Expert: Noa - 5/24/2004

Question
Hi. Can you please help me learn why the sport of boxing is often referred to as the "sweet science" in English? What could be the etymological history about the origin of this expression? Who used it first? I have referred to several larage dictionaries but none of them had this information. I thank you in advance.  

Answer
Hi Minn, and thanks for the question,

The phrase “the sweet science of boxing” was first used by a gentleman
called Pierce Egan who wrote a collection of articles regarding
boxing.  He wrote the articles in the publication, Boxiana, or
Sketches of Modern Pugilism in 1824.

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“The phrase “the sweet science of boxing” was popularized by Liebling.
He got it from Pierce Egan's Boxiana, collections of articles about
boxing in England in the 1700s. Egan called boxing “The Sweet Science
of Bruising.”
http://www.greatbasinweb.com/gb2-2/sweetstories.htm

“Pierce Egan (1772-1849), early journalist, sportswriter, and writer
on popular culture. He wrote first about boxing in his serial
publication, Boxiana, or Sketches of Modern Pugilism (1824), in which
he originated the description of boxing as "the sweet science”
http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Pierce_Egan

“There've been several sweet boxers in the Fight Game over the
centuries. It's not for nothing that Pierce Egan, the sport's greatest
chronicler, in his 1812 edition of Boxiana called boxing "the sweet
science of bruising."
http://www.insidewomensboxing.com/sweetsciencebruising/sugarshane.html

“I'm hoping you can help me. Can you please tell me why they call
boxing the "Sweet Science" - Cheryl

Ahhhh "The Sweet Science", no other sport carries such a distinguished
moniker. The hard part is living up to the term. Some like Shane
Mosley, Floyd Mayweather and Ricardo Lopez do it justice. Others such
as Butterban, Tye Fields, and... well, you get the idea. The phrase
first gained prominence when used by renowned New York sports writer
A.J. Libeling on short stories compiled in a series of articles for
'The New Yorker' magazine in the 1950s. Boxing broadcasters picked up
on the term and spread it widely with the emergence of television.
Libeling reportedly borrowed the phrase from Pierce Egan's 'Boxiana',
a collection of articles about boxing in England during the 1700s.
Egan called boxing "The Sweet Science of Bruising." Which just goes to
prove that sometimes, subtraction is better than addition. Watching
HBO boxing shows minus George Foreman proves this theory correct”
http://www.maxboxing.com/Correspondents/gymrat080701.asp

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Thank you for the question!

Best regards!

Search strategy included:
"the sweet science"   "Pierce Egan "
http://www.google.com/search?hl=pt&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=+%22the+sweet+scie...