Bare Knuckle Fighting

[Viper]

Although I appreciate that there may not have been records kept, I was wondering if there is a way of locating records and photographs of my great grandfather, who was supposedly a phenomenal bare knuckle fighter in his day.

For me, I have only heard tales of him, and that people would come from all over the country to challenge him to a fight.

Any recommendations / advice would be appreciated.

[KGarrad]

Any clues - like name or dates?

Try this page from Wikepedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bare-knuckle_boxers

[Viper]

Any clues - like name or dates?

Try this page from Wikepedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bare-knuckle_boxers

Sorry, it was rather vague wasn't it

His name was John Willie Potts, born 29 November 1892 (Failsworth, Lancashire) and died October 1973 (Barton, Lancashire).

Dates wise, I've not got a clue, but I'd imagine between 1915 and 1940 ish.

Thanks for the link, unfortunately he's not on that list.

He used to get paid off by travelling fairs, so as not to fight the boxer, as he tended to knock them out.

[Viktoria]

There was an article in The Manchester Evening News this Saturday about the Collyhurst Boxing Gym. Under the leadership of Mr Harry Fleming it produced many champions including, Johhny king,
Jackie Brown and Jock McAvoy. These boxers were still fighting in the 1940`s.
I don`t know if you would get any more info from such a source but it might be worth considering.
I` m pretty sure these were not bare knuckle fighters as they  won the Lonsdale Belt and bare knuckle fighting  might not even  have been legal after a certain date.
Two names stick out,Gentleman Jim Corbett and John L. Sullivan. I think they were bare knuckle fighters but I could be wrong.
Send a P.M if you think it would help to have the article .
                                                                                      Viktoria.

[KGarrad]

The fact is that bare-knuckle fighting, or prize-fighting was outlawed in England in the 1800's.

A court case in 1882 ruled that, even with the contestants willing participation, bare-knuckle fighting was "an assault occasioning actual bodily harm".


So maybe you will find more mentions of your chap in court papers?!

[Kerrill]

If he was good he will be in here  http://www.bareknuckleboxinghalloffame.com/id7.html

[Viper]

If he was good he will be in here  http://www.bareknuckleboxinghalloffame.com/id7.html

Well before his time sadly.

[shell2012]

Try British boxing association or google history of bare knuckle boxing and see what comes up i found come bare knuckle boxers names on a googled site to do with the history of fairgrounds around the Uk in the 1800- 1900's.