SOUTHWARK - THE RING - OUR HISTORY AND HERITAGE

Acknowledgements to fist fighting date back to Roman times, when gladiatorial battles were fought – often to death, in the Coliseum of Rome. Bold statues of warriors -in boxing stance – evoke an era of humbling bravery and courage. These are the first recorded boxing events, taking place over 2000 years ago.

However, the rules of competition were blurred, and often the contest would be a mixture of different disciplines, without either structure or form. The Romans, as a conquering force, introduced the sport to the British Isles, where it was adopted and evolved over the centuries.

We have to move on in time to identify the first form of boxing which has any semblance of similarity with modern day pugilism as we know it. James Figg was born in 1694, in an Oxfordshire village called Thame. His reputation for being a master of the sword and fist was renowned. Whilst demonstrating his silky skills to an admiring crowd on the local village green, Figg was spotted by the Earl of Peterborough who, with the offer of financial inducements encouraged a move to London, where Figg could hone his abilities an and pit his skill with London's biggest and best.

James Figg, in 1719 became the first ever British heavyweight champion. After an exhausting schedule of bouts and taking on all comers, his dominance became undisputed. He now takes a pre-eminent place in boxing history, and is widely accepted as being ‘The Father of Boxing’. Figg was the first to openly advertise the tuition of boxing skills, and was instrumental in promoting exhibitions of basic pugilism to a doting London audience. Because of his relationship with the Earl of Peterborough, Figg was able to engage the patronage of the English aristocracy – whose relationship with the noble art remains to this day. Of great significance to Cityboxers, one of the first venues where Figg fought, was in a boxing booth on the green fields of Southwark Fair. The booth was of wooden construction – it would be many years before rope was used- and the boxers fought on a raised stage with the judging officials placed outside. He would later build similar boxing amphitheatres in Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road, where other disciplines such as swordsmanship were taught.

We move on in time to 1783, when on the old Surrey Road (now Blackfriars Road), the Surrey Chapel was constructed. Designed by the Rev: Rowland Hill, it was circular in shape, with twelve square projections – built in such a way so as the devil had no corner in which to hide. One hundred years later, the Chapel was abandoned and closed down in favour of the new Christ Church in Westminster, and the building was put to a variety of uses.