The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-23
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS


 Pugilism among the Creeks of old, Jim Figg, who used to frequent fairs and ex- hibit his science with various weapons. the foil the backsword, the cudgel. as well as the naked frt. is known to his torians of the ring as the Father of Pugilism.
 Figg is the first recorded champion of England, and whether be was entitled to 1t CT not, he assumed it in i7i9. when he opened an amphitheatre in Tottenhan Court Road, London. where he adver tised to teach the art of self-defense scientifically, being known for his ability to stop and carry" But at best boxins in his time seems to have been a matter of giving and take without much real Knowledge of the art of boxing.
 
 It seems rather strange that Joseph Struts Sports and Pastimes of the People of England first published Tn 1901, and in all the later editions of that valuable work. makes no mention what ever, even in cursory way to the sport U which, of all others, the Anglo-Saxon is most addicted. He devotes chapters to boat racing and to horse racing. to shooting and fishing, to wrestling and fencing, to cock fighting and to dog fight ing, but is as silent as the grave on prize fighting.
 Shakespeare evidently was familiar with it, for he was in touch with every form of life around him. in Troilus and 2 l ( re ur in Act 2. Scene a It's the Grecian camp, ] before the tent of Achilles. who is sulk- ing. Agamemnon suggests that Ajax !. go in and see if he cant persuade him to action, but Ajax says:
 If go to him., with my armed list, I'll plash him OCT the face"
 the Bard of Avon put such words into the mouth of the mighty Ajax. I thought it Was going to be easy to get a lead on prize fighting in England. but looked for long time, until by accident 1 ran across some data which made it possible to get behind the omission of strut in his Sport and Pastimes of the
 People of England" There is not much known about English boxing before the time of George d7l4-Z), when French traveller. whose name is not known. is quoted in the Badminton Library as say ing: Anything that looks like fighting is delicious to an Englishman. If two lit tie boys quarrel in the street the pas , sengers stop, make ring round them : in a moment. that they can come to ] isticuffs
 This has an air of verismilitude to it,
 for having lived il France and visited
 often in England, l know fairly well the differences in temperament and the poles apart they are on the question of usins . their fists in personal encounters. In
 all my residence in France l never saw
 two Frenchmen come to blows, but it
 was almost daily occurrence in London
 and as long as the fighters relied upon /, their boxing ability the police looked on : with indifference. And so when the , French chroncler says: During the fight : the ring of bystanders encourage the ccmbatants with great delight of heart, , and never part them while they fight : according to rules Now, I think this e is a good sdelight on my contention that y is our boys in the south were taught to n use their fists we would get rid of pistol e toting in a generation.
 But let's hear more from the French
 men. who go on to relate that The r fathers and mothers of the boys let them y fight on as well the rest, and heartens l. hin. that gives ground or has the worst" . But now comes something which must II have turned his world topsy turvy. But :. hear him; If a coachman has a dispute k about his fare with gentleman that /. has hired him, the coachman consents Y with all his heart; the gentleman pulls off his sword and lays it in some shop, Il with his cane, gloves and cravat. and U boxes in the same manner as I have de. : scribed above.' And to give concrete
 instance, he adds: 1T once saw the late n Duke of Grafton at fisticuffs in the open . street with such a fellow. I can relate - out of my own personal experience that
 over a disputed fare a driver. or rather lccnductor, stepped off his bus at Char
 ing Cross and invited me to scrap it out,
 but I sidestepped the chance to pull off :, ar international boxing match without
 having proper seconds. .- e said that Jim Fgg-what name s was credited as being the Father of
 English pugilisnl, but dying in 1743, he was succeeded as champion by Jack
 l'roughton fwonder if this is where my n friend Len Broughton got his pugillstic ' iturnl. Rroughton is looked-upon as the v real founder of the art of self-defense. In r. 1742 he drew up a code of rules modify . ing the old-time well-nigh murderous contests, and this code ruled the Londol prize ring until 1888. when 1t was super Q ceded in the Marquis of Queensbury l. lrules But before prize fighting was toned down a bit it was associated with other questionable sports, for Figg's am
 phitheatre referred to awhile ago, situ- lated near the Oxford road, was no place flor ladies or soueamish gentleman, Tor .- bear batting, tiger hunting. cock fighting, |. dog fighting and human fighting were all - on the programme
 h.
 ,t Jim Figg became a man Of note when . he went to the metropolis from the county S fairs as the first professional bruiser Who Is he fought twice. without gloves, with n Sutton, the pipe-maker of Gravesend and once each with Tom Buck and bou Stokes This made him a man who hao 70 made his mark in the sporting world le His portrait was engraved in mezzo un' II bv Faber, according to sutton. an'
 Hogarth in the second plate of Ine
 Rake's Progress. perpetuated his facs er,,~a ana alco ipt~oduced him curf-