The king of this mad world was Tom Cribb, the idol of the Fancy and by universal acclamation the champion of England. A former porter on the London wharves, Cribb had battled his way to supremacy with a combination of tactical savvy, punching power, and grim determination. On the wharf, Cribb had once been crushed beneath a 500-pound crate of oranges, coughed blood for days, and then made a full recovery. He was second to none in science, “gluttony” (the slang term for a fighter’s ability to absorb punishment), and “bottom” (a fighter’s stamina and resolve, as in the bottom of a ship). In 1807 he upset Jem Belcher in a brutal 41-round match, then leveled the giant Bob Gregson in a bloody fight in 1808. Since crushing Belcher in a rematch in early 1809, the 28-year-old Cribb had gone into semi-retirement — not because his skills had declined but because he was thought to be so invincible that no opponent was worthy to face him.

Bouts were held outdoors, on bare ground, in rings marked off from fields. The fighters wore no gloves, which probably made them safer. (Gloves were introduced to protect the hands, not the head, and allowed fighters to punch harder.) But rounds didn’t end until one man or the other went down. And there was no limit to the number of rounds that could be fought. After a fall, fighters had 30 seconds to return to the scratch, a mark in the middle of the ring. The battle went on until one of them either surrendered or couldn’t make it. Boxers fought on through concussions and broken bones, sometimes suffering dozens of knockdowns severe enough to stop a fight today. Wrestling throws and holds above the waist were permitted, but it was illegal to strike while the foe was down. To add to the fun, constables occasionally descended in the middle of a match to arrest the fighters and fans. Spectators were occasionally known to rush the ring and attack one of the fighters. The overall effect was somewhere between modern boxing, MMA, and a bar fight.

A brilliant read from our savage days. Incredible research by Brian Phillips.