Editing Regency era (section)

=== Bare-knuckle boxing ===

[[File:Cribb vs Molineaux 1811.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Tom Cribb]] vs [[Tom Molineaux]], 1811]]
[[Bare-knuckle boxing]], also known as [[prizefighting]], was a popular sport through the 18th and 19th centuries. The Regency era has been called "the peak of British boxing" because the champion fighter in Britain was also, in effect, the world champion. Britain's only potential rival was the United States, where organised boxing began {{circa|1800}}.<ref name=bke>[https://www.britannica.com/sports/boxing/The-bare-knuckle-era ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'']. The Bare-knuckle Era. Retrieved 3 July 2022.</ref> Boxing was in fact illegal but local authorities, who were often involved on the gambling side of the sport, would turn a blind eye. In any case, the huge crowds that attended championship bouts were almost impossible to police. Like [[cricket]] and [[horse racing]], boxing attracted [[gambling|gamblers]]. The sport needed the investment provided by gambling, but there was a seamier side in that many fights were fixed.<ref name=bke/>

At one time, prizefighting was "anything goes" but the champion boxer [[Jack Broughton]] proposed a set of rules in 1743 that were observed throughout the Regency era until they were superseded by the [[London Prize Ring Rules]] in 1838.<ref name=bke/> Broughton's rules were a reaction to "bar room brawling" as they restricted fighters to use of the fists only. A round ended when a fighter was grounded and the rules prohibited the hitting of a downed opponent. He was helped to his corner and then had thirty seconds in which to "step up to the mark", which was a line drawn for that purpose so that the fighters squared off less than a yard apart. The next round would then begin. A fighter who failed to step up and square off was declared the loser. Contests continued until one fighter could not step up.<ref name=bke/>

There were no weight divisions and so a [[heavyweight]] always had a natural advantage over smaller fighters. Even so, the first British champion of the Regency era was [[Daniel Mendoza]], a [[middleweight]] who had successfully claimed the vacant title in 1792. He held it until he was defeated by the heavyweight [[John Jackson (English boxer)|Gentleman John Jackson]] in April 1795. Other Regency era champions were famous fighters like [[Jem Belcher]], [[Hen Pearce]], [[John Gully]], [[Tom Cribb]], [[Tom Spring]], [[Jem Ward]] and [[James Burke (boxer)|James Burke]].<ref name=Cyber>{{cite web |title=The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia presents The Bare Knuckle Heavyweight Champions of England |url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/barenuk.htm |publisher=Cyber Boxing Zone |access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> Gully went on to become a successful [[racehorse]] owner and, representing the [[Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)|Pontefract constituency]], a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member]] of the first [[Great Reform Act|post-Reform]] Parliament from December 1832 to July 1837.<ref name=hdm>{{cite book |last=Miles |first=Henry Downes |title=Pugilistica: the history of British boxing containing lives of the most celebrated pugilists |date=1906 |publisher=John Grant |location=Edinburgh |pages=182–192 |url=https://archive.org/stream/pugilisticahisto01mileuoft#page/182/mode/2up |access-date=2 July 2017}}</ref> Cribb was the first fighter to be acclaimed world champion after he twice defeated the American [[Tom Molineaux]] in 1811.<ref>[[Pierce Egan]], ''[[Boxiana]]'', Volume I (1813).</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Snowdon |first=David |title=Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's Boxiana World |year=2013}}</ref>