The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 195 - An American Pugilist in London

Episode Date: August 1, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine two African American boxers who journeyed to England.SOURCESTOUR DATESREDBUBBLE MERCH

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week. I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Finally, we finally hit the theme. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tickly Clock. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? A frame. Hi, Gary. No. Is he dead, my friend? No. Boom. Okay. Suck it? August 5th. Yeah. 1763. All right. Bill Richmond was born in

Cuckold's town. Cuckold? Cuckold. Okay. That was the name of the town. Cuckold. Well, I've heard of their industry. Cuckold town as a slave. He was owned by the Reverend Richard Charlton. What a dick. Well, it's just one of those things where you just go, really, a Reverend owned a person. It really does show you how maybe sometimes the Bible was off. A little bit off. Slavery section was kind of a weird one. Hey, this is cool. I think that was the exact, I think that's from Leviticus. Yeah. Blabity blah. Living Leviticus. 719 or whatever. Living Leiva Loca. Cuckold's town was on Staten Island. Not much is known about his early years because people didn't spend much time documenting the lives of young slaves. Yeah. Right? Yeah, cool. Super cool. But we do know that the British

taxed Staten Island during the Revolutionary War when Richmond was 13 years old. Okay. Richmond's master took off and Richmond quickly enlisted with the British army and became a stable hand under General Hugh Percy. Wait, so he went from being a slave to being? Well, a lot of guys, a lot of slaves. You would just enlist in the army? Yeah, would join the British. Oh, would join the British right? Okay, right, right. I wonder why. Yeah, I can't figure that out. What was their problem with life in America? I don't know. Weirdos. What about the Constitution? It's so hard to know what was going on inside their heads. Great Constitution. It's a fine thing. You should hold steady and do not. Fine document. Do not go off that path. Fine document. He also at this time made a name

for himself as a brawler. One fight he got into at the Red Lion Tavern on November 5th, 1776 was described by General Percy. Quote, a young black moor, I guess that's what they called black black guys. Okay, black moor. M. O. R. E. M. O. R. E. A young black moor was ousting with office mounts and fetching water to the horses. Okay, so none of it made sense. Right, I mean, look, a black guy was taking horse water getting he's getting the officers horses ready, and bringing them water. Okay. When a corporal of the Brunswick Division chafed the black boy, so gave him shit, I guess. Okay. And he did make sport of the Osler's color. And he made fun of him being black. Right. Two more Hessians joined the folly. A couple of zombie hens came up to

the light. What is it? I was gonna say douchebag zombie. Okay. And one of them tripped the black boy on purpose so that he dropped his water can spelling the lot. So we spilled all his water. Okay. The black boy easily paid them in full for their merriment by striking the three soldiers repeatedly three three man. According to Percy, even though he was fighting three men who were much larger adults, yeah, they were unable to land a blow and finally two of them ran off while the third was beaten until he lay bleeding by the horse trough. In retrospect, hero in retrospect, Richmond then picked up his water can and went back to work as if nothing had happened. So so maybe the coolest 13 year old in the history of 13 beat up three dudes and then still watered the

horses. Yeah. Teenagers, right? Fracos. I'm the opposite of the dog whisperer. I'm the dog shouter. Taking a liking to Richmond, Percy brought him to England after he resigned from the military in 1777. Okay. And he placed Richmond in his household as a servant. Right. He even paid for Richmond to get an education. Okay. And then to be an apprentice to a cabinet maker in York. Okay. So teaching him skill, getting him to learn nice things. You know, I think at the time doing that for a black guy is extremely, yeah, extremely rare. So what was I guess like what, as far as the slave culture in England, what it was, you know, I was gonna look that up and I should have. I meant to look up when slavery was because it seems like they that was better than

the north. 1833. So in 1833, it was abolished. Yeah. So he's there. So they've had like, they're still they're still they're still he's there's still slaves around. Okay. But it's just so he's just uber cool. Well, he's going against the culture. He's going against culture. But I also think, you know, even though there are slaves, you can still be a free man. Right. So I think that, and I can't say for sure, because I didn't do the research on this, but I do believe that a lot of the guys who switched over to fight for the British, if they went back to to England, they were free men, because they okay, because they fought with that makes sense. They were granted their freedom. Okay, gotcha. That's what I believe. I can't say for sure. But that's what

happened in his case. And also at this point, you were like, my options are either to be around him and free him or just get the shit kicked out of me and free him. Right. Right. Because he's 14. About us. Anyway, so he he is educated now. He has a skill of cabinet making. And but Richmond was often getting into street brawls. One time after he was insulted for being with a white woman. Most of his fights started due to a racial insult. It's, it's great. Yeah. I mean, it's wonderful. It's great. Especially going out with a white woman, because that's just like bait. I just love the idea of a black guy walking around England in the 1780s. And anybody who says anything to me beats the shit out. Yeah, I mean, it's just and then walking down the street with a white

woman. That was just people be like, excuse me. I mean, he's basically the first superhero. Yeah. In the 1790s, Richmond moved to London and got a job with a man named Lord Camelford. Camelford was described as quote, a desperate bruiser and duelist. Is that term again? He seemed to fight with everyone. He was known to get into fistfights with his friends. And he's a Lord. How did his friends feel about that being called friendship? I don't think it would be that great. He was a Lord. Yeah. And he just happened to be a big fan of boxing, the Pugelis. Okay. Richmond would often go with him to watch fights. In January 1804, after a fight, Richmond spontaneously challenged a seasoned boxer named George Maddox. Maddox was not the kind of guy you want to have your first

