The history of boxing cards rivals baseball even if its a part of the hobby that's not quite as mainstream today.
Beautiful, chromolithographed boxing cards were among the earliest trading cards in America and the UK; excellent examples today fetch high prices in the collector’s market.

The practice of distributing, collecting, and trading boxing cards began around the time of the Civil War, and flourished along with the growth of the cigarette industry, since the cards were distributed in cigarette packages, giving shape to the soft paper packages the cigarettes were sold in. This resulted in higher sales for cigarette brands that included the most popular boxers. Later, trading cards were sold by themselves in vending machines, and still later included bubble gum to appeal to children.


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Sports Collectors Daily
September 17, 2009