Boxing

Boxing, bareknuckle prize fighting is an English invention. The Champion of England of was the de facto world champion.

Copthorne, Sussex
QUOTE
Lying on the borders between the counties West Sussex and Surrey, has contributed to Copthorne's history. There are stories of smugglers from the south coast stashing their goods in the woods around the village, conscious that it was easy to step across the county boundary, and escape any pursuing constabulary.

Similarly, a number of significant boxing prize fights took place in Copthorne Common in the early 1800s. A significant one was the English championship in 1810, between Tom Cribb of Bristol and Tom Molineaux from Virginia, USA.
UNQUOTE
The Fancy was big when men were men and sheep were nervous.

Vladimir Klitschko carries on where Tom left off.

 

Fred, a rather sound sort of chap wrote Thinking About Intelligence. He mentions en passant the  Long Count (in the Cribb-Molineaux fight), a sure sign of a misspent youth.

 

Tom Molineaux
Spartakus takes a neo-Marxist line on Molineaux because he was black.

 

Jim Belcher [ 1800 -1805 ]

 

Bob Fitzsimmons World Heavyweight Champion [ 1891 - 1894 ]

 

Ben Caunt [ 1838? ]

 

Tom Cribb [ 1810 - 1812 ]
Beat Tom Molineaux

 

Hen Pearce [ 1804 - 1807 ]

 

Jack Gully [ 1807 de facto ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sayers [ 1857 - 1859 ]

 

Jem Mace [ 1861  

 

Bare Knuckle Boxing Emerges From The Shadows  [ 9 March 2018 ] 
It was good enough for the Prince Regent, Prinny for short. Bare Knuckle Boxing was big when men were men and sheep were nervous. Take the point that Cock Fighting never went away; it just went underground.

 

Cock Fighting Still Goes On  [ 21 March 2018 ]
It is illegal in England, but happens, among gypsies in the main. Part of the answer is do not put it on line. Another is move to the Philippines. Of course The Fancy never went away either - Bare Knuckle Boxing Emerges From The Shadows.

 

Bare Knuckle Boxing Is Back In Wyoming   [ 4 June 2018 ]
QUOTE
The first ever state-sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing match got a bloody ending - and a big response from a raucous crowd.

Arnold Adams, a 32-year-old MMA heavyweight, pounded ex-UFC fighter D.J. Linderman's face into a bloody mess in front of 2,000 rowdy fans at a hockey rink that usually hosts birthday parties and skating lessons in Wyoming's capital, Cheyenne.

Tens of thousands more tuned in for the pay-per-view event, which featured 10 bouts, including four heavyweight fights in a tournament format. Fans were lined up outside the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center more than an hour before the first major bare-knuckle event in the U.S. since 1889. Forrest Peters, from Cheyenne, was among those in attendance. 

He came to cheer Estevan Payan - who served in the same Army unit as Peters - and to witness history.
UNQUOTE
It is fairly brutal, owing more to the London Prize Ring Rules than the Marquess of Queensberry

 

White Man Becomes World Champion   [ 24 February 2020 ]
This is a nice change in Boxing. To be fair, Tyson Fury is an Irish drunkard and gypsy to boot but he shows that it is possible. Tyson also beat Wladimir Klitschko, a large Ukrainian with a good brain. It was somewhat thus with Jem Belcher. Boxing was not his real focus. He became a Member of Parliament later.