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Jack Broughton

Another of his fights, the epic and fatal Broughton v. Stevenson, served as the inspiration for Paul Whitehead's poem The Gymnasiad.

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As a result of his status in boxing, and with help from a number of wealthy patrons, he opened his own amphitheatre in 1743, in Hanway Road, near Oxford Street.

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In 1730 he won a major annual race on the Thames, Doggett's Coat and Badge race which is contested to this day, against a number of other watermen who had recently finished their apprenticeships.

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Aside from his career in boxing, Broughton also served in the Yeomen of the Guard (the bodyguard of the British monarch), as a member of which he accompanied George II at the Battle of Dettingen, the last time a British monarch fought in a battle.

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He served his apprenticeship in the Port of London, initially working as a lighterman but eventually, in light of his physical prowess (Broughton was nearly 6 feet tall and very muscular, weighing over 14 stone, or approximately 196 pounds), working as a waterman rowing passengers on the River Thames.

see also