Gory glory! In the ring with Switzerland’s boxing champs

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Boxclub Sportring Zurich (founded in 1919). Private collection: Thomas Horat

Boxclub Sportring Zurich used to be a boxing club for workers – and the 1st of May was a day to celebrate. Private collection: Thomas Horat

29 April 1948: Jean Walzack vs. Ricardo Battaglia. Walzack won the fight (KO, 8th round of 10). Organisation: Punching Club Zurich. Private collection: Thomas Horat

The boxers from the Boxclub Sportring Zurich in 1925. Private collection: Thomas Horat

The boxers from the Boxclub Sportring Zurich in 1925. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Boxers from the Boxclub Sportring Zurich at the 1931 International Workers’ Olympiad in Vienna. The workers hat their own Olympics between World War I and World War II. It was an important issue and big movement. Private collection: Thomas Horat

16 March 1938: Tournament Italy vs. Switzerland. Organisation: Athletic-Boxclub Bern. Private collection: Thomas Horat

5 February 1947, Aroldo Montanari vs Bruno Coro, Organisation: Punching Club Zurich. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Hans Büchi (right) was one of Switzerland's best fighters in the early 50's. Private collection: Thomas Horat

1952 Olympics in Helsinki. The boxers from Switzerland with Hans Büchi on the right. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Members of the Box Club Zurich in 1952. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Romano Bossi (left) fights in Nürnberg for the Box Club Zurich. Private collection: Thomas Horat

In 1955, Karl Raess (left), was the president of the Box Club Zurich had organised a tournament against Ghana. Here the african athletes are In 1955, Karl Raess (left), the president of Boxclub Zurich, had organized a tournament against Ghana. Here the African athletes are enjoying a ‘bratwurst’ during their stay in Zurich. Private collection: Thomas Horat

This poster from 5 March 1953 reads ‘African nigger squad vs. Box Club Zurich’. The German term ‘Neger’ had been firmly established as a name for Black Africans and African Americans by the early 1800s, and was used in Switzerland up until the 1970s. In the 21st century, it remains a principal term of white racism. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Hans Büchi (right) from Box Club Zurich in action against an unknown competitor in 1953. Private collection: Thomas Horat

Romano Bossi at his last training in the Box Club Zurich in 1955. Private collection: Thomas Horat

A group of Swiss boxers on the way to a tournament in Great Britain. Travelling was very expensive then and the sport offered great opportunities. Private collection: Thomas Horat

1959 Engelberg: Training Camp for the European Championship with trainer Milu Hürlimann (right). Private collection: Thomas Horat

Sigi Widmer from Box Club Zurich, in the early 50's. Private collection of Thomas Horat

Fritz Chervet, one of Switzerland's most outstanding talents ever. Private collection: Thomas Horat

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In the early years of the 20^th century, boxing was booming in Paris. On the front line was the Swiss former world champion Frank Erne, who, in 1908, organised impressively large and spectacular boxing matches. A few years later, boxing fever had arrived in Zurich. swissinfo.ch dived deep into the archives and found pearls of sweat and flying fists.

The boxing craze soon reached western Switzerland; the first clubs were founded in Geneva and Lausanne. In 1909, four years before the founding of the Swiss Boxing AssociationExternal link, the first Swiss championships were held. According to news reports, the founding meeting of the association took place in February 1913, with representatives from Geneva and Berne. 

Eventually the sport was established in Zurich, mainly through the popularity with members of the working class. ‘Boxclub Sportring’External link was founded in 1919, and its local counterpart ‘Box Club of the City of Zurich’ (BCZExternal link) in 1934. The BCZ experienced a great surge in popularity in the mid-1930s. Fighters trained in the atmospheric old city hall in Zurich’s 4^th district. In the fifties, the local training establishment was moved to the 3^rd district, Wiedikon.

In 1971, another boxing highlight for Switzerland took place: the match of Muhammad Ali vs Jürgen Blin. Ali trained in Zurich before the big event, met huge crowds of fans, and stopped in to a local shop to pick up a new pair of shoes; all moments captured in a series of unique photographs.

Today, the BCZ is home to people from all walks of life, and anyone can join. It currently has more than 400 members, of which more than half train regularly. 

Swiss filmmaker Thomas HoratExternal link has kindly given swissinfo.ch access to a wide range of historical photos of the Boxclub Sportring and BCZ from his private collection. The former president and trainer of Boxclub Sportring Zurich was president of the Zurich Boxing Association from 1997 to 2016.