Throw a boxing match

In our last episode,
,
the lovely and talented (Email Removed)
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]What does throw a boxing match mean?[/nq]
To lose deliberately.
[nq:1]Can we say throw a cricket match ?[/nq]
Surely not cricket! But yes, we could say it if such a thing ever happened in fact or fiction.
"Throw a game," "throw a match," the meaning is always to lose

(Email Removed) wrote on 13 Jan 2004:
[nq:1]What does throw a boxing match mean? Can we say throw a cricket match ?[/nq]
Yes, you can say that. To "throw a match" means to lose a match on purpose. It is usually done because someone match wants to make lots of money by betting heavily on a sure thing.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.

[nq:1]What does throw a boxing match mean? Can we say throw a cricket match ? Thanks a lot! braininvat[/nq]
When you "throw" something in sports, you deliberately lose. I suppose you could throw a cricket match, but it would take much longer.

[nq:1]What does throw a boxing match mean?[/nq]
To lose, intentionally.
[nq:1]Can we say throw a cricket match ?[/nq]
You can in American English, but cricket matches are talked about more often in British English than in American English, and I don't know if "throw" has this sense in Britain.
One can certainly throw a baseball game. Well, one can't, perhaps, but nine can.
-Aar

Aaron J. Dinkin filted:
[nq:2]What does throw a boxing match mean?[/nq]
[nq:1]To lose, intentionally.[/nq]
That said, why "throw"?...r

[nq:2]To lose, intentionally.[/nq]
[nq:1]That said, why "throw"?...r[/nq]
Throw in the towel (sponge)?

[nq:1]What does throw a boxing match mean? Can we say throw a cricket match ? Thanks a lot![/nq]
"Throw" in this sense means "lose on purpose," and is mostly used with respect to sports events. It is ordinarily done for the benefit of gamblers, who then share some of their winnings with the players who threw the contest. It is not limited to boxing. One common use in the US is to describe the

[nq:2]That said, why "throw"?...r[/nq]
[nq:1]Throw in the towel (sponge)?[/nq]
One cigar is due.

Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs¦at¦eircom¦dot¦net

[nq:2]That said, why "throw"?...r[/nq]
[nq:1]Throw in the towel (sponge)?[/nq]
I doubt there's a connection, since the earliest known cites for "throw" in the sense of "lose intentionally" come from horse-racing, not boxing. The OED has an 1868 cite, from Hiram Woodruff's The Trotting Horse of America the 1871 edition of the book is available online via the Making of America database :

[nq:2]Can we say throw a cricket match ?[/nq]
[nq:1]You can in American English, but cricket matches are talked about more often in British English than in American English, ... this sense in Britain. One can certainly throw a baseball game. Well, one can't, perhaps, but nine can.[/nq]
One certainly can, especially if one is the pitcher or catcher. I suspect that the star hitter could, as