Boxen der politischen Moderne: Eine gesellschaftstheoretische Reflexion

This article deals with the search for meaning and the differentiation of boxing as an element of the normative order of modern sport. On the basis of a social theoretical analysis, the article distinguishes boxing from traditional dueling in order to work out the specific modernity of boxing. The modernity of modern boxing consists in the political mediation of its social relations, which are characterized by a triadic constellation involving a comparison of equal performances. The duel, by contrast, is considered an expression of a societal formation that is bound to social inequality in the medium of honor. The differentiation of boxing from the classical duel is constitutionalized in the quasi-constitution of modern boxing, the Queensberry Rules. The Queensberry Rules open up the categorial space of modern boxing, within which the genesis of boxing is normatively mediated.