"of the Universal title. This is also the record for most consecutive title defenses in boxing history. Because this division had no weight limit, it has been historically vaguely defined. In the 19th century, for example, many heavyweight champions weighed 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less (although others weighed 200 pounds). The first heavyweight champion under the Marquess of Queensberry rules was John L. Sullivan, known as ""The Boston Strong Boy"". He weighed around 200 pounds when in shape and was a bare-knuckle champion. He was defeated by Jim Corbett on September 7, 1892, in 21"
"Rules continued for the next several decades, although the Queensberry Rules would eventually become the standard set of rules under which all boxing matches were governed. This version persuaded boxers that ""you must not fight simply to win; no holds barred is not the way; you must win by the rules"". One early prize fighter who fought under Marquess of Queensberry rules was Jem Mace, former English heavyweight champion, who defeated Bill Davis in Virginia City, Nevada under these rules in 1876. In 1889, the Queensberry rules came into use in the United States and Canada. Current modern rules per"
"Marquess of Queensberry Rules The Marquess of Queensberry Rules are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were named so as The Most Hon. The 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, although they were written by a Welsh sportsman named John Graham Chambers. The code of rules on which modern boxing is based, the Queensberry rules were the first to mandate the use of gloves in boxing. The Queensberry Rules eventually superseded the London Prize Ring Rules (revised in 1853), and are intended for"
"heavyweight champion crowned under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, hadn't defended his title in three years. In November 1895, Corbett gave up the championship to play the role of Ned Cornell, a boxer, in the play ""A Naval Cadet"". He lived in San Francisco and promoted his protege, Australian Steve O'Donnell, as the next candidate for the heavyweight title, but he had been knocked out within the first minute by Peter Maher, who in turn was knocked out in the first round by Bob Fitzsimmons. At the time of the fight, Sharkey was unbeaten in 24 trips to the ring"
"in 1896. The traditional burial place of the Marquesses of Queensberry is the Douglas family mausoleum at Cummertrees Parish Church. The 9th Marquess is particularly well-known because of the rules of boxing that were named after him (the ""Marquess of Queensberry"" rules), and for his litigious interaction with Oscar Wilde. On 22 June 1893, Queen Victoria raised Francis Archibald, Viscount Drumlanrig, the heir of the 9th Marquess, to the peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Kelhead. Francis, Lord Drumlanrig, died without descendants the following year and the title ""Baron Kelhead"" became extinct. The 2nd Duke of Queensberry surrendered all"
"champions ordered by the age at their last day as champion. As of 23, 2019. Heavyweight boxing championship records and statistics At the beginnings of boxing, the heavyweight division had no weight limit and the category historically has been vaguely defined. In the 19th century, for example, many heavyweight champions weighed 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less (although others weighed 200 pounds). The first heavyweight champion under the Marquess of Queensberry rules was John L. Sullivan, known as ""The Boston Strong Boy"". He weighed around 200 pounds when in shape and was a bare-knuckle champion. He"
"sport of boxing. The Marquess of Queensberry Rules were firmly established at this time but it wasn't unusual to see bare knuckle fights. On 21 March 1872 Herbert won the middleweight boxing championship of England. Years later many of Herbert's friends would be sports figures of the day, particularly boxers and wrestlers such as William Muldoon, John L. Sullivan, James J. Corbett and a young actor named Hobart Bosworth, the latter of whom Herbert would stage in an amateur bout with his son Lionel. Herbert's father expected him to become a barrister, but Herbert fell in with a group of"
"as outlawing butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, hitting a man while down, holding the ropes, and using resin, stones or hard objects in the hands, and biting. In 1867, the Marquess of Queensberry rules were drafted by John Chambers for amateur championships held at Lillie Bridge in London for Lightweights, Middleweights and Heavyweights. The rules were published under the patronage of the Marquess of Queensberry, whose name has always been associated with them. There were twelve rules in all, and they specified that fights should be ""a fair stand-up boxing match"" in a 24-foot-square or similar ring. Rounds were three minutes"