fight with. He was one of the best in England. This is when boxing was brutal, to say the least. Bare knuckle. Bare knuckle. Yeah. The fights were held outside on the ground. Rings were marked off in fields. Rounds didn't end until someone went down. After getting knocked down, a fighter had 30 seconds to get to a mark in the middle of the ring. Interesting. So that's how that's how a round ended. If one guy would finally knock the other guy down, that guy had to if that guy crawled to the middle of the ring and touch the thing called the scratch, then the fight would go on. If he couldn't make it to the middle to touch the scratch, it was called. Wow. I mean, boxing needs a shot in the arm today. There was no limit on the number of rounds. It went on until someone

surrounded or could no longer fight. Boxers often fought through concussions and broken bones. Wrestling throws were allowed, but you couldn't hit the other guy when he was on the ground. Sometimes someone from the crowd will rush the ring and attack one of the boxers. Right. So it was like a combination bar fight and boxing match. Right. Maddox beat Richmond in nine rounds. The fight ending after Richmond sustained a big gushing wound over his eye. Okay. Soon after. How old is Richmond at this point? So it's the 1790s. So he's a little old. He's like 20s. Yeah. Okay. Or maybe older. I forget when you said it started 66. These late 30s. Okay. Oh, wow. So soon, soon after this, Lord Camelford got into an argument with a friend when a woman

lied and sent the friend had been talking shit about Camelford. He's been talking shit. Oh, fuck. So they doled. Okay. Unfortunately, the other guy was considered the best shot in all of England. Okay. So you can see how that might not. Yeah. He shot Camelford in the chest and the bullet lodged in his spine. That was the end of Camelford. It was the bullet that broke the Camelford's back. But Richmond didn't need Camelford to go to boxing matches. He was hooked. Richmond continued to box. He moved on pretty fast. Yeah. All right. He brought a completely new style to the English rings. At the time, British boxing was built around the concept of bottom. That's what it was called, which is it meant you would stand and punch him in the ass.

Just stand in the middle of the ring and just take oncoming blows without backing down, regardless of the beating you were taking. I honest to God, these are the things that are starting to fascinate me the most about this podcast and the history is just how people never thought of stuff. I can't get over the idea that it took a guy to be like, I'm going to move. And they were like, well, look at him. He's going back and forth. Yeah. Yeah. Where'd you come up with that, mate? He's moving around. Look at him. Look at him. He's not just standing right in the middle. He's moving around. You know what that does? It makes it harder to get punched. Well, you're going to love this podcast.

So bottom is the big thing. It was considered being manly. It was kind of honorable, courageous, an example of English national pride. Oh boy. Standing there and taking it and then put a queen. I can take it in the face a bunch of times and then punch you back for the queen like fucking England being polite. Yeah. Even in the ring, the best British but I'll borrow a punch, mate. The best British boxes were being held up as national icons to prove how tough the English were. Yeah. Meanwhile, I wonder why soccer hooligans is a problem there. It's so weird. Meanwhile, American boxing was completely different. North American boxing had been very different than British boxing from the early 1700s. American boxing was more rough

and tumble and it was actually called gouging because it emphasized trying to gouge out an eye or bite off part of the opponent's face. Oh my God. What? Bite off part of their faces? Yeah. Shouldn't that be move number one then? Just jump on the head and just like bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang or pop out an eye. Oh. For the lower classes, it was the perfect. How'd you lose your face? Boxing. I've been boxing, mate. The other guy ate my face off. Did you win? Yeah. All right. Yeah. Took out his own face. He choked on my cheek. Ah, so for the lower classes, it was perfect though early on elites had taken part of it.

Okay. Savannah politician Robert Watkins. I love this already. And U.S. Senator. I fancy a bit of a boxer, dude. U.S. Senator James Jackson. We're supposed to duel one day, but they ended up gouging instead. Okay. During the fight, Jackson tried to bite off Watkins' finger to prevent his eye from being gouged out. Oh, my God. It's a senator and a politician. Oh, my God. British boxing was… That is just weird. I had to bite his finger off. He's going to gouge me out. British boxing was more just standing and punching, which Americans thought was unmanly. Meanwhile, the British thought the American style was

unmanly. Hard to know who's right, Dave. Yeah. Unless I was trying to take out an eye, it was cowardly to Americans, right? You want to try to fucking really do some damage. Interesting. But after the Civil War, isn't it interesting? Or has it just explained a lot about America? That's why it's interesting. It shows you sort of the death of our madness. The scenes that have now grown. But after the Civil War, Americans started adopting the more English way as Catholic clergy pushed that type of fighting. What? How? Honestly, I'm not even going to ask questions. But that was just the whites. Blacks in America had brought their own style of fighting with

them based on combat in Western Africa. There was more about headbutting, kickboxing, and slapboxing. The style emphasized defensive tactics. Okay. It was more about learning to dodge blows than inflict them. That makes sense. This is why young Richmond had been able to fight the three British soldiers while avoiding taking one punch. Because they were like, what's he doing? He's bobbin' about. You're supposed to stand there, mate. Stand there where I can hit you with den range and me fist. Good Lord. Where's he gone? My eyes can't keep track of him. I'm not about to turn. Ow. Ow. Stop it. Ow. He's punching me side. Run. It's not right. When Africans, oh, did I do that? Okay. When Africans were bought over as slaves,

