Gyspy King

The first recorded bareknuckle fight took place in 1681 in England with James Figg becoming the 1st champion 110 years later.Bare-knuckle boxing persisted until 1867 when the Marquess of Queensberry Rules were introduced. The new regulations insisted on gloves – but to protect the hands, not the face.

The era of Regency England was the peak of British boxing, when the champion of bare-knuckle boxing in Britain was considered to be the world champion as well. Britain’s only potential rival in pugilism was the United States. Boxing had been introduced in the United States in the late 1700s but began to take root there only about 1800 and then only in large urban areas such as Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and to some extent New Orleans. Most of the fighters who fought in the United States had emigrated from either England or Ireland; because boxing was then considered to be the national sport of Britain, there were few American-born fighters of the time.

Gypsy King is a portrait of a prized fighter whose origins were Gypsy and was infamous in Georgian London of the 1790's

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