"arose some notable bare knuckle champions who developed fairly sophisticated fighting tactics. The English case of ""R v. Coney"" in 1882 found that a bare-knuckle fight was an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, despite the consent of the participants. This marked the end of widespread public bare-knuckle contests in England. The first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry Rules was ""Gentleman Jim"" Corbett, who defeated John L. Sullivan in 1892 at the Pelican Athletic Club in New Orleans. The first instance of film censorship in the United States occurred in 1897 when several states banned the showing of prize fighting"
"At the very beginnings, before the establishment of the sanctioning organizations, the title recognition passed through lineage in the fights under Marquess of Queensberry Rules. The champion was informally called ""the man who beat the man"". The fight between John L. Sullivan and Dominick McCaffrey is recognized by many boxing historians, including those at The Ring, to be for the inaugural World Heavyweight Championship under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (however, some dispute that claim for various reasons, including the short distance of the bout, McCaffrey's small size and the fact that both fighters were Americans). The lineage was the"
"the light-weight fighter, Kid Goodman. After boxing, Kelly obtained a civil service position with the New York City Streets Department. Tommy Spider Kelly Tommy ""Spider"" Kelly (September 6, 1867 – January 4, 1927) was a Harlem, New York boxer (nicknamed ""The Harlem Spider""), and the world champion bantamweight fighter between 1890 and 1892. He was the first New York-born champion since the Marquess of Queensberry rules were adopted. The professional career of Spider Kelly as a boxer began in 1887 when he knocked out Larry Boylan, with Boylan being removed from the ring unconscious. Continuing to win his fights, at"
"John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900) was a Scottish nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the ""Queensberry Rules"" that form the basis of modern boxing, and for his role in the downfall of author and playwright Oscar Wilde. John Douglas was born in Florence, Italy, the eldest son of Conservative politician Archibald, Viscount Drumlanrig, and Caroline Margaret Clayton. He had three brothers, Francis, Archibald, and James, and two sisters, Gertrude and Florence. He was briefly styled Viscount Drumlanrig"
"to belong to the upper-classes to compete. The following year the Club published a set of twelve rules for conducting boxing matches. The rules had been drawn up by John Graham Chambers but appeared under Queensberry's sponsorship and are universally known as the ""Queensberry Rules"". These rules were eventually to govern the sport worldwide. A keen rider, Queensberry was also active in fox hunting and owned several successful race horses. As a rider his first winner was in the Dumfriesshire Hunt Club chase in 1865, and his last was at Sandown Park in 1883. He was Master of the Worcester"
"Douglas affair, notably: An effeminately flamboyant caricature of him, voiced by Jim Rash, is featured as a main character in the Adult Swim cartoon ""Mike Tyson Mysteries"" in which he serves as a lifestyle coach to Mike Tyson. Notes John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900) was a Scottish nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the ""Queensberry Rules"" that form the basis of modern boxing, and for his role in the downfall of author and playwright Oscar Wilde. John"
"boxing champion in 1889. Both Weir and Sullivan were Boston natives, and Sullivan occasionally appeared at Weir's bouts. Sullivan agreed to defend his title in 1892, against challenger ""Gentleman Jim"" Corbett. The match was on 7 September in New Orleans. It began at 9 p.m. in the electrically illuminated Olympic Club in the upper Ninth Ward neighborhood now known as Bywater section. The venue filled to its 10,000 person capacity despite hefty ticket prices ranging from $5 to $15 (approximately $117 to $353 in 2009 dollars). The heavyweight contest occurred under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, but it was neither"
"the 116 pound championship. McGovern wore green trunks for the bout which he believed gave him luck. This was the first world championship bout under Queensberry Rules to end by a one-round knockout. McGovern never defended the title and relinquished it in 1900. On November 18, 1899, he defeated New Yorker Patsy Haley in a first round knockout in Chicago at Tattersall's in a non-title match. Like many of McGovern's early opponents, Haley was a skilled boxer, yet not a match for McGovern. Haley would become one of the best known and most respected New York area referee in the"
"1887, the annual athletics Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities were held here before moving to Queen's Club on the ground's closure. Many World Records were set at ""Lillie Bridge"", including for example, 6' 2.5"" in the high jump in 1876 by Marshall Brooks in front of a crowd of 12,000. The person to codify the Marquess of Queensberry Rules was John Graham Chambers. The ground held the first ever amateur boxing matches in 1867, cups being supplied by the Marquess of Queensberry. The Wanderers, after winning the first FA Cup final in 1872, were allowed to defend the"
