BARE KNUCKLE BOXING FROM THE START
Liberty, N.C.- As a “modern” sport, boxing traces it’s roots to merry old England to 1719. That’s when James Figg opened his “School of Fighting,” a kind of open amphitheater/gym/school combination located on Tottenham Court Road in London. Simply put, fighting was the order of the day at Figg’s school, and it could be with clubs, swords, or fists, and Figg being a “hands on” instructor, literally, an all around fighter himself would fight all comers, students, fighters or show-offs. Boxing very quickly became the most popular activity. Figg, ever the opportunist, got together a group of professional Bare-knuckle-Boxers to fight each other and himself to round out the activities at Figgs school.
THE STORY OF THE GREAT JAMES FIGG
As boxing continued to grow more and more popular, so did James Figg himself as the champion and leading personality behind the phenomenon, and thus begun the first “golden age” of fisticuffs. The popularity of boxing continued to rise, even after Figg’s death in 1734. James Figg’s successor, one of his students, George Taylor, carried on in Figg’s stead. And as often happens among siblings and peers, Taylor was soon challenged to see who was to be “king of the hill” by another of Figg’s students, Jack Broughton. Broughton proved to be a better boxer than Taylor and trounced Taylor soundly. Shortly after proving to be the better man in the squared circle, Broughton proved to be a better businessman as well as he opened his own school and took with him most of the professional boxers and nearly all of the students and patrons.
THE REAL FATHER OF BOXING
And while it started with James Figg, it is Jack Broughton who really became known as the “Father of Pugilism.” You see, it was Broughton that first wrote up a definite set of rules for Bare-Knuckle-Boxing, which was continuing to grow in popularity. These rules became whats known as The London Prize Ring Rules, and were the standard for almost 100 years. Broughton also introduced “mufflers” or the first boxing gloves. He did this for his students, many of which were of the “upper class” and aristocracy. These gloves caught on immediately, but only for the “Gentlemen Students” and for sparring, not for actual bouts. The use of gloves for actual bouts would not happen until later in America and John L. Sullivan. For now, still, fisticuffs was still a “manly man’s” world, Bare-knuckles, and although gaining wide and even mainstream population as a sport it was still a hard and serious matter.
BROUGHTON’S LAW RULED
According to Broughton’s rules (some of the changes he instituted), a round lasted until a man was downed, and a man could be thrown down as well as knocked down, provided that the throwing maneuver was done above the belt. Once a round was over, the boxers had 30 seconds to “come to scratch” a line drawn between the two, to begin the next round, and a round could last anywhere from a few seconds to and hour or more!
PROFESSOR BRINGS YOU BACK IN TIIME
In 1750, Jack Broughton let pride get in the way of thinking clearly (some things, apparently haven’t changed much) and agreed to fight a much younger boxer named Jack Slack. The two didn’t like each other, had disagreements, so this fight was to settle the score. The match was set to be held at Broughton’s gym/amphitheatre, and the odds ran as high as 10 to 1 in the champion Broughton’s favor. One patron and supporter of Broughton was The Duke of Cumberland, and as many supporters do, The Duke was looking to cash in on the champ and those odds, and he bet 10,000 pounds on Broughton. (I mean, who’s going to lose to a man whos last name is SLACK?) The bout lasted only 14 minutes, and Broughton and The Duke had lost. No one recorded which was in more pain, but Slack caught Broughton with a Lulu of a punch right between the eyes, and the old champion was temporarily blinded by the punch. Then it was a simple matter for the younger Jack Slack to finish off his older opponent.
BETTING ON BOXING NEVER A SURE THING
Of course, The Duke of Cumberland wasn’t overcome with joy at having blown $10,000 pounds in bets on Broughton. In fact, The Duke was so angry he began to cry “foul” himself, claiming that Broughton took a dive. Even though no such thing was true The Dukes anger was hot and he had enough clout that he pulled strings in Parliament and had Broughtons school closed, and even had laws passed to make Bare-Knuckle-Boxing illegal in the Empire. Although The Duke of Cumberland eventually “forgave” Jack Broughton, and even funded his pension because he closed Broughtons school and thus took his income, The Duke reportedly could never talk about that fight with out losing his cool.
THE NON-FUTURE OF BROUGHTON
Jack Broughton never fought again, at least not for prize money. He did begin to teach young boxing students again, but only with the “mufflers.” At Jack Broughtons death in 1789, boxing’s first “golden age” was over. However, Broughton himself was honored by being buried at Westminster Abby, the only boxer to honored this way.
PART II, THE RETURN OF BARE KNUCKLE BOXING
Professor Chuck Marbry