Boxing

Eh, well, it's a little known fact, that "Boxing Day" isn't named after Boxers of the type you're thinking of, but the breed of dog known as "Boxers."

See, now, in Victorian times, it was traditional to give one of these dogs as Christmas gifts. Now, everyone knows that in those days, the dogs of the higher classes in Britian wore jewelry. Well, you didn't give the jewelry with the dogs, of course, because you didn't know what kind they'd like. The people who got the dogs, not the dogs, I mean, they didn't care.

Now, anyway, the day after Christmas, the lords and ladies would take their dogs down to the pet jeweler, or 'framisher' as they were called, and the first thing they buy would be a golden ring, which was placed in the dog's nose. You know, like a bull. That's how you got bulldogs, but that's another story, since they really didn't gain the forefront until later. Now anyway, since as I said earlier, boxers being the most popular breed at the time, the day was known as "Boxer Ring" day, which in modern times has been shortened of course to "Boxing Day."

Now, incidently, and getting back to your original question, that's also where we get the "Boxing Ring" from, referring to the sporting event. See, in 1781...