Tom Johnson (born Thomas Jackling; c. 1750 – 21 January 1797) was a bare-knuckle fighter who was referred to as the Champion of England between 1784 and 1791. His involvement in pugilistic prizefighting is generally seen to have coincided with a renewed interest in the sport. Although a strong man, his success was largely attributed to his technical abilities and his calm, analytical approach to despatching his opponents. But Johnson was less prudent outside the ring; he was a gambler and considered by many of his acquaintances to be an easy mark. He is thought to have earned more money from the sport than any other fighter until nearly a century later, but much of it was squandered.
Johnson's first fight probably took place in June 1783 against Jack Jarvis, after he had unintentionally slighted the wagon driver and professional fighter. Jarvis challenged Johnson to fight him as a matter of honour, and was comprehensively beaten in the resulting match. Johnson's success encouraged him to take up the sport professionally. By June 1784 he had declared himself to be the champion, although whether of England or the world is uncertain.
In the later years of his fight career, and for some time after it ended, he acted as a second for other prominent fighters and ran a public house. His dissipation outside the ring appears to have resulted in his decision to leave England for Ireland, where he continued to tutor other boxers but eventually resorted to gambling to earn a living. He died a broken man, both physically and financially.
Johnson was inducted into the Pioneer category of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Life before boxing Tom Johnson was born in Derby, England in about 1750, although Pierce Egan, an early historian of boxing, states that Johnson was born in Yorkshire. His birth name was Thomas Jackling, but he used the name Tom Johnson throughout his fight career.
Johnson moved to London at a young age and spent the next twenty years or so working as a corn porter, loading and unloading sacks of corn from a wharf near to Old Swan Stairs, (Upper) Thames Street.
His selflessness and strength were exemplified during this period by the assistance that he gave to a fellow worker who had become ill. Johnson would carry two sacks of corn on each journey between the wharf and the grain warehouse, rather than the usual single sack, up an incline so steep that it was known as Labour-in-vain-hill. He gave the extra money he earned to the family of the sick man until he was able to return work.
Background to 18th-century prizefighting Prizefighting in early 18th-century England took many forms rather than just pugilism, which was referred to by noted swordsman and then boxing champion James Figg as "the noble science of defence". But by the middle of the century the term was generally used to denote boxing fights only. The appeal of prizefighting at that time has been compared to that of duelling; historian Adrian Harvey says that:
From a legal standpoint prizefights ran the risk of being classified as disorderly assemblies, but in practice the authorities were mainly concerned about the number of criminals congregating there. Historian Bohun Lynch has been quoted as saying that pickpocketing was rife, and that fights between the various supporters were common. However, the patronage of the aristocracy and the wealthy ensured that any legal scrutiny was generally benign, in particular because fights could take place on private estates. This patronage also explains why London was the centre for the sport; people of wealth tended to congregate in the city during the winter months and in the summer dispersed to their country estates. From 1786, just as Johnson was rising to prominence, there was increased support for the sport because of the interest shown in it by the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) and his brothers, the future King William IV and Duke of Kent. This renewed interest followed a period of malaise which had in large part been due to corruption in the form of "fixing" the fights.
Jack Broughton, a celebrated boxing champion (and another who was also a swordsman), had gone some way to defining the rules of prizefighting in 1743, based on earlier work by Figg, but by Johnson's time the rules were still interpreted very loosely. The style of fighting was also very different from modern boxing; the contestants stood facing each other squarely with their feet in line and their fists raised level in front of them, rather than the present-day stance of generally having one foot slightly in front of the other and one fist leading. Brute strength was the primary factor for success and knock-downs were frequent, a consequence of the instability inherent in the positioning of the fighters' feet. Rounds were not timed but instead lasted until a man was knocked down, with fighters permitted to wrestle each other to the ground. Moving around the ring, known as shifting, was deprecated and sometimes explicitly prohibited by the rules for a fight; going to ground without being hit could lead to claims that the man still standing had won. The fighters usually each provided an umpire of their choice, and there might also be a third, independent umpire present, to adjudicate between them.
Career as a fighter
Early period
Johnson probably began fighting in June 1783, at the age of thirty-three, although Brailsford suggests it was 1781 or slightly earlier. Johnson had unintentionally slighted a carman (horse-drawn wagon driver) and fighter called Jack Jarvis, who then called for Johnson to fight him as a matter of honour. Johnson comprehensively battered the experienced Jarvis at Lock's Fields, and his name came to the attention of professional fighters. At that time Johnson had no intention of earning a living from the sport, but he became so goaded by a professional known as The Croydon Drover that a fight was arranged for March 1784, at Kennington Common. Johnson beat the Drover to a pulp in 27 minutes and decided to become a professional.