plantation owners would at times have, you have a question? No, I'm just stretching. That's amazing. I'll just talk if I have a question. Dave, Kara Thranold's Dala podcast in the back. My question is about, when Africans were bought over as slaves, plantation owners would at times have Gladiator-type fights. That's so messed up. Gladiator-type fights for entertainment and gambling. This evolved the style from defensive into a more violent type of boxing. Because those two guys would basically be fighting for like respect or like some sort of reward or not to get beaten. I'm sure if they won for their master, they got treated like a fucking king for

a couple of days. Yeah, they got like a meal. So they were, they were fighting. Yeah, they were fighting for a fucking nice steak or some really awesome, a bath like anything. Yeah. So now they're trying to inflict more serious injury while still keeping the defensive style they brought from Averga. If a slave won his fights, he would get preferential treatment. And in rare cases, he could be freed. Oh, wow. Tom Malinu was born into slavery in 1784. His father was a fighter who trained Tom how to box. Most of what we know about Tom comes from stories he told and others trying to increase his legend. But the legend is that he was entered into plantation boxing matches as a young man. At 14, he was said to be very large with shoulders, huge shoulders

and a thick neck. He was made chief handyman after his father died. And in 1801, when he was 17, the owner of a nearby plantation threw a party. And at the party he boasted there wasn't a slave in Virginia that could beat his slave Abe in a bare knuckle contest. Oh boy. Tom's master told all his slaves he would give freedom to any slave that beat Abe. Abe was like, dude, can you not incentivize this too much? We don't need to do that. Just tell them to fight me. Yeah, let's just also quit. You both done a little much. I can take it. I kind of like flying under the radar. Yeah, I'm good. We'll find out what radars are soon. How about hey, I gotta have slave that can fight. Okay. Yeah, he's okay. He's okay. He's all right. Tom stepped forward. Apparently his

master bet a lot of money on it. So much so that he would be in trouble financially if Tom lost. Right. He hired an English sailor to teach Tom how to improve his skills, right? So he wants to teach in the British ways. So wait, this wasn't a spur. This was like then they agreed to it and then he was going to fight at a later date. Yeah. Okay. So Tom wasn't really down with the idea of the English way to fight and didn't take the instruction. Good. Which he was then whipped because of that, which none of it mattered because when the fight came, Tom won in five bloody and brutal rounds and he was then given his freedom. Wow. He quickly headed to New York. At this time, New York had a large black population. It was the largest slave holding city in the North

with the second largest urban population of African Americans in the English colonies. Well, Africans. Right. With that came a tradition of combative contests, which included prize fighting. Two fighters going at it on a street corner in front of a crowd was not an uncommon sight. Right. I mean, kind of fun. Right. It's just so crazy. It's crazy. Well, first of all, they probably don't have venues, right? Because they are extremely impoverished. So they don't have like a sporting center. Yeah. So if they want to have matches of any kind, they do kind of have to do it in an empty lot or a street corner. Yeah. So they would just, you would just walk down the street and there would be two guys beating the shit out of each other in a crowd around. Kind of fun. Kind of fun.

Tom, while working on the docks, fell into the world of street fighting and quickly made a name for himself. Sometimes fights were set up ahead of time. Others would occur spontaneously as other dock workers would put up enough money. Would you, if someone was putting up money and like, was that just, you didn't have a choice? You were just sort of nominated and you had to do it? Or you? I think what they're doing is they're going, hey, hey, Marty, you want to fight Tommy over here? I'll give 50 to the winner and 30 to the loser. Right. So that's, I think that's how it works. You know, people would like chip it. I'll give that. All right. And then people would bet on it. Right. And then the people who had to fight would be like, no, I feel good today.

I actually don't want to do this. No. The thing that I have to do. I feel sick. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. My eyes bite his finger. Tom fought and won several high profile matches and made a name for himself. Meanwhile, in England, Richmond was fighting all over the place. While many blacks of this time were still being sold as slaves, Richmond was an educated man who was a qualified tradesman financially secure and one hell of a fighter. That's a pretty good little resume. Right. Yeah. He actually had been doing so well at his trade that he didn't intend to become a boxer. He just kind of fell into it, which probably had a lot to do with the now dead Lord right. Because he was financially OK, he was different than most of the white fighters who

were poor and looking at boxing as a way out. Oh, man. So their heads must have been spilt. Must have been all crazy. I don't actually need to fight you guys. You fucking fuck. I make cabinets now. White laborers wanted to quote, bring him down to size. Oh, good. It didn't help that he liked to dress nice. Oh, he is great at baiting. Yes. Yeah, I'm going to put on a nice suit and walk down the street with a white woman. But seriously, his name should become the white baiter. He often found himself fighting in the streets because of it. This is how he started to become a name. Once a blacksmith kicked dirty boots on the richman's clean white pants, which caused Richmond to kick the living

shit out of the much larger man. Oh, and Richmond had a thing for white women. So great. So great. In 1804, Frank Myers, who was nicknamed the York Bully, called Richmond a black devil for walking with a white woman. Richmond wouldn't fight in front of a woman for decency's sake. But he did convince them. Imagine that when someone's like, well, fight me now. And he's like, no, not now. I'm actually a black devil. Now I'm with a lady. I don't do that sort of thing. I have manners. Excuse me. They were like. Richmond convinced the York Bully to meet him later in a grove where he beat him so badly, Myers could not eat solid food for a week. Oh, I could beat the shit out of you around eight.

