Queensberry was a patron of sport and a noted boxing enthusiast.
 In 1866 he was one of the founders of the Amateur Athletic Club, now the Amateur Athletic Association of England, one of the first groups that did not require amateur athletes to belong to the upper-classes to compete.
 The following year the Club published a set of twelve rules for conducting boxing matches.
 The rules had been drawn up by John Graham Chambers but appeared under Queensberry's sponsorship and are universally known as the "Queensberry Rules".
These rules were eventually to govern the sport worldwide.

A keen rider, Queensberry was also active in fox hunting and owned several successful race horses.
As a rider his first winner was in the Dumfriesshire Hunt Club chase in 1865, and his last was at Sandown Park in 1883.
 He was Master of the Worcester Fox Hounds in 1870.
 He was on the committee of the National Hunt but never won a Grand National as a rider, a last-minute substitution on the victorious "Old Joe" keeping him out of the 1886 National.
 During his riding career he recovered from a series of serious injuries.
Queensberry was a patron of sport and a noted boxing enthusiast.  In 1866 he was one of the founders of the Amateur Athletic Club, now the Amateur Athletic Association of England, one of the first groups that did not require amateur athletes to belong to the upper-classes to compete.  The following year the Club published a set of twelve rules for conducting boxing matches.  The rules had been drawn up by John Graham Chambers but appeared under Queensberry's sponsorship and are universally known as the "Queensberry Rules". These rules were eventually to govern the sport worldwide.
A keen rider, Queensberry was also active in fox hunting and owned several successful race horses. As a rider his first winner was in the Dumfriesshire Hunt Club chase in 1865, and his last was at Sandown Park in 1883.  He was Master of the Worcester Fox Hounds in 1870.  He was on the committee of the National Hunt but never won a Grand National as a rider, a last-minute substitution on the victorious "Old Joe" keeping him out of the 1886 National.  During his riding career he recovered from a series of serious injuries.
John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry