Bare Knuckle Boxing
Bare-knuckle boxing (or simply bare-knuckle) is a combat sport which involves two individuals throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time without any boxing gloves or other form of padding on their hands. It is a regulated sport across the world. The difference between street fighting and a bare-knuckle boxing match is that the latter has an accepted set of rules, such as not striking a downed opponent. The rules that provided the foundation for bare-knuckle boxing for much of the 18th and 19th centuries were the London Prize Ring Rules. By the late 19th century, professional boxing moved from bare-knuckle to using boxing gloves. The last major world heavyweight championship happened in 1889 and was held by John L. Sullivan. The American ''National Police Gazette'' magazine was recognized as sanctioning the world championship titles. Bare-knuckle boxing has seen a resurgence in the 21st century with the English promotion BKB (Bare Knuckle Boxing) along wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John L
John Lasarus Williams (29 October 1924 – 15 June 2004), known as John L, was a Welsh nationalist activist. Williams was born in Llangoed on Anglesey, but lived most of his life in nearby Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. In his youth, he was a keen footballer, and he also worked as a teacher. His activism started when he campaigned against the refusal of Brewer Spinks, an employer in Blaenau Ffestiniog, to permit his staff to speak Welsh. This inspired him to become a founder of Undeb y Gymraeg Fyw, and through this organisation was the main organiser of ''Sioe Gymraeg y Borth'' (the Welsh show for Menai Bridge using the colloquial form of its Welsh name).Colli John L Williams , '' BBC Cymru'', 15 June 2004 Williams also join ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jack Broughton
John "Jack" Broughton (c. 1703 – 8 January 1789) was an English bare-knuckle boxer. He was the first person to codify a set of rules to be used in such contests; prior to this the "rules" that existed were very loosely defined and tended to vary from contest to contest. His seven rules of how boxing would be conducted at his amphitheatre were widely used in boxing for nearly century, until they were replaced by the London Prize Ring rules in 1838. Early life Little is certain about John Broughton's early life. He was born to unknown parents, possibly in London, though one early-20th-century history of boxing claims that he was a farmer's son from Baunton, Gloucestershire. Apprentice records show that Broughton was apprenticed to a Thames waterman in May 1723. On 1 August 1730, Broughton won the annual Doggett's Coat and Badge rowing race among watermen who had completed their apprenticeship within the previous year. At the time, he was noted as working on the shore near H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Sayers
Tom Sayers (15 or 25 May 18268 November 1865) was an English bare-knuckle prize fighter. There were no formal weight divisions at the time, and although Sayers was only five feet eight inches tall and never weighed much more than 150 pounds, he frequently fought much bigger men. In a career which lasted from 1849 until 1860, he lost only one of sixteen bouts. He was recognized as heavyweight champion of England between 1857, when he defeated William Perry (the "Tipton Slasher") and his retirement in 1860. His lasting fame depended exclusively on his final contest, when he faced American champion John Camel Heenan in a battle which was widely considered to be boxing's first world championship. It ended in chaos when the spectators invaded the ring, and the referee finally declared a draw. Regarded as a national hero, Sayers, for whom the considerable sum of £3,000 was raised by public subscription, then retired from the ring. After his death five years later at the age of 39 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Perry (boxer)
William Perry (1819 – 24 December 1880), known as "The Tipton Slasher" after his native town of Tipton, was a British heavyweight prize fighter of the 19th century and claimed the championship of England, with some dispute, for two periods between 1850 and 1857. His fighting career began in London in 1835 and after fighting a number of highly rated championship contenders, he first claimed the English heavyweight championship by defeating Tom Paddock in twenty-seven rounds on 17 December 1850. In 1851 he lost the English heavyweight title in a controversial referee's decision to Harry Broome which he strongly disputed. After the leading contenders of the day refused to fight him, Perry reclaimed the English title until Tom Sayers defeated him in a championship bout in 1857. Early life Perry was born in Tipton (then in Staffordshire, now West Midlands) in 1819. His parents were Timothy, a miner, and Sarah Perry. He was the third of five children, and baptized at St Martin's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ben Caunt
Ben Caunt (22 March 1815 – 10 September 1861) was a 19th-century English bare-knuckle boxer who became the heavyweight boxing champion known as the "Torkard Giant" and "Big Ben". Early life Caunt was born on 22 March 1815 in Hucknall Torkard, in Nottinghamshire, England. Caunt stood tall and weighed 18 stone. He was said to be strong, durable, and willing yet also slow and clumsy. His early boxing career is not well known, but he did defeat several minor local opponents at the age of 18. Boxing career In 1834 he beat George Graham (of Lincolnshire). On 21 July 1835, Caunt boxed William "Bendigo" Thompson and was disqualified for an alleged foul striking Thompson while he was sitting in his corner. On 17 August 1837, Caunt fought and beat William Butler at Stoneyford in Derbyshire, and on 4 November Bill Boniford at Sunrise Hill. On 3 April 1838, Caunt again fought William Thompson on Skipworth Common, and after 76 rounds Thompson was disqualified for going down without b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Thompson (boxer)
