The United States is a prominent country that doesn't celebrate Boxing Day, as it's not a former British colony or part of the Commonwealth, while many European countries observe December 26 as St. Stephen's Day (a religious holiday) or a second Christmas day, differing from the UK's gift-giving/shopping focus. Other nations like Indonesia also don't officially recognize it as a public holiday.
The U.S. is one of the few English-speaking countries — and former British colonies — that doesn't celebrate Boxing Day.
With the advent of communist rule in Cuba in 1959, professional boxing was banned there. However, Cuba has since become the world's preeminent nation in amateur boxing, in part because its best boxers fight as amateurs throughout their career rather than moving to the professional ranks.
From Britannica.com ; Boxing Day, in Great Britain and some Commonwealth countries, particularly Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, holiday (December 26) on which servants, tradespeople, and the poor traditionally were presented with gifts.
While there's no clear reason why the U.S. hasn't adopted Boxing Day as a national holiday, some speculate it's because America became an independent nation well after Britain established the day as an official holiday in 1871, according to Infoplease.
---This is a public holiday celebrated in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and other Commonwealth countries. Most offices are closed. ---Boxing Day is a centuries' old gift-giving day that originated in Britain.
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas in Great Britain and some Commonwealth countries, including Canada. In the U.K. Boxing Day was established as a public holiday during the reign of Queen Victoria.
While the holiday's roots can be traced back to Britain, where Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen's Day, the origin of the term itself is not definitive.
In Australia, Black Friday has overtaken Boxing Day as the bigger overall sales event, drawing more spending and participation as a key pre-Christmas shopping period, though Boxing Day remains significant for deep clearance of Christmas stock. Black Friday now often sees higher overall retail spending and is heavily promoted by big brands for gift-buying, while Boxing Day serves as the final, massive clearance sale, sometimes offering steeper percentage discounts on specific items that retailers need to move.
Australians celebrate Christmas twice because December is their hot summer, so they have a traditional summer Christmas (BBQs on the beach) but also embrace "Christmas in July" (Yulefest) for a cozy, Northern Hemisphere-style winter celebration with log fires, roasts, and fake snow, honoring their British heritage and yearning for traditional winter festivities. It's an unofficial second celebration, not a replacement for the December holiday, offering a chance to enjoy festive traditions better suited to cold weather during Australia's winter.
In 2014, fighter Cecilia Braekhus helped end Norway's 33 year ban on professional boxing, thanks to a parliamentary points decision. The so-called 'knockout' law had been in place since 1981 because the Norwegian parliament thought professional fights - lasting up to 12 rounds and with no helmets - were too dangerous.
The US practically birthed modern-day boxing and turned it into what it is today. Hands down, the US has produced the greatest boxers the world has ever known. With hundreds of world champions, as well as showing dominance in Olympic boxing, the US is at the very top of the sport, no question.
Cuba is the only country that has two three-time Olympic Champions: Teofilo Stevenson and Félix Savón. The ban on professional boxing was lifted in April 2022.
Denmark and the United Kingdom are the only countries without a national day. Denmark has what is not a public holiday but an unofficial celebration called Constitution Day.
No, Americans do not officially have Boxing Day as a public holiday, though the day after Christmas (December 26th) is known for major post-Christmas sales similar to Black Friday, and some people with Commonwealth ties acknowledge its traditions of giving or relaxing after the holidays. While it's not a cultural observance like in the UK or Canada, retailers use it for huge discounts, and many Americans enjoy the extended holiday period for family, leftovers, and shopping.
Christmas Day in Japan
In Japan, Christmas is the time for friends and couples to have parties, make plans to meet up for dinner and celebrate as much as they can. And New Year is the time of the year when all members of the family come together, visit the temple, and usher-in January 1st, with food and drinks.
Generally, Black Friday often has better discounts, especially for tech, electronics, and big-ticket items, with many retailers now seeing it as their biggest event, even surpassing traditional Boxing Day sales in some regions like Australia. However, Boxing Day remains strong for post-holiday needs, clearance items, gift cards, and specific categories like fashion/home goods in certain markets (like Canada) and offers a different type of savings on seasonal stock.
Australia's biggest sales events are Black Friday/Cyber Monday (late November) and Boxing Day (December 26th), with Black Friday often surpassing December spending and Boxing Day continuing into January for end-of-year clearance. Other major sales include the End of Financial Year (EOFY) in June, Afterpay Day (twice yearly), and events like Click Frenzy, all offering significant discounts across fashion, electronics, and homewares.
The first time “Black Friday” specifically referred to shopping the day after Thanksgiving was in the 1950s. Police in Philadelphia complained about an influx of people coming to the city to shop the day after Thanksgiving, calling it a “Black Friday” because they had to control crowds.
But despite being under British rule, the term never took off in the Republic of Ireland. The recently formed Irish State officially labelled the public holiday St Stephen's Day in the Holidays Act 1939, but the official designation in the North remained Boxing Day.
What do Catholics call Boxing Day? In Catholic and other Western Christian traditions, 26 December is the Feast of Saint Stephen (Saint Stephen's Day), commemorating Stephen as the first Christian martyr.
Boxing evolved through the prizefights of the 16th - 18th-centuries, largely in Great Britain, to its modern forerunner in the mid-19th century, with the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in 1867.
Boxing Day, December 26th, gets its name from the tradition of giving "Christmas boxes" of gifts, money, or leftovers to servants, tradespeople, and the poor, who worked on Christmas Day. Another theory links it to church alms boxes, where donations for the poor were collected during Advent and distributed on the day after Christmas, which is also St. Stephen's Day, known for charity. The name reflects a historical practice of giving to those who provided services throughout the year, evolving into a holiday for shopping and sports.
Boxing Day is a (paid) statutory holiday in Ontario and Nunavut … and in New Brunswick for part time, and seasonal employees or temporary employees who have 6 months or more continuous service.
In Australia, Boxing Day (Dec 26) is a public holiday that blends British traditions with modern summer culture, evolving from giving servants gifts ("Christmas boxes") to a huge commercial event with major sales, iconic sports (Test Cricket, Sydney to Hobart yacht race), and family barbecues, making it a day for shopping, sports, and extending Christmas festivities.