Does that work? Does it work for you? I'll be working my job. I have to go to the tailor to get a new jacket. Yeah, I'm gonna come over and I'll have a lot of sex with this white woman. Right. And then I'll come back later tonight and beat you senseless. Just pulverize your face. All right. Sound good. Yeah. Richmond was despised outside the ring by the English, especially when he married a white woman. Soon he found himself in the ring more and more often where he was completely outclassing his British opponents. Richmond was given the name the Black Terror. It's pretty good. Yeah. Probably because he was both a great fighter and because he was destroying their belief system by beating up white guys. Right. So they all believe it's that time

when everyone thinks that white people are just superior. Right. Because. Yeah. Because. To top it all off, his different boxing style, which had originated in Africa with his ancestors, was not what the British considered manly. It was defensive. He didn't just stand there and take punches to the face. To the British, the bottom was the pinnacle of fighting, standing in one spot and just trading punches. The premier boxing writer of the time. His name was Egan. There are men who seemed particularly formed for bottom. The the severest blows make little impression on the ribs of some and the heads of others. The old school furnishes a surprising instance of bottom. The noted buckhorse, it is said,

made a practice of standing without a guard and permitting himself to be knocked down by the hardest hitter for a trifling sum of money. What is the but I like I mean, that's stupid. I can take it. Go ahead, hit me in the face. That's just the dumbest. No, it's it's beyond fucking stupid. But what did they do during the Revolutionary War? What do you mean? They marched in fucking squares when we shot behind trees. Right. It's the same fucking thing. So it's the honor code. It's this mindset of like, this is how you do it. Well, that's where it came from. They're like, this is how you do it. We are the British. We support being bottoms. Bottom was the ultimate sign of manhood. But Richmond brought the defensive agility. The English considered him cowardly. Anyone who wouldn't

quote, take a blow like a man was weak. Yeah, stupid. But it's trying to avoid punches. Cheater. This little face. Yeah, big baby. His defensive footwork and dodging blows was winning him fight after fight. They called it hitting and getting away. Wow, crazy technique. Yep. He was usually much smaller than his opponents outweighed by 50 pounds at least. But he would just dance around them while punching them in the face. As they stood there like a tree, of course, the proponents of bottom called the quote, mere burlesque that ought not to have been tolerated one minute. Yeah, it's essentially burlesque. You dance in by showing your ankles. You find a way to not get punched in the face. Cheater. And he was ruffling feathers in England because a black guy wasn't

supposed to be beating up their white British national heroes to really take a control of like he's really undercutting the low thought what the whites hold dear. He's fucking everything up. The English became really concerned when Richmond quickly beat George Maddox in a rematch. Oh, that's great. After the fight, a member of the House of Commons, well, delivered a speech that used the fight to call for support to cultivate boxing among the British. What do you mean? A black guy beat up one of the white champions. Right. So fucking politicians stood up in the House of Commons and was like, we need to get more boxes. We need he was calling for more boxes to beat him up. He wanted to start a fucking training when the young is crazy wouldn't happen. What were

the other people in the House of Commons like? Were they like idiot? No, they were all for it at this time. Richmond became the first African American sports star. Unfortunately, the American press ignored his victories because he was black. Right. In England, prize fighting was illegal, yet it was still followed by a decent amount of the English. The name of the people who followed the sport of boxing was the fancy. What? The fancy. The fancy. So the boxing fans were called fancy. Yep. The fancy. The fancy. The fancy. Yeah. Were there any other options? That's all we had. Yep. Okay. Good. Makes sense. Totally get it. The fancy was made up of lords, chimney sweeps, dock workers,

prostitutes, gamblers, princes and pickpockets. So it's fucking everybody. So it's a very, it's a classy, classy group. Well, there are lords and princes in there. Sure. And whores. It's the fancy. Sure. No questions here. Fights were held in fields outside of cities. The locations kept secret until the very last minute to avoid alerting the law. But newspaper. The first rule of fancy fight club is keep it secret, keep it in the field, boys. But newspapers still wrote about the matches. The best fighters like gentlemen, John Jackson, Henry the Game Chicken, Pierce. Well, was that one guy? Yep. Henry the Game Chicken, Pierce. Henry the Game Chicken, Pierce. You can just call me Game Chicken.

Lose the pier, say. You want to know the key to undoing Henry the Game Chicken? Toss seed into the ring when he's fighting. Punch him now, now while he's eating. You know why they call me the Game Chicken? Why? Because I just stand there and take punches like a chicken. That seems mislabeled. Right in the face. Like a classic chicken. Just keep on hitting them and they don't fucking move, do they? Sorry, you've been punching chickens. Chicken. Yeah. Training. Right. All right. Good luck. Big chicken, like the four foot ones. Okay, so you've... The tails that... No, no. That kind of chicken. Horses. Chicken. Naying chickens. I said chicken, mate. What is the noise that the chicken makes?

Yes, those are chickens. Right. Good talk. All right. Yep. It names the game chicken. People ride the chicken sometimes, yes? Yes. Yes, right. Okay, those are chickens. And Jim Belcher, the Napoleon of the Ring. That was his nickname. Napoleon's. Like, because he was little along the use one hand? Probably. Napoleon was still alive. I keep a one hand inside my shirt. All these guys were a source of national pride. English boxers were considered brave and tough embodiments of the empire. Yeah. Sun never sets, mate. That's right. Yeah. But Richmond managed to revolutionize the sport. Large audiences came out to see him box. And that's

