In eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain, bare-knuckle boxing was a popular sport which drew followers from across the social spectrum, from the Prince of Wales and the aristocracy down. Charles Dickens loved a boxing match, and was one of the crowd who gathered in 1860 to watch Heenan v Sayers, which also included the Prime Minister, MPs and clergymen (see my blog Dickens and Chickens ). However, not all boxing matches took place in an official ring in front of thousands of spectators, with the representatives of the Fancy out in large numbers to watch fighters like England champions Jem Belcher or Daniel Mendoza fight it out for huge stakes after weeks of training. Many fights were spontaneous affairs between amateurs. Others were what you might call ‘novelty’ matches between unusual combatants, many of which were cruel and crude.   Daniel Mendoza Spontaneous fights arose out of everyday disputes: when men quarrelled they fought. Many of these matches, which look like noth...