"Tommy Spider Kelly Tommy ""Spider"" Kelly (September 6, 1867 – January 4, 1927) was a Harlem, New York boxer (nicknamed ""The Harlem Spider""), and the world champion bantamweight fighter between 1890 and 1892. He was the first New York-born champion since the Marquess of Queensberry rules were adopted. The professional career of Spider Kelly as a boxer began in 1887 when he knocked out Larry Boylan, with Boylan being removed from the ring unconscious. Continuing to win his fights, at the end of 1887, Kelly claimed the title of American bantam-weight champion, having defeated Tommy Russell. In early 1888, Kelly"
"the era were the peerless heavyweight Jim Jeffries and Bob Fitzsimmons, who weighed less than 12 stone (164 pounds), but won world titles at middleweight (1892), light heavyweight (1903), and heavyweight (1897). Other famous champions included light heavyweight Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and middleweight Tommy Ryan. On May 12, 1902 lightweight Joe Gans became the first black American to be boxing champion. Despite the public's enthusiasm, this was an era of far-reaching regulation of the sport, often with the stated goal of outright prohibition. In 1900, the State of New York enacted the Lewis Law, banned prizefights except for those held"
"science in his approach. Attending the fight, and likely disappointed, was the Scottish reporter Percy Douglas, 10th Marquess of Queensberry, a member of the royal line and son of the 9th Marquess, who had endorsed the modern boxing rules published by Welshman John Graham Chambers in 1867. The title did not pass hands as both men were over the middleweight weight limit of 160, and weighing nearer 165. After an October, 1911 loss in Boston to Bob Moha, he briefly retired, but he would soon return to the ring. On February 22, 1912, Papke lost to American world middleweight contender"
"was greeted with loud boos and catcalls. Earp based his decision on the Marquess of Queensberry rules, which state in part, ""A man on one knee is considered down and if struck is entitled to the stakes."" Very few witnessed the foul Earp ruled on. He awarded the decision to Sharkey, who attendants carried out as ""...limp as a rag."". In 1896, Fitzsimmons won a disputed version of the World Heavyweight Championship in a fight in Langtry, Texas, against the Irish fighter Peter Maher. On 17 March 1897, in Carson City, Nevada, he knocked out American Jim Corbett, generally recognised"
"the Queensberry Rules had been published. In England, the Amateur Boxing Association (A.B.A.) was formed in 1880 when twelve clubs affiliated. It held its first championships the following year. Four weight classes were contested: Featherweight (9 stone), Lightweight (10 stone), Middleweight (11 stone, 4 pounds) and Heavyweight (no limit). (A stone is equal to 14 pounds.) By 1902, American boxers were contesting the titles in the A.B.A. Championships, which, therefore, took on an international complexion. By 1924, the A.B.A. had 105 clubs in affiliation. Boxing first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1904 and, apart from the Games of 1912,"
"to the development of the Marquess of Queensberry rules in the 1860s. Broughton inflicted a heavy defeat on George Stevenson, who was the head of Figg's amphitheatre after the latter's death. As a result of his status in boxing, and with help from a number of wealthy patrons, he opened his own amphitheatre in Hanway Road, near Oxford Street. Here, Broughton and his team staged boxing exhibitions. Broughton drew up a set of rules for the sport that were regarded as definitive for around 100 years. The rules stipulated that a round would last until a man went down, and"
"the evolution of modern boxing, with the codification of the rules of the sport known as the Queensberry Rules, named after John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry in 1867. Britain's first heavyweight world champion Bob Fitzsimmons made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. Some of the best contemporary British boxers included; super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, and heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Welshman Calzaghe's display against Jeff Lacy in 2006 prompted Lacy's trainer to state ""I have never seen a better performance than that in the world."" British professional boxing offers some of the largest"
"Joe Gans Joe Gans (born Joseph Gant; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an African-American boxer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, who was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and ""Ring Magazine"" founder, Nat Fleischer. Gans was known as the ""Old Master"". He fought from 1891 to 1909. He was the first African-American World Boxing Champion of the 20th century, reigning continuously as World Lightweight Champion from 1902-1904 and 1906-1908. Gans started boxing professionally about 1891 in Baltimore. He gained many fans within the boxing world, both white and black, with his ""scientific"" approach"