what he was in front of when he fought young and up-comer Thomas Cribb. Cribb was the favorite of the fancy. Cribb was as tough as they come. He had once been crushed under a 500 pound crate while working on the docks. He coughed blood for four days and then completely recovered. What? Yep. 500 pound crate. Crate fell on him. Yep. Spent blood for a while, came back. Was he Wiley Coyote? Yep. That's what we're talking about, Wiley Coyote. Oh, well now that I could put a face to a name. He could take more punishment than any bottom in the country. Well, I think that's a great statement. I could use that phrase for other stories. Sure. Sure. Sure. Richmond was now 42. Cribb was 24. How old was Richmond? How old

was Richmond? 42. Okay. And the other guy was 24? 24. Okay. And he outweighed Richmond by 70 pounds. Okay. But still Richmond danced and bobbed and weaved. And Cribb seemed completely baffled, but Richmond just couldn't put a dent in Cribb. He was the ultimate bottom. Cribb was. Yeah. Okay. Then after an hour and a half, Richmond realized he could not beat Cribb and he called it quits. An hour and a half? Yeah. Richmond seemed resentful and wanted a way to avenge his loss. Members of the press were not impressed with Richmond's non-bottom style of boxing and his style was considered weak. From Sporting Magazine, quote, it would be inspired for us to enter into particulars respecting this fight, which if it may be so called lasted near an hour and a half,

it was altogether tiresome. The black danced about the ring. End of story. The black danced around the ring. But Richmond continued to fight successfully all over England. He opened a pub called the Horse and Dolphin and started a boxing academy to teach his style of boxing, which was slowly becoming accepted because of his success. My technique is to try to win. I would like to not get hit. So that's how I do it. Meanwhile, in 1809 in New York City, Tom Malinu became known as the champion of America. Okay. Quite a title. I'm a champion of America, but don't think so. I'll fucking fight him. It's official. I'm in. It's me, the champion of America. Occasionally, he would fight English sailors whose ships were docked.

From them, he learned how popular the sport was in England and how much money one could make. He also learned about the champion, Thomas Cribb. Tom got a job on the Bristol as a ship's mate and headed for Liverpool. By winter, he was in London completely penniless. Good. Good plan. He went around to pubs and sport. Although, can we just say how fucking crazy brave that is to? It's crazy. It's definitely brave to be a brave or stupid. Well, that's that's a good question. I think it's brave. I mean, I think that I think that if you're a black guy going to a country, the heart of the biggest empire, right, full of white people to box the champion of America, this guy's black. Yeah. Oh, I didn't realize he was black.

Okay. They're both. Okay. Okay. Then that is brave. Yeah. Because there's like, yeah, that makes sense. I thought we just had some dickhead. It was just like, no, no, no, no, he's they're both ex slaves. Okay. So he gets to London. He went around to pubs and sporting houses and announced that he was the champion of America and could be any man in England, including Cribb. Okay. Also, could I have some food? Right. Food would be great. And I would like if just potatoes. This was this would kind of be like a random guy walking into a sizzler and telling everyone he could be quarterback of the Packers, right? I've done it. A couple times. It is fucking crazy. Yeah, everyone's just like, okay. Yeah. Everyone thought he was insane and did not take him seriously.

Tom was eventually sent to see Richmond. Richmond also thought Tom was pretty much out of his mind. The two men were almost opposites. Richmond was cool, polished and brilliant. Tom was loud, stubborn and uneducated. But they're both black men from America, former slaves. And most importantly, Richmond thought Tom had the strength to beat Cribb because he was so huge. Right. He just needed to teach him how to box. Oh, man, this is the new Rocky all over again. As of now, Tom's style was crude and he had no polished skills. Richmond trained him. It was hard because Tom's favorite punch was one that every every American used, which was called the hammer. What do you pull the hammer out of your pants? It's a wrestling move. He would throw a punch

in a downward motion. Oh, that I know that. What is he? Brutus on the top of his head with a clenched fist. That's how he used to box. Yeah, that is insane. It is insane. But then you're thinking about these guys who stand and take punishment and and probably I would assume God, I would love would fall for that punch. They just be like, I'm going to move my head to the side. Imagine you ought to see some of these boxing techniques. Oh, I would pay to see this. I'm the hammer out. So Richmond thought the fighters in England were too skilled for the hammer to be effective. And he worked with Tom on boxing all winter. Then he set up a match for Tom with a new fighter from Bristol named Jack Burroughs. Jack Burroughs was so unknown that his nickname at this point

was the Bristol unknown. All right. Good. That all that clever. Where are you from? It's from Bristol. What's your name again? It's James. Right, the Bristol unknown. There he is. Done. What? No. Yeah, no knows you. Jumping. You'll be fighting the champion of America. Jumping. No, no, no jumping. Brutal Burroughs. No, mate. No. No, you weigh off. No, nobody knows you, mate. Your name is the unknown. Yeah. Slugger. No, nobody likes you. What cares about you, mate? You're the unknown. The unknown from Bristol. Yeah. Feasts. What's your what? Mr. Fists. Mr. Fists. Yeah. No, I'm not doing that. Nobody knows you, mate. I'll call you anonymous dickhead, we will, if we like. Yeah. Be thankful you've got a nickname. Slugger. No, stop pitching your names.

You're the unknown man from Bristol. That's your title, all right? That's it. So stop pitching. Your other nickname could be shit at pitching. That could be your other nickname, but no. No more enough. Yeah, done. Thunder. You look like you're still pitching, even though I said you're not going to be called any of these. I'm going to call you Thunder. Oh, you don't know you. Nobody knows you. Tom was being called. Tom's nickname. What? At this point was the new black. Oh, God. I mean, the nickname stuff was really not great. It seems like they've really gone, they've taken some steps back after the black terror. Yeah, they had some like, felt like they were getting away from it. Now they're just literalists.

