Famous Pugilists of the English Prize Ring 1719 - 1870 - Boxing Book by Mick Hill
Famous Pugilists of the English Prize Ring 1719 - 1870
By Mick Hill
This book is an attempt to portray all the so called Champions of the English Prize Ring and many of the most prominent pugilists of the lighter weights, from the generally agreed beginning of bare knuckle prize fighting, starting with James Figg in 1719, up until its demise in England around 1870. This was due to a gradual and increasing number of fighters starting to use gloves, as recommended in the Queensbury Rules of 1867, for the fighters own safety. Those who refused to give up the old style found it increasingly difficult to obtain paid fights in England so left these shores, mostly for America where bare fist fighting was still popular.
About The Author
Born in Reading in 1945, I was, as a boy, always interested in sport, especially football and athletics. It wasn't until I went to my senior school at eleven years of age that I became interested in boxing. Well not so much interested, because it was compulsory, so you had to like it! After leaving school I spent most of my working life in the printing trade, where I played football for a works team and a local side. Certain periods in history interest me along with genealogy and although an aunt of mine has beaten me in tracing our family tree, it was a combination of history, genealogy, boxing and my grandfather that bought this book and a previous one I published called Old Prize Fights in and around Berkshire" to fruition. In that book I related how my grandfather who had participated in organized boxing in the army in the First World War had, after the war, taken part in several illegal bareknuckle fights in the Reading area, to earn a few pounds as he was unemployed, married, with two young daughters. Coupled with this he fought with only one eye after having had the other one shot out in during one of the battles of the Great War and always sported a glass eye for everyday living. It made me realize that men from the 18th century onwards who indulged in this sport must have been tough, hard men worth writing about.
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