Times Past

Tommy Loughran: An apparition, a ghost or a hallucination?   Part 1. Early Career Highlights Tommy Loughran  This article endeavours to gain a fuller picture of Tommy Loughran, the blue-eyed soft-spoken Philadelphian, through a number of ring exploits, some remembered, others not so. Introduction Loughran was many things during his life, including a newsboy, marine, restaurateur, court clerk, broker, public speaker, sports broadcaster, boxing referee, coach, manager and of course world champion boxer. When he was not doing any of the above, he liked to listen to the radio, cycle a bike, play golf (with a consistent 80s). He was also an aviation enthusiast and animal lover. Throughout his life he remained a great believer in clean living, he never smoked or consumed alcohol, choosing instead to stay fanatically fit. People who made his acquaintance claimed that he looked too handsome to be a boxer. Some spoke of a magnetic personality, and others remarked on his brilliance...

  The Ethical Development of English Boxing: From Bare Fists to Padded Gloves. By Ray Esten A bare-knuckle Prize Fight   In Admiration of Ricky Hatton (1978-2025) Boxing in the ancient world has been found in records, poems and mythology, including the Iliad when Epois beat Euryalos with leather bound fists, or in ‘The Golden Fleece’ in which Pollux fought King Amycus. It is a mode of fighting that can be traced from the cestus of the ancient world, to bare-knuckle Britons, to the skin tight and soft padded gloves of the modern era. Old England , however, the home of prize fighting from at least the seventeenth century, only vague reference to the practice was recorded. The first citation was located in The Protestant Mercury in 1681. The first recorded champion or ‘’Father of Prize Fighting ‘’ was James Figg (1700? -1730). Figg, who was also skilled in sword and cudgels, acquired this title in 1719. With the Earl of Peterborough’s ba...