Hey, have you met my new boxer guy with feet? Yeah, well, he's going to fight man with suspenders. Look out. Who's got eyes? The match we've all been waiting for. Two ears versus all his fingers. Right, this is bloke with hat and he's fighting the man with a mustache. You know who's fighting tonight? Man with hair against human. Oh, man, it's going to be epic. Epic. So burrows just happened to be trained by Crib. Uh-huh. A decent crowd of 300 turned out for two completely unknown boxers. The fight lasted about an hour. Tom destroyed burrows. The era's top sports writer of the time, Piers Egan wrote, quote, it was impossible to distinguish a single feature on burrows face.

Oh, that's what we medically would call troubling. Well, at least you got new nickname, mushy head. You know, as you cut mine, just want to apologize and say, I'm just going to go ahead and lance the whole thing. That's okay. I'm going to go ahead and slice down and then I'm just going to go ahead and open it all up. Your nickname is eggplant. Yeah, you look like an eggplant, mate. Stop. Don't talk. Oh, Jase. Unfortunately, despite Richmond working with Tom all winter, Tom continued to use his hammer punch. Jase, give it up. Crib confronted Richmond afterwards saying that,

uh, which is crazy that Tom had fouled burrows. Like, I don't know how that in an era when there was really no rule. Yeah. Words were exchanged between the two and suddenly Crib and Richmond were fighting again. Oh my God. What? People are like, come on, a better fight. But Richmond, who was incredibly smart, knew this wasn't the way to handle the situation, and he stood down. Crib now knew Tom wasn't a joke and he wasn't pleased about it at all. Word got out about the power of Tom quickly. One reporter called him, quote, a promising young chicken. So, no, serious, no questions. That's like, and I could get a better compliment.

Promising new chicken. A boxer. You're not going to get it better. No, it's very sweet. Richmond, Richmond continued to train Tom. Richmond set up a second fight with Tom Blake, an experienced fighter whose nickname was tough Tom. Good. Alliteration. I mean, it's okay. Okay. He barely lost to, I mean, that would be something Trump would come up with. Yeah, totally, totally. He barely lost to Crib in 1805 and he was as tough as they come. In one fight, he sprained his knee in the 29th round so badly he could barely stand, but he kept fighting for another 31 rounds before winning. What? 60 rounds? Yeah. Yeah. That's correct. Anyone on one leg. Well, because the other guy probably died.

I guess. Of natural causes. He was now 40. Tom would have to use actual boxing skills for this fight. Crib decided to stand in Blake's corner. It was just one month after Tom had beaten Burroughs, a decent crowd brave for the hot weather to watch the fight. Immediately became obvious Tom's skills had improved, though he was still using the hammer twice in the first round, which dropped Blake. It's working. It's working. It went the same as the first fight. Nothing seemed to please Tom, phase Tom, sorry. So the thing about Tom is you just can't. Right. You can't knock him out. Right. Like he is your ultimate bottom sort of in that you just can't, you fucking hit him and

it's just like. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Right. By the end of the sixth round, Blake was gasping for air and completely covered in blood. Finally in the eighth, Tom knocked Blake out from Egan's report. Malinu went in with uncommon fury. Blake rallied. Malinu then returned with a tremendous hit upon Blake's head that completely took all recollection out of him. That is a great. I mean, the idea of taking a hit and then being like, what is this? Who? Who am I? And what is this, please? Huh? Not familiar. Tom's win was big news that spread all over England. The fancy was a buzz. Part of that was because both fighters had been backed by crib. Also,

a former slave had now beaten two white Englishmen, which was worrying, obviously. Yeah. But most concerning of all was the fact that Tom's skills had advanced so quickly in just one month. His skills were now rather English. The concern was what would happen in a year or so. Yeah. Tom was now the toast of the town. He bought fancy clothes and got drunk with the fashionable members of London. And he kept talking about beating crib. Quote, he never ceased amusing his visitors and patrons with grotesque illustrations of how he would serve out a massive crib. Geez. He was hitting brothels every night and now upsetting Richmond because his ways were affecting his training. Oh, boy. Women were also lighting up to get to Tom.

But boxing fans were growing concerned because Tom looked like he would clearly become champion, which would mean an African American former slave would be better than the best white English boxing. God forbid. It was a horrifying thought. Horrifying. Because boxing, they had so tied up in the greatness of the empire. Right. They had it all wrapped up together. So then this was just like the end of the empire. I think he's in an I think he's white under a black suit. He must be. He's got to be a bit white. He's got to be a white in disguise. The idea that he might keep getting better was written about in newspapers. Quote, it was generally considered that should he be able to combine an equal degree of skill with his

gluttony, he would mill the whole race of modern pugilists. Gluttony was the term for taking punches and not letting it face you as opposed to bottom, which is giving, you know, the full fight. Right. But gluttony was like how much just a great chance. Take it. Yeah. Take it. Right. Tom was called the darky. Good. The sable gladiator, the black, the terrible black and the more. Okay. All great. Nice names. Great terms. All of this concern was only putting pressure on Crib to agree to a fight and beat Tom for the good of the country. Oh, yes. From Egan, the national come on. The national honor is at stake. Oh, this is great. Crib was pretty much retired at this point. He had beat the mighty Jim Belcher in a 41 round fight. Then he beat boxing giant Bob

