Jem Smith (21 January 1863 – 10 September 1931) was a bare-knuckle

prize fighter Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

and Heavyweight Champion of

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in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. In 2010 he was inducted into the

Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame The Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame in Belfast, New York, dedicated to the sport of bare-knuckle boxing. It is housed in barns that were once owned by the Greco-Roman wrestling champion and physical culture pioneer ...

Early career

In 1881 he fought his first bare-knuckle

prizefight Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

aged 18 years. In 1889, he won the last internationally recognized bare-knuckle prizefight that was fought in

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Titles

Smith fought his first heavyweight title fight in 1884 against Woolf Bendoff in the

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, England and won by TKO in the 13th round. He fought

Jake Kilrain John Joseph Killion (February 9, 1859 – December 22, 1937), more commonly known as Jake Kilrain, was a famous American bare-knuckle fighter and glove boxer of the 1880s. Early life Kilrain found employment as a teenager in Somerville, Mas ...

in 1887, in defence of his heavyweight title. The match lasted 2 and a half hours and after 106 rounds the bout was called a draw due to darkness. In 1891 he fought his last BBBC fight against Ted Pritchard in

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, also in London, England and lost by a TKO in the 3rd round.

References

BoxRec

Early career

Titles

References

External links

See also