‘To fight like a Man’- The Rise and Demise of the Female Prizefighter in Eighteenth Century Britain

Article by Sam Ellis. Edited and researched by Liam Brake.

From the many success stories from the London games, that of team GB’s boxers stands out. Not for its weight in gold, but for the introduction of Women’s boxing, in which Nicola Adams excelled. In contrast to other Olympic sports, gender equality seems long overdue. It is worth noting that Amir Khan, who has lost his last two fights, is one of Britain’s best paid and well known athletes, whereas few people have heard of Cecilia Brækus, the current female welterweight champion who has defended her title ten times. 

It wasn’t always the case. Whilst the modern day sport may struggle to gain a gender neutral image, at the beginning of the eighteenth century there were plenty of female boxers. In fact Elizabeth Stokes was crowned the first female ‘champion’ in 1722, at around the same time as her male counterpart, James Figg. 

Boxing, or pugilism as it was known to contemporaries, emerged as a professional sport in Georgian Britain for reasons irrespective of gender or even class. It was popular amongst a circle of wealthy patrons for its classical connotations and as an alternative to duelling but it was not an elite sport. Namely, unlike hunting, which required land, leisure time and livestock, boxing only required two combatants, and a little space. Moreover, the events were made public via newspaper advertisements; money could be made and the winner took the spoils. 

However, the heyday of the female boxer was short-lived. By the early nineteenth century, the boxing ‘golden era’, female competitors were a rarity. To quote the most infamous eighteenth century sports critic, Pierce Egan, to box was ‘to fight like a man.’ 

So what happened to women’s prize-fighting? 

The old hat interpretation would point at changing attitudes towards human anatomy, and what implications that had for how women were perceived in society. Scientific thinkers began to stress differences between the sexes. The female mind and body were no longer considered capable of violence; whether that be committing crime or competing in blood sports. The violence in boxing, aimed towards another human being, was considered more and more vulgar, and thus less suitable for women. Just as modern athletes today, the early pugilists did use scientific innovation: the pectoral muscle was popularly referred to as ‘the boxing muscle,’ because of its use in the sport. They were therefore receptive to the new definitions of gender. However, if women were evicted from a cultural sphere because of assumptions about their sex, we likewise need to understand what assumptions were made about the male gender. Whilst women were being forced out of prize-fighting, men were being pushed towards it. By the time the Queensberry rules were introduced in 1869 it had become an exclusively male sport.

Moreover, whereas the term champion nowadays is a means of distinguishing rank between athletes, in eighteenth century Britain it was more commonly used as a verb, to champion or to defend something. The pugilists were therefore defending national interests. Perhaps for this same reason, boxing terminology would often be used to describe military and naval encounters; thus, for example, a Man-of-War would have a ‘bout’ off the coast of Gibraltar. 

The more popular pugilism became, the more likely it was to be perceived as ‘British.’ By the time Jack Broughton advertised his boxing academy in 1747, it was described as a ‘truly British art.’ Moreover, to define Britishness in opposition to something else was to hide internal differences, and Georgian Britain was a society torn apart by conflict between Whig and Tory, dissenter and Church of England, Scottish and English. 

France, in the eyes of the British, was effeminate, perceived so because of the excessive luxury of the court of Versailles and the cultural prominence of French fashion throughout Europe. It was also Britain’s greatest rival. For Britishness to be masculine was therefore the logical juxtaposition. This collective identity was manifest in the behaviour of men, who would go out of their way to distance themselves from all that was feminine, for example competing in a sport considered too violent for women. The likes of Elizabeth Stokes were no longer national champions, but gender deviants whose existence undermined the bedrock of Britain’s masculinity. With no support or funding they were forced to exit the ring. 

Perhaps Nicola Adam’s Olympic gold signals the return of the female prize-fighter, no longer considered an oxymoron after two centuries of exile. Once again men aren’t the only ones who box for Britain! 

Additional Research

• Cecilia Brækus is a Norwegian female boxer who is currently the undefeated World Champion in Welterweight in the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organization and World Professional Boxing Federation. 

• The Queensberry rules, introduced in 1986, is a code of generally accepted rules named after John Douglas the 9th Marquess of Queensberry. The Queensberry rules were the first to mention gloves in boxing, emphasised fairness, standardised ring sizes and banned wrestling. ‘Queensberry rules’ is now often a term synonymous with sportsmanship and fair play. 

• On 9 August 2012 the Leeds born boxer Nicola Adams became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. She defeated the Chinese boxer and world number one Ren Cancan in the final. In 2012 she was also the first female boxer to receive an award from the Boxing Writers’ Club of Great Britain and she was awarded the Joe Bromley Award for outstanding services to boxing (she was also the first woman ever to be invited to the club’s awards ceremony). 

• The ‘infamous’ sports critic Pierce Egan mentioned in the text was an 18th century journalist who turned his hand to writing. In 1824, he started a monthly publication Life in London, in which the two principal characters were Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorn- the inspiration for the famous cat and mouse cartoon characters Tom and Jerry.

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