Gregson in a very, very bloody fight. He was retired because after those fights, no one would fight him because they saw him as invincible. Oh, come on. Come to Tom. And now there was Tom Mullenew. But Crib said he didn't intend to come out of retirement. After hearing that, Tom declared that he should then be the champion of England. Oh, yes. You see heads explode. Yeah. It's like scanners. It's like Guy Fox. Hysteria followed. No. A black American, the champion of England. The honor of England was at really at stake now. The Union Black. Richmond got in on it, starting a campaign to have Tom named the English champion. Oh, God, that's great. This is great. Meanwhile, Tom was swimming in ladies. He'd often be

seen walking down the street with a lady on each arm. So this is like the English apocalypse at this point. Right. The fancies concerned put pressure on Crib to take the fight to prove English superiority. Crib finally agreed to fight Tom, but wanted to put it off a few months to get into shape, which he did. It was raining heavily and cold the day of the fight. 10,000 spectators showed up after walking five miles through muddy fields to get to the location. Well, that's just a regular English walk. That's not. There's nothing. That's just a five mile walk. They came from all classes from royalty to people who lived on the street. At noon, the boxers removed their shirts. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Can we get that one? Hug each other. Hey, hey. Let me see. Play with each other's nipples. Get the parents off. Little hot for those parents. Hey, no, it's the wrong event. Oh, you want a little willies around the corner? Sorry. Yes. Sorry. Hey, will they play with each other's nipples here? He's looking for gay stuff. Hello. What followed was considered to be the greatest fight of the era. Odds were four to one for Crib. Most bet that Tom would go down within 15 minutes. Okay. The first few rounds were difficult and no one had the advantage. Crib was rusty. He hadn't fought in two years. Sheets of rain were pouring down. The ground was muddy. First bit of blood came in

the second round when Tom hit Crib in the mouth. Crib was usually a counter puncher, but he was being aggressive in this fight. He beat Tom badly in the eighth. Tom just took blow after blow. Then at the end of the round, fell almost unconscious, but not quite. They battered each other for several rounds. They're both starting the English love to batter stuff. Oh, everything. They're both starting to show the effects of a boxing match now. Tom's head was covered in blood. Crib's head was swollen terribly on the left side. Hey, it's part of my head. Okay. Second head and next to my head over here. The one thing I was thinking is maybe just out of my head. Should I be able to see my eye? Uh, so the fancy started getting nervous. Then in the ninth, Tom hit Crib with one of those

punches that completely changes a fight straight in the face and dropped him. Egan wrote, quote, words could not do justice to the expression of the crowd. The next round, Tom dropped him again. Geez, I can't believe he's still getting up was clearly winning and on and on it went. By the 19th round, both of their faces were so pounded that spectators could only identify them by their skin color. No one, but they're also like, it's just amazing. Even even in the era, no one had ever seen this kind of pure brutality in a boxing ring. Then Tom went on the attack. He wasn't on the attack. Crib backed up until he was against the ropes and Tom just wailed away, sending punches to Crib's face. And soon he was just pummeling him. This was it. It looked

like Tom was going to put Crib away and England would be a hollow sad land of losers. Their great white fighter was going to lose to a black ex slave. But not now because right then a mob of 200 fans charged into the ring and attacked Tom. Oh, well, that's the I guess you didn't know about Crib's new move. He had a secret move. 200 were multiplied by 200. In doing so, they grabbed Tom's hands to get him off Crib and broke at least one of his fingers. Then he was released. Crib felt to the ground unconscious. By the time the ring was cleared, Crib was up and ready to go. Oh my God, what? Okay, the fight resumed. Of course it did. By the time the 20th round started, it was very apparent Tom was having difficulty with the cold. Now both of them were weak and

running on fumes. When the 28th round started, no one present could understand how they were still standing. In the 20th round, Crib left himself unguarded. His hands low, Tom hit him, and Crib fell into the mud. He was out cold. It was then chaos. The fans started screaming. The ref yelled, time, time, which meant the fight was over. Then a man from Crib's corner ran to the ring screaming that Tom had bullets in his fist to make his punches more effective. Well, that makes sense. The ref asked to see Tom's hands. Tom opened his fist to reveal he was not carrying any bullets. Weird. What the guy from the ring was actually doing was distracting everyone, including the ref, hoping it would give Crib time to recover, which it did. No, what kind of bullshit

is this? I mean, Crib was probably like, honestly, at this point, I'm gonna stop it. Stop it. Please. I think it's fine. Good news, man. We bought you a couple more minutes. Get up. I know. I don't think I can get it up. Hey, man, we're looking out for you. Crib slowly came to as Tom and his corner argued about the accusation. Crib then stood up. Now, the rules are supposed to be the fighter is supposed to get back to the center of the ring, but that didn't happen. And for whatever reason, maybe because the crowd was terrifying, the ref continued the fight. Okay, even though you'd already called it over. Right. So the fight went on back and forth in the 32nd round. Jesus, God. Both men collapsed from exhaustion without exchanging a punch. What is that? I mean,

what you just called like the 36 is just nap round. Okay, they're going to just take a breather. And it went on in the 40th round. Tom's eyelids were swelling shut and his face was a just a giant bruise. He told Richmond he couldn't go on and Richmond called the fight. What? Both fighters had to be carried off. Neither of them could speak for days. Oh, my God. Crib had proved the English were great. We could do it. England wrote, this is the fight quote, had completely decided Crib's just pretensions to be the champion of England. Notwithstanding, his game had always been well known. His courage in this instance astonished all the spectators who expressed their admiration at his being ever ready at the mark fighting his man. While the fans agreed it was one of the