The success against the Drover was followed by a victory against the ageing professional Stephen "Death" Oliver in June. The fight, which took place at Blackheath in front of thousands of people, was over in a time stated as being either 18 or 35 minutes. Johnson subsequently declared himself to be the champion and challenged all-comers. Most contemporary and near-contemporary accounts, such as those of Egan, regard this title of champion to mean Champion of England but Barrett O'Hara, writing in 1909, listed Johnson as the fourteenth World Heavyweight Champion. At the time of Johnson's victory, the holder of title of champion was disputed. The previous holder, Duggan Fearns, had disappeared and Harry Sellers, the man Fearns had beaten to win the title in a fight that lasted 90 seconds and was alleged to have been fixed, had died.
Johnson did not fight again until he beat Bill Love, a butcher, at Barnet on 11 or 13 January 1786 in a contest that lasted five minutes and offered a prize of 50 guineas. He then beat Jack Towers the following month at the same place.
The final fight of Johnson's early period, during which the stake money was relatively low, was his comprehensive win over a ponderous fighter called Fry for a prize of 50 guineas at Kingston. The fight, which lasted less than 30 minutes, ended with Fry badly beaten up and Johnson with barely a scratch on him. This fight did not attract many supporters of the sport; it took place on 6 June 1786 and was therefore during the period when the wealthy were away from London.
Consolidation Johnson had developed to be an exceptional fighter, and a rarity in his day because he used his brain as well as his strength. A barrel-chested man, he weighed around and his height was variously stated in the range of to . He was known for his coolness under pressure and he took time to analyse his opponent's strengths, weaknesses and technique. He did not retreat from the fight but avoided risk and was careful not to expose himself too much to attack, although his guard was described as "inelegant" by Egan. That writer also explained that he "worked round his antagonist in a way peculiar to himself, that so puzzled his adversary to find out his intent, that he was frequently thrown off his guard, by which manoeuvring Johnson often gained the most important advantages." All of this meant that his fights were not usually of short duration; he made certain of the outcome rather than risking anything.
Having exhausted challengers in London, he took on Bristolian professional Bill Warr for 200 guineas at Oakhampton, Berkshire on 18 January 1787, although the manner of his victory on this occasion was "scarcely worthy of being called a fight", according to The Sportsman's Magazine. Warr had to resort to shifting and falling to the ground in order to stay in the contest, and as both tactics were regarded as underhand he attracted the ire of the crowd. He survived for almost 90 minutes until a choice blow from Johnson caused Warr to run from the ring, despite the protestations of his second.
A hiatus in Johnson's boxing career followed, with no challengers coming forward until the Irish champion Michael Ryan took an interest. The fight at Wraysbury, then in Buckinghamshire, on either 18 or 19 December 1787 saw Richard Humphries ("The Gentleman Boxer") acting as Johnson's second and Daniel Mendoza as his bottle-holder. Ryan was the favourite to win before the fight, and he had Johnson reeling against the rails of the ring with a blow to the head after almost 20 minutes had elapsed. Humphries' second stepped in to prevent a second strike and this enraged the crowd because they believed Ryan could continue hitting until Johnson fell to the ground. They encouraged Ryan to declare himself victor as a consequence of this foul but he refused, as he wanted to win by means other than a technicality. He allowed Johnson to recover and then, in the space of the next ten minutes, lost the bout.
Financial security The nature of the fight with Ryan led to a much anticipated re-match at Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire on 11 February 1789. At stake was prize money of 600 guineas, as well as Johnson's title of champion. Humphries again acted as Johnson's second and a man called Jackson was his bottle-holder. The fight consisted of one round of mutually displayed skill, during which Johnson was felled, and thereafter was brutal passion. Egan described it as It was over in 33 minutes, when Ryan gave up the fight. One spectator, a Mr Hollingsworth, who was a corn factor and had at one time employed Johnson, was so impressed and pleased with how much he had made from betting on Johnson that he settled a £20 per annum gift for life on the fighter.
A proposed bout later in the same year against Ben Bryan (sometimes known as Ben Brian, Ben Brain or Ben Bryant) came to nothing. Bryan had been a collier in Kingswood, Bristol before moving to London to fight. He was seen as a strong potential challenger, having already won two fights in the provinces and then won against John Boone (known as "The Fighting Grenadier"), a man called Corbally, and Tom Tring. The prize money was set at £1000, but Bryan became ill and had to withdraw, forfeiting his staked deposit of £100.
Later in 1789 fighters from the Birmingham area issued a series of challenges to opponents based around London, intended to demonstrate the level of organisation and confidence among the Birmingham boxers and their supporters. Three of the challenges were accepted, including that from Isaac Perrins to Tom Johnson. Perrins, who has been described as "the knock-kneed hammerman from Soho", had already issued a general challenge, offering to fight any man in England for a prize of 500 guineas, having beaten all challengers in the counties around Birmingham.