one hundred years
Actually, mollossoids have been bred since somewhere around 500 B.C.
King Phillip (Alexander’s daddy) had them.
Yes, as war dogs.
However, these postings address mostly the modern pit bull fighting dog, known by “dogmen” during the last one - to two hundred years as “bulldogs”.
An interesting sideline here on the Molosser breeds is the attempts during the last 90 or so years to bring back the war dog breeds, i.e., the Dogo Argentino, or “pure white”, and the Cane Corso. These dogs are pretty much giant pit bulls, and in the last month, two young wives of breeders of Dogo Argentinos were attacked and mauled by their husbands’ dogs.
One young wife was mauled to death. She was torn apart. This is a terrible way to die, one of the worst.