![Jem Ward](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Jem_Ward.gif)
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](_blank)
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
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
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 12
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
(76 kg). His first fight was victorious against
George Robinson and from this point he never lost a match, until he lost to
Bill Abbott in 1822. This was the controversial bout that wrecked Ward's early professional career. He was heard to call to his opponent "Now, Bill, look sharp, hit me and I’ll go down." He was promptly hit and fell to the ground. Abbott was considered to be an inferior boxer to Ward, and suspicions were immediately aroused. The
Pugilistic Society, the body which then governed boxing and enforced the
London Prize Ring rules
The London Prize Ring Rules were a list of boxing rules promulgated in 1838 and revised in 1853. These rules were based on those drafted by England's Jack Broughton in 1743 (known as the Broughton Rules) and governed the conduct of prizefighti ...
, held an inquiry. Eventually after confessing he had received a £100 bribe to lose,
Ward was banned from fighting in any contest governed by the Society. In this era boxing was an object of heavy betting, by members of all strata of society, including the sons of King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
The incident has left Ward's reputation with a lasting
stigma. Ward was the elder brother of the boxer
Nick Ward, who also had a reputation for using unfair tactics. Nick Ward, however, did not achieve the same success as his brother in the ring.
Deprived of his living Ward was reduced to travelling the country fighting under assumed names at fairs or in any chance ungoverned brawl where he could possibly pick up a prize. Once early in 1823 when attending a bout as a spectator, he was called upon to enter the ring, when the planned fight ended prematurely, and someone was needed to provide entertainment to keep the crowd present and spending money. He fought
Ned Baldwin and defeated him, but the match was void due to his ban. Under the pseudonym Sawney Wilson and claiming to be an inexperienced boy, he beat the champion
Joe Rickens
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
, thus making the
bookmaker
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
History
The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795.
Range of events
Bookm ...
s a fortune. Later in 1823, the Pugilistic Society decided to re-allow him to enter their fights.
After his reinstatement, he lost his first fight to
Josh Hudson. In 1825, anxious for publicity and thus money, he challenged and fought the reigning heavyweight champion Tom Cannon. This proved to be the very high-profile match Ward needed, with Cannon seconded by two previous champions
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 Cast ...
and
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 an ...
, names guaranteed to draw the crowds. The match took place on 19 July 1825 at
Stanfield Park on a very hot day with the temperature reputedly over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It took Ward just over 10 minutes to dispatch Cannon and become the new English champion.
[East Side Boxing](_blank)
![Ward painting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ward_painting.jpg)
Following the victory Ward led a life of ease and dissipation
for two years, having bought a public house. In 1827 he was finally forced by public opinion to return to the ring, and accept a challenge from
Peter Crawley. He was defeated by Crawley but quickly reclaimed the title when Crawley retired immediately after their match. Ward's last match was in 1831. On 12 July, he fought his last fight against the Irish champion,
Simon Byrne
Simon Byrne (1806 – 2 June 1833), nicknamed "The Emerald Gem", was an Irish bare-knuckle prize fighter. The heavyweight boxing champion of Ireland, he was drawn to England by the larger sums of prize money on offer and his hopes of becomin ...
. After an hour and seventeen minutes Ward was victorious, and retained his heavyweight title until his retirement in 1831.
His 1831 retirement was forced. Ward had received criticism for refusing to face the younger challenger,
James Burke, and rather than fight he retired and relinquished his title. However he did not relinquish to Burke his championship belt, when pressed he agreed to hand it over to the victor of Burke's match against his last adversary Simon Byrne in 1833. However, Ward refused to hand over the belt when Burke beat Byrne who Ward supported. Byrne, who had been knocked unconscious died three days later after the fight, Burke was tried and acquitted of his murder, but Ward still refused to part with the championship belt. He finally handed the belt over to
William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson at the Queen’s Theatre in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
following the latter's defeat of Burke in 1839.
Retirement
In retirement he kept the "York Hotel" in Liverpool, where he was taught to paint by his great friend the artist William Daniels.
William Daniels
He became an accomplished and proficient artist exhibiting his work in London and Liverpool. As a musician he played both the violin and flute, and sang in concerts. He also taught the boxing arts to students, one of whom, Tom King, went on to defeat the legendary Jem Mace
James "Jem" Mace (8 April 1831 – 30 November 1910) was an English boxing champion, primarily during the bare-knuckle era. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani ethnicity in his autobiography. Fi ...
to become heavyweight champion in 1863. Ward died in 1884 at his home in London. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 1995. He is buried in Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints ...
, London.
See also
*List of bare-knuckle boxers
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
Table of English heavyweight boxers
qualitycards famous prizefighters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Jem
Bare-knuckle boxers
English male boxers
1800 births
1884 deaths