William Abednego Thompson (11 October 1811 – 23 August 1880), also known Bendigo Thompson, was an English Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle boxer who won the heavyweight championship of England from James Burke on 12 February 1839. He was inducted into The Ring magazine Hall of Fame, ''The Ring'' magazine Hall of Fame in 1955, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. His nickname of "Bendigo" lives on in the name of a Bendigo, city and Bendigo Creek, creek in Australia. Early life Born in New Yard, now Trinity Walk, Nottingham in 1811, Thompson claimed to be one of a set of triplets named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, after the young men in the Book of Daniel who are thrown into the fiery furnace of Babylon. However, he was baptised at St Mary's Church, Nottingham on 17 October 1811 with his twin brother Richard. Richard died and was buried at the same church on 25 October 1811. If he was one of triplets, then th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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James Burke (boxer)
James "Deaf" Burke (8 December 1809 – 8 January 1845), was one of England's earliest boxing champions. He was also deaf. Career Burke, who trained in the area around the River Thames, stood tall and weighed . On 30 May 1833, in a particularly brutal fight for the English heavyweight championship that lasted 3 hours and 6 minutes, Burke defeated Simon Byrne, the Irish champion. Byrne died three days later from his injuries. Burke was promptly arrested and tried for Byrne's murder, but was acquitted on 11 July 1833 and subsequently freed. The former English champion Jem Ward, who had earlier retired rather than face Burke in the ring, refused to hand over the championship belt or acknowledge Burke as heavyweight champion. Following Byrne's death and the resulting stigma from having killed his opponent, Burke found it impossible to obtain opponents in Britain. He went to the United States and fought the new Irish champion Sam O'Rourke in New Orleans on 6 May 1837. As the fight ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jem Ward
Jem Ward (26 December 1800 – 3 April 1884) was an English bare-knuckle boxer. "A fine fighter and powerfully built man",Biography of Jem Ward he was the English heavyweight champion from 1825 until 1831. He became known for being one of the first boxers to be officially sanctioned for deliberately losing a fight. During his fighting career he was d "The Black Diamond". In his retirement he became a successful artist. Boxing career Ward first became a professional boxer in 1815, at 15 years of age. He was 5 ft 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, and weighed 12stone ...
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Tom Spring
Tom Spring (born Thomas Winter) (22 February 1795 – 20 August 1851) was an English bare-knuckle fighter. He was heavyweight champion of England from 1821 until his retirement in 1824. After his retirement he became landlord of the Castle Inn at Holborn in London, where he arranged the patronage and contracts of many of the major boxing events of the period while overseeing fair play in the ring. Early years Spring was born at Witchend in Fownhope, Herefordshire on 22 February 1795. His true surname was "Winter", which he changed to Spring when he became a professional boxer. His first career was as a butcher, the trade in which he was employed when he had his first known fight in 1812, against John Hollands. He had been encouraged to box from a young age by his father, who had constructed a sand bag for him to train with. Later his father was jailed for debt, which destroyed Spring's relationship with him. In 1814 Spring met the legendary heavyweight champion ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Cribb
Tom Cribb (8 July 1781 – 11 May 1848) was a world champion English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. Cribb was born near Bristol but moved to London before starting professional fighting. He undertook a series of fights between 1805 and 1812 when he retired, becoming a coal merchant and then publican. His career has been commemorated with the name of a pub and in literature. Early life Born in Wick near the Hanham area of Bristol, Cribb moved to London at the age of 13 and after working as a bell-hanger he sought work as a coal porter in Wapping. Boxing career His first fight was with George Maddox on 7 January 1805 at Wood Green in Middlesex, now part of north London. Victory here, over Maddox, followed by another a month later, over Tom Blake persuaded him to become a professional pugilist, under the supervision of Captain Robert Barclay. George Nicholls was the only fighter to defeat Cribb, on 20 July 1805. Later, the foremost prizefighting reporter, Pierce Egan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Gully
John Gully (21 August 1783 – 9 March 1863) was an English champion prizefighter who became a racehorse owner and, from 1832 to 1837, a Member of Parliament. Early life Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who became a butcher in Bath shortly after John's birth. Gully worked for his father and inherited the business on his father's death. In 1805, the business failed and as a result, Gully was imprisoned for debt. Boxing Gully was visited in prison by a friend, Hen Pearce, a well-known prizefighter who was nicknamed "the Game Chicken" in bare-knuckle boxing circles. An informal match was arranged between them, which took place in the prison; as a result, Gully's debts were settled. On 8 October 1805, Gully was again matched against Pearce in a fight watched by the Duke of Clarence (later William IV of the United Kingdom) and numerous other spectators. After fighting twenty eight rounds, taking an hour and seventeen minutes, Gully was beaten. In 1807, h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hen Pearce
Henry "Hen" Pearce (7 May 1777, in Bristol – 30 April 1809, at St. Martin's Lane, London) was an English bare-knuckle prizefighter who fought under the London Prize Ring rules and was the recognised English Champion from 1804 until his retirement due to ill health in 1807.Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopaedia Retrieved on 18 April 2009. Pearce was known as "The Game Chicken", a nickname probably derived from his habit of signing his name "Hen" instead of Henry. He was reckoned a fast, skillful boxer who hit hard with both fists. On 6 December 1805, Pearce defeated Jem Belcher in a Championship decider (a fight reported in Pierce Egan's f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |