[ARETE] Welsh Boxing

Tue Nov 26 13:54:39 CST 2019

All,
Please find below and attached Daniel Taradash's review of Lawrence Davies*The
Story of Welsh Boxing*
Thanks
Duncan

Davies, Lawrence. *The Story of Welsh Boxing: Prize Fighters of Wales*.
Sussex: Pitch Publishing, 2019. Ii + 323 pp. Illustrations, Notes,
Appendices, Bibliography. Reviewed by Daniel Taradash, Holocaust and
Intolerance Museum of New Mexico.

Lawrence Davies’ meticulous study of the history of prizefighting in Welsh
history and culture not only brings the fighters and their exploits to life
in vivid detail, but also invites the reader into the worlds and minds of
those who made the Welsh fight game possible. One aspect of his research
that may prove surprising but noteworthy to those who are new to the
history of prizefighting is its evolution from contests involving weapons
such as swords and cudgels, to hand to hand combat that combined both
boxing and some aspects of wrestling. Yet it is in the prizefights and
personalities of the late 18th and early 19th century that the book truly
comes to life. While the book revisits such old friends as Tom Molineaux,
Daniel Mendoza, and Tom Cribb, we are also introduced to a fresh crop of
colorful Welsh fighters. The exploits of fighters like Ned Turner (the “Out
and Outer”), “Ironface” Jack Rasher, and the Savage brothers Bill and Ned
paint a picture of Welsh prizefighting in both its glory and infamy.

The strange and somewhat pitiful saga of the Savage brothers is
particularly noteworthy, as their lack of skill and courage helped to drive
them into ring obscurity. However, it rings clear that their failure to
adhere to Welsh notions of pugilistic “manliness” proved to be just as
devastating to their reputations as their failures in the ring. What the
failures of the brothers, and the reactions of the fans to those failures
demonstrate, is that pugilists in Welsh society were not only valued for
their physical prowess, but were expected to demonstrate the best of what
it meant to be both a true fighter and a true Welshman, a task at which
both brothers appear to have fallen short on a number of occasions.

As for the fights themselves, Davies’ re-creations of these events
immediately conveys to the reader that boxing matches were not just random
collections of violent, drunk, aggressive men being egged on by
bloodthirsty townsfolk. Rather, they were calculated, deliberate contests
that involved extensive planning and preparation among fighters, officials
and gamblers that were designed to test not only the fighter’s skill and
physical conditioning, but also their understandings of Welsh manhood in
the 18th and 19th century. We see that the fighters, their fans, and
backers valued the ability of Welsh fighters to not just withstand physical
pain and exhaustion, but also the dedication to their craft, as fighters
who did nothing more than bludgeon and maul their opponents were often
viewed less favorably than their more scientific counterparts.

 One aspect of the ring experience that Davies illustrates well was how
Welsh fighters and fight fans understood time when it was applied to boxing
in their context. Because rounds would not end until a fighter was either
knocked down or fell down (intentionally going down was known as “seeking
the grass”), fights during this era routinely lasted for 50 rounds or more,
often exceeding an hour and a half. For those fights that ended too early,
even if one fighter were soundly beaten, his toughness and conditioning
were called into questioning. For those who fought on for extended periods,
they were characterized as demonstrating characteristics of a true Welsh
champion, be it in victory or defeat.

An additional strength of Davies’ work is his ability to recreate the
larger society that surrounded the world of the pugilists. Students of
history and contemporary fight fans will enjoy Davies’ explanation of the
role played by the “fancy” men of the sporting fraternity in not only
arranging for purses between fighters, but their roles as prizefightings
earliest matchmakers and informal managers. Their actions, skill and
cunning in promoting and prizefights is all the more impressive when we
learn that they were forced to operate around and in spite of law
enforcement officials in spaces where prizefights were banned.

Another window into what the lives and adventures of Welsh fighters meant
to their fellow countrymen can be found in the appendices that contain the
songs and poems sung in the inns and public houses recalling the exploits
of their favorite heroes. Some offer eulogies to fallen fighters, while
others memorialize heroic contests between their most favored champions.
But in each of these brief oral histories, we are treated to a deeper
understanding of the sense of identity and pride that the sport of
prizefighting brought to so many communities. And, for those readers who
are entirely unfamiliar with either 19th century Welsh vernacular,
19th  century
Welsh boxing vernacular, or both, a glossary of pugilistic terms can be
found at the end of the book, which may be helpful for those readers
unfamiliar with expressions like facer (“A straight, violent blow to the
face”), purring (“Shin kicking in an attempt to wrestle an opponent to the
ground”) suit of mourning (“A pair of black eyes”), knowledge box (“The
head”), or love (“Nothing”).

As accounts from sporting periodicals and newspapers such as *Bell’s Life,
Sporting Magazine, Dublin Evening Post *and *The Cambrian *and others
attest, the Welsh society at large held true fighters in high esteem,
regardless of the outcome of the contest. For those who either could not or
would not come to “scratch,” (return to fighting after a knockdown or
stoppage) either in the ring or outside of it, they faced scorn and
ridicule not only from the fans and press, but also from their fellow
fighters. What Davies research, analysis and presentation leaves us with is
a thoughtful and penetrating look into the worlds of not just Welsh
prizefighters, but the worlds of the individuals that surrounded the world
of pugilism as well. These interactions reveal a part of Welsh life that
may have been powered largely by the athletes and other members of the
sporting community, but was understood, acknowledged and respected by those
both inside and outside of the pugilistic fraternity.

Remember to smell the roses as you recumber past

Duncan R. Jamieson, Ph. D.
Professor of History
Book Review Editor
*AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature*
Ashland University
Ashland, OH  44805
USA
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