A Summary: The Two-Fisted Testing Ground of Manhood: Boxing, Identity, and Society

Summarised by Rakim Sajero

This piece examines Randy Roberts’ 2014 essay on boxing and academia, showing how the sport has been tied to debates about race, class, and masculinity. It highlights how fighters like Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali reflected broader social and political struggles, and how scholars such as Eldridge Cleaver and R. W. Connell framed boxing as central to understanding identity and power.

Eldridge Cleaver once wrote that “the boxing ring is the ultimate focus of masculinity in America, the two-fisted testing ground of manhood, and the heavyweight champion, as a symbol, is the real Mr. America.” This idea frames Randy Roberts’ 2014 essay, The Two-Fisted Testing Ground of Manhood: Boxing and the Academy. Roberts argues that boxing has never been just a sport. It has been a stage where societies confront questions of race, class, identity, and masculinity.

For much of the twentieth century, sport was dismissed within universities or “the academy.” Politics, economics, and world affairs dominated, while boxing was relegated to the back pages of newspapers. Roberts shows how this view overlooked the fact that boxing reflected those very struggles. Cleaver recognised “the racial and political imperatives of the ring,” while cultural figures like Miles Davis and Maya Angelou acknowledged its symbolic power. Their contributions helped shift attitudes, proving that sports history could open meaningful conversations about society.

The champions themselves embodied these debates. Jack Johnson’s victories unsettled the racial order of early twentieth-century America. Joe Louis emerged as a national figure during the Second World War, symbolising unity at a time of conflict. Muhammad Ali went further, challenging politics, culture, and narrow expectations of manhood. These fighters represented more than physical strength. They forced societies to face questions of belonging, justice, and change.

R. W. Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity deepens this discussion. It refers to how societies promote a dominant version of manhood based on toughness, control, and dominance, while sidelining other expressions. Boxing has long been tied to this image. Yet fighters like Ali showed that masculinity could also mean resilience, intelligence, vulnerability, and resistance. In this way, the ring became a space where rigid ideas of gender were both reinforced and contested.

Roberts’ essay reminds us that boxing has never been only about fists. It is a mirror of wider society and a lens through which cultural change can be traced.

This approach shows how boxing can be more than a reflection of history. By combining sport with education, Boxing is Love empowers young people to examine identity and society, making boxing an active force for growth and opportunity.

References

Cleaver, E. (1968). Soul on ice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Roberts, R. (2014). “The two-fisted testing ground of manhood”: Boxing and the academy. The Journal of American History, 101(1), 188–191.https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jau180