Henry Pearce and Jem Belcher

Luke G. Williams examines the 1805 confrontation between Henry Pearce and Jem Belcher – a negative struggle that constitutes the thrilling climax of the upcoming feature film ‘Prizefighter’…

That’s what sports legends are made of – a championship war between two men who both have valid claims to the title. One was a beloved champion of the past, who only lost his crown after a period of effective absence, while his dynamic opponent was hailed as the new champion. Just to make the competition more interesting, both pugilers are undefeated, while the contrast in their styles is stark – one is a graceful boxer and the other a tenacious skier.

Most boxing fans will no doubt identify the above scenario as a depiction of the 1971 ‘Fight of the Century’ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. However, the same description applies to a forgotten contest that had taken place 166 years earlier – namely, the empty-handed showdown between James ‘Jem’ Belcher and Henry ‘the Game Chicken’ Pearce, took place in December 1805 for the Championship of All England (and thus in the world – England was the only country at that time competitive prize fighting was established).

Like Ali, the elegant Belcher was the finest and most graceful boxer of his day. His remarkable life is now the subject of a feature film titled ‘Prizefighter’, produced, written by Matt Hookings and starring Matt Hookings, a Welsh actor with lines watch first class bodyguard – his late father was David ‘The Bomber’ Pearce, the former British heavyweight champion now immortalized in image in south Wales and known as ‘Newport’s Rocky’.

Hookings explained to Boxing Social why he considers Belcher such an important figure in boxing history. “I remember reading a treatise on boxing that Jem wrote,” he said. “It is one of the only extant writing fragments containing his words. Reading it you can see he was a man ahead of his time. He is a really smart and scientific person in his approach to boxing. He mainly uses his stab and uses his speed, agility and technique rather than what everyone else is using which is brutal strength and power. And what he achieved in his youth is unbelievable.”

As featured in ‘Prizefighter’, Belcher hails from Bristol, with boxing as important to the family as the oxygen tank – Jem’s grandfather is former champion Jack Slack, while brothers Tom and Ned’s He also fights. Even Jem’s sister is said to have been involved in a prize fight. In ‘Prizefighter’, Slack is played by legendary actor Russell Crowe, who lends the role to his traditionally gray beauty, while Ray Winstone plays the trainer who helped Belcher developed his unique style, Bill Warr.

Like Hookings close friends, Belcher was a teenage prodigy – indeed, when he beat Andrew Gamble on December 22, 1800 to be recognized as England Champion, he was 19 years, eight months old. and seven days – nine months younger than Mike Tyson when he merged the WBC heavyweight championship from Trevor Berbick in 1986.

Famed Georgian boxer Pierce Egan summed up Belcher’s meteoric rise: “He was considered a phenomenal phenomenon in the gymnastics – a boy only twenty years old. , has challenged all the famous heroes of the Old School.”

“He achieved a lot at a very young age,” Hookings added. “His life has changed dramatically from a poor man in Bristol to a wealthy champion in London while still a teenager. You see that journey in our movie. ”

However, today, Belcher’s name remains unknown to all the most conscientious people in boxing history. “He’s a truly forgotten hero,” Hookings insisted. “That’s the nature of history sometimes – you can be a big name in your own time and then fall through the cracks. There are other names from the topless era but still stand out more – Tom Molineaux, Tom Cribb, etc – so I could have gone and made a movie about one of them but the way Jem revolutionized the sport This sport really resonated with me. . He’s the story I really wanted to tell. “

Hookings are correct, because in terms of skill and style, Belcher is truly a pugilistic revolutionary. His speed is, for one thing, unparalleled, Pierce Egan describes his thunderous punches as “felt severe but rarely seen”, while his nimble foot movements, helped him move smoothly in and out of his opponent’s range, guiding the modern boxing techniques we take for granted today. Belcher was so ahead of his time that when his opponents were “placed in competition with his distinctive fighting methods,” Egan stated that they found themselves “completely baffled.”

Besides athletic ability, Belcher’s dashing looks also make him admired by countless women. Cobbett’s weekly political registry highlighted his heartbreaking status, noting that: “[There is] there was hardly a Saintess… who would not, on her way to the convent, peek at him from beneath her hood. Like David Beckham of Georgia, Belcher is also a style connoisseur, with the trend of wearing colorful scarves that has led to a trend across the UK for discerning gentlemen to wear such pieces. , and was immediately renamed ‘belchers’ in Jem’s honor.

In contrast to many of his contemporaries, some of whom were little more than a glorified thug, Belcher also possessed a gentlemanly demeanor, with Egan describing him as “kind to the extreme.” modesty, and modesty and modesty to a degree almost equal to shyness”.

However, in June 1803 – when Belcher was at the height of his magic – tragedy struck.

Jem had recently defended his title for the fifth time and was relaxing with a game of ‘racket’ at an indoor tennis court in central London when he “received a fierce blow from a . .. it actually lost one of his eyes. the socket”.

Belcher’s traumatic inflammation caused the vision in his remaining eye to be briefly threatened as well. Although the prospect of total blindness was eventually averted, Belcher was in no condition to handle, and immediately withdrew. To comfort him for having lost his beloved title at the height of his power, some of his wealthiest admirers made him a public figure.

As he retired, Belcher began to prepare a friend from his Bristol days named Henry Pearce as his successor. Nicknamed Game Chicken, due to his nimble nature and diminutive nickname of ‘Hen’, Pearce was a jovial but illiterate boxer who took down a bunch of tough guys in the southwest. A stellar performer, Chicken will celebrate his feat with an extravagant somersault – an act he perfected nearly two centuries before Prince Naseem Hamed.

After getting through the fight scene in the West Country, Pearce – at Belcher’s urging – went to London, staying free with his kind mentor before debuting in London, a competition in the evil room fight against former Belcher victim, Joe Berks, ending with Chicken’s victory and Berks’ blood being wiped on the wall.

After pocketing over 100 guineas for his victory, Pearce quickly returned to Bristol without much thanks to disgruntled Jem, who began harboring a dangerous grudge against his old friend.

Two years later, in October 1805, Belcher was one of the spectators when Pearce, in a thrilling and savage 64 round match against John Gully, won his fifth consecutive match since since Jem’s retirement, cementing his widespread recognition as the new champion.

When Pearce received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd, among them the future King William IV, Belcher could no longer contain his jealousy, roughly interrupting the Chicken’s celebration by Announce the return and challenge Pearce to solve the problem of who is the champion once and for all.

The audience applauded the silly melodies of the one-eyed Belcher’s unexpected challenge, and for the next month, Fancy, like boxing fans, worked to get excited. The Napoleonic Wars were raging but, as the Cumberland Pacquet newspaper surmised, the Belcher vs Pearce duel was “more interested than a French or Austrian victory or defeat”.