Despite a dodgy reputation throughout the years, boxing was one of the most popular sports in America during the twentieth century, rivaling baseball and horse racing.

The first sporting event ever broadcast live over the radio was a prize fight. When prime time network television schedules were first created in the late 1940s, all four television networks included live boxing programs in their schedule.

Many of the terms and expressions from boxing have found their way into the American lexicon. A number of writers, including Damon Runyon, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Robert E. Howard, Joyce Carol Oates, and Norman Mailer have written extensively about boxing in literal and metaphorical terms. Boxing and boxers have shown up in comic strips (such as Joe Palooka), radio plays, television, and the movies - often structured around the corruption of boxing, and also the glories and hardships of boxing.

Boxing in the entertainment media

The Broken Place, a novel involving boxing; Shaara had been an amateur boxer.

The Power of One, a novel by Bryce Courtenay.

Fighting Ruben Wolfe, a novel by Markus Zusak.

Battling Butler (1926 film) Starring Buster Keaton

The Sailor Steve Costigan series (1929-1934), created by Robert E. Howard for the pulps.

The Champ (1931 film)

The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933 film) Starring Max Baer

Two-Fisted (1935 film) Comedy

Kid Galahad Starring Edward G. Robinson

Golden Boy (1937 stageplay) written by Clifford Odets

Golden Boy (1939 film) Starring William Holden and Barbara Stanwyck

Gentleman Jim (1942 film) Starring Errol Flynn

Body and Soul (1947 film) Starring John Garfield

Champion (1949 film) starring Kirk Douglas

The Set-Up (1949 film) starring Robert Ryan

Day of the Fight (1951 short subject) First film directed by Stanley Kubrick

On the Waterfront (1954 film) Winner of 8 Oscars, starring Marlon Brando and his famous line, "I could've been a contender."

The Harder They Fall (1956 film) Starring Humphrey Bogart

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956 film) Starring Paul Newman

Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956 TV play) Starring Jack Palance, written by Rod Serling

Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962 film) Starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney

Kid Galahad (1962 film) Musical starring Elvis Presley

Golden Boy (1964 musical stageplay)

The Great White Hope (1970 film) Starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander

Fat City (1972 film) Starring Stacey Keach and Jeff Bridges

On Boxing, a book from the highly acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oats

Rocky Oscar-winning movie in 1976 and its sequels, starring Sylvester Stallone (also scriptwriter)

The Main Event (1979 film) Starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal

The Champ (1979 film) Starring Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, and Rick Schroder; remake of 1931 film

The Prize Fighter (1979 film) Starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway

Raging Bull (1980 film) Classic boxing movie about Jake LaMotta starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci

Spike of Bensonhurst (1988 film)

Tokyo Fist (1995 film)

The Great White Hype (1996 film) Starring Samuel L Jackson and Jeff Goldblum

When We Were Kings (1997 film) The story of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman and the Rumble in the Jungle

24 7: Twenty Four Seven (1997 film) Starring Bob Hoskins

Don King: Only in America (TV movie) Starring Ving Rhames

The Hurricane Starring Denzel Washington as middleweight Rubin Carter

Billy Elliot About a young dancer whose father and brother wanted him to become a boxer, like Ken Buchanan

Girlfight (2000 film)

Ali (2001 film) Starring Will Smith

Champion South Korean film about Duk Koo Kim, a South Korean boxer who died after a bout against Ray Mancini

Undisputed, (2002)

Undefeated (2003 TV movie) Starring John Leguizamo

Million Dollar Baby (2004 film) Multiple Oscar-winner about a female boxer, directed by Clint Eastwood

Virgin Gloves (2004) First novel about a gay prizefighter, by Alex Hutchinson

Against the Ropes (2004 film) Starring Meg Ryan as Jackie Kallen, famous female boxing promoter

Black Cloud Directed by and starring Rick Schroder

The Calcium Kid (2004 film)

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004 film) Documentary directed by Ken Burns

Cinderella Man (2005 film) Based on the true story of Jim Braddock, starring Russell Crowe.

Jump In!, a 2007 Disney movie starring Corbin Bleu as a young boxer, jump roper and basketball player

Teenwolf Too, a 1987 teen comedy where Jason Bateman plays a teenager boxer who turns into a wolf when enraged.

The Contender 2005 Reality TV series

The Next Great Champion, short lived television reality series hosted by Oscar De La Hoya.

Hajime no Ippo Manga/anime about a young featherweight boxer

Activision Boxing One of the first console games about boxing

The Punch-Out!! series by Nintendo, including Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! game and Super Punch-Out!!

Balrog from the Street Fighter II franchise series is a fictional boxer based on Mike Tyson. His Japanese name was Mike Bison, a parody of Mike Tyson.

Dudley,a fictional professional boxer from England is a selectable character in the Street Fighter II video game series. This incarnation of the boxer has a technique and style that differs from Balrog off of Street Fighter 2. Dudley's special moves are believed to be a homage to various popular boxing animes.

EA Sports Fight Night 2004, Fight Night: Round 2 and Fight Night: Round 3 (formerly Knockout Kings).

Steve Fox from the Tekken arcade- and video game series is a British fighter who uses traditional boxing as his style.

In the King of Fighters video- and arcade game series there are two fictional boxers present; a previous pro-boxer known as Heavy D! and the female boxer Vanessa. Neither utilize traditional boxing gloves however.

Bully Preppies uses the style of Boxing and is a minigame found in Old Bullworth Vale

Impact of boxing on the English language

Numerous metaphors common to everyday speech derive from the sport of boxing. Some of these include:
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! 'Metaphor || Definition
|-
| he was rocked by that one || a fighter was hit by a punch with enough force to be dazed
|-
| not up to scratch || subpar, not able to do the task at hand (in the old days of boxing, boxers started the round by stepping over a scratch made in the ring, but if a boxer could not do this to keep the round going, he was said to be "not up to scratch")
|-
| saved by the bell || rescued from defeat by dint of time running out, an unexpected turn of events, etc. (ironically, this is no longer allowed, as due to rule changes a boxer cannot be saved by the bell in any round, including the last round)
|-
| on (or against) the ropes || on the verge of being defeated
|-
| throw in the towel/sponge || to quit, give up; traditionally, a boxer's manager or trainer will throw a towel, or in earlier days a sponge, into the ring if he feels that his fighter cannot win and is endangering himself
|-
| come out swinging || to throw oneself into an activity or competition; in boxing, to pursue the opponent aggressively (possibly recklessly)
|-
| in one's corner || on someone's side, to help or cheer him on
|-
| down/out for the count || knocked out, defeated
|-
| sucker punch || hitting an opponent who is off his guard, taking advantage of a vulnerability
|-
| hitting below the belt/low blow || a grossly unfair attack (in everyday life, usually of a verbal nature)
|-
| punch drunk || dazed or incoherent (originally, from being repeatedly struck, can refer to dazes generally)
|-
| pull one's punches || to hold back, withhold full force or attack
|-
| in the arena || to be participating, engaged
|-
| keep your guard up || to remain alert, on the defensive
|-
| go toe to toe || to engage an opponent head-on (reference to two boxers in guard facing each other)
|-
| taking it on the chin || to absorb punishment (personally or physically); in boxing, a chin refers to the ability to take punishment in the face
|-
| backed into a corner || put into a position where there's no possibility of escape without fighting your way out; in boxing, the corners of the ring offer a huge advantage to the boxer who is near the center, as (s)he can escape while the other boxer cannot
|-
|}