"Bombardier Billy Wells William Thomas Wells, better known as Bombardier Billy Wells (31 August 1889 – 12 June 1967), was an English heavyweight boxer. Fighting under the name ""Bombardier Billy Wells"", he was British and British Empire Champion from 1911 until 1919, defending his title fourteen times. In 1911 he became the first Heavyweight to win the Lonsdale Belt, which had been introduced for British champions at all weights in 1909. Wells, who was and was between , fought with an orthodox style. Wells was born at 250 Cable Street, Stepney, in the East End of London. He was the"
"Douglas, a brother of the sixth and seventh Marquesses of Queensberry. His paternal grandmother, Lady Jane Douglas (1811–1881), was herself a daughter of Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry, so she was her husband's first cousin. Douglas's third cousin and contemporary John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (1844–1900) was famous for the rules of the sport of boxing. Another cousin was Lady Florence Dixie, the war correspondent and big game hunter. Douglas studied art in London, at the Slade School of Fine Art and also in Paris and Antwerp. Douglas's cousin Lord Alfred Douglas, or 'Bosie', was a close friend"
"social positions among the military gentry. Those objecting to the Code Duello included such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Queen Victoria in whose day and realm the duel was already nearly extinct. Pugilism had been growing in popularity and technique in Venice since 12th century, and in England since 1615, when a London armsmaster began offering public lessons in fisticuffs to the gentry. After many years, and several attempts by other men to write acceptable rules, John Graham Chambers wrote the ""Marquess of Queensberry rules"" in 1865. They were published in 1867. He intended them solely for ""amateur matches,"" a"
"1944, 4 October 1951 and 10 September 1952. Around 25,000 spectators watched international boxing on 1 October 1993, at the National Stadium with a World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight title bout between Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno. It was the first time that two British-born boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title. Lewis beat Bruno by a technical knockout in the 7th round, in what was called the ""Battle of Britain"". On 30 September 1995, Steve Robinson the World Boxing Organization (WBO) World Featherweight Champion, lost against Prince Naseem Hamed at the rugby ground in 8 rounds. In 1819"
"a bad way when Barnes (referee) stopped the affair in the twentieth round and called it a draw."" According to the ""El Paso Herald"", Weir's bout with Warren was ""the first ever pulled off under the Marquis of Queensbury Rules with the World's Featherweight Championship at stake"", though more sources credit Weir's ascension to the Featherweight crown against Murphy on March 31, 1889. According to one source, Warren was given two ounce gloves for the bout, while Weir was required to wear larger ones. By the 1910s gloves were closer to four ounces in weight. With far greater speed and"
"Charley Mitchell (boxer) Charles Watson Mitchell (born 24 November 1861 in Birmingham, England — died 3 April 1918) was a world heavyweight boxing title contender. Mitchell had exceptional ability at using London Prize Ring Rules to his advantage. During his career, he engaged in over 100 fights with both gloves and bare-knuckles, using the London Prize Ring Rules as well as the Queensberry Rules. He often fought men who outweighed him by 30 to 40 pounds. Mitchell took on all comers in London, often fighting as many as four bouts in one night. In 1880 he became the boxing instructor"
"Queensberry Rules were designed to eliminate some of the underhanded elements of boxing matches. Earp was a controversial choice, and he gained instant notoriety before the fight started when he entered the ring carrying his customary .45 caliber pistol in his coat pocket. Police Captain Charles Whitman, watching the match from ringside, climbed into the ring and demanded Earp hand over his pistol, which Earp promptly gave up. Fitzsimmons was taller and quicker than Sharkey and dominated the fight from the opening bell. In the eighth, the two were punching at such close quarters that virtually no one witnessed the"
"the age of 29. The Pelican Club was opened in Gerrard Street, London in 1887 by Earnest Wells. John Fleming was the manager. Among its numerous upper-class patrons was John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, who put his name to a set of boxing rules which became the basic framework of the modern sport: the Queensberry rules. Despite its aristocratic clientele, the Pelican gained an infamous reputation as a gambling establishment for Prize-fighting, which was illegal in England. Its neighbours filed an injunction at the High Court against the club, due to the loutish behaviour and noise emanating from the"