all time great fights, possibly the greatest fight ever, there was also a sense that a great injustice have been done to Tom. Which part? And many felt a rematch was in order. No, they were both like, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, we're good. We're good. We're good. We're good. My eyes still hurt. Fights like that used to happen in the 80s, where you would be like, you guys shouldn't fight again. Yeah, they'd be like, we're going to do it right after the match, too. Tommy should a challenge to Crib in the paper. He fucking wrote an article and he wrote a fucking letter in the paper. Great. He then lined up another fight and one, but it wasn't that simple. The entire fight, the fancy screamed racist names in him. Then after Tom had beaten his

opponent unconscious, they stormed the ring and rioted for 20 minutes. Wait, this is a fight with Crib? No, no, this is another fight up another fight. Right. The brutal beating Tom inflicted and the fact that he had gone so long with Crib meant other boxes were now too afraid to fight him. He was now out of money and borrowing from Richmond. His only chance was to fight Crib again. So Tom once again declared himself the champion of England. Those are fighting words. Crib agreed to fight again and trained very hard this time. He trained with Captain Barkley in Scotland. Barkley was famous as one of the great pedestrians. He had once walked a thousand miles in a thousand hours. And that will translate to boxing. You know, boxing is a lot like walking

if you think about it. Yeah, you just keep walking around. Yeah, it's one punch after the other until you arrive at your destination. Yeah. You know what I mean? Well, but here's the thing. This was like the first, this is one of the first times someone trained like to get in shape training as opposed to boxing training. Again, shocking fact. But just getting your stamina right, you know. Tom, on the other hand, got deeper into partying and especially liquor. Oh boy. He also ate way too much and was spending most of his money on prostitutes. Richmond was disgusted by his lack of commitment. The second you mean that he couldn't settle down with one of them? Right. Right. The second Crib and Tom fight happened in September, 1811. Over 20,000 were in attendance.

For a week before the fight, there was not a vacant bed or even spot on the grass to pitch a tent a mile around the wing. So there's like stone's tickets. Totally. Just wall to wall people waiting. In the morning of the morning of the fight, as Tom was to do with his regimen, he drank a large glass of beer and ate an entire apple pie. Oh my God. Oh God. It turns out that isn't great for your stamina. Early in the fight, he was fine. There's this documentary about people who can win a car, win a car by keeping their hands on the car, you know. And there's one guy whose theory is that he shouldn't eat for a couple days before it because that'll help him get used to not eating. And he goes down so

fast. So the idea is you hold your hand on the car the longest you win the car. This guy is out like in a day because he starved himself for two days being like, that's how you do it. You prepare your body. I love when people think of stuff like that. Yeah. And I think he was only eating Snickers. That was his thing. Wow. Can't believe that didn't work. Yeah. Hands on a hard body. Hands on a hard body. That's cold. So early in the fight, Tom was fine. But by the fourth round, he was running out of breath. Krib adjusted his style, taking Tom more seriously. Tom, not so much. Was Tom just banging prostitutes in between rounds? Basically. Yeah. Krib knocked Tom out in the 11th round. The fancy was more than pleased. This was the end of the argument. And

as far as they were concerned, the end of Tom Malinu and the pie beer diet and the pie beer diet. Egan wrote quote, his day was then gone by. Richmond was disgusted and severed ties with him. He also had Tom put in a debtor's prison. Oh, cool guy. Yep. After Tom headed north, he did have three more fights. One was on April 23, 1813. In the fight, Tom acted like he was scared of his opponent, Jack Carter. He ran around the ring yelling and screaming as if he were insane. He would scream out that Carter was biting him even though he wasn't anywhere near him. No one watching knew what in the hell was going on. After 25 rounds of chasing Tom around the ring, Carter passed out and Tom won. Oh my god. What?

I feel like my technique heat exhaustion. I feel like our great hero. Yeah, it's taking a turn. Taking a turn. Definitely taking a turn. Tom roamed around Scotland drinking and constantly getting into street fights. His next fight a year later, he looked terrible, skinny, weak. The fight lasted two rounds. Tom was knocked out by one punch to the face. One year later, he fought for the last time. Again, he was weak and quickly dispatched. You know, the one fight he could never win? What's that? The one against his vices. We're going to stop and say a quick prayer. Why? Stop and say a quick prayer for Tom. Okay. After that fight, he went to Ireland where he would go from town to town trying to talk people

into being one of his boxing students. That's great. The drinking continued. Is there anything worse than going from town to town trying to get people to learn something? They know you're like a drunk. Come on, man. Let me show you how to box. I'd like to show you how to punch people. Come on. What I like about you is you got a good chin. Now, let's go. Let's me drink a cider and I'm going to eat this pie. I lost twice to a guy. He probably recognized me. One of my last match by screaming and going to keep fusing the man. Okay. Pay me in price. How about that? I see a lot of promise with you. I promise you with you. You guys like potatoes. I just realized I've been talking to a tree for an hour. The drinking continued. Of course it did. You know, not a lot of people

go to Ireland to sober up. He now also had tuberculosis. Good. He tried to start a career as a trainer, but it was pathetic. Physically, he was falling apart. I mean, if a drunk guy dying of TB comes up to you, he's like, I want to teach you how to box. Yeah, it's not like I don't know, sir. Egan called him, quote, a walking skeleton. Okay. So he was being taken care of by three black soldiers who were in the band of the 77th Regiment of Foot in Galway. I love their music. Yeah. Their last album. Very good concept album. Yeah. In the summer of 1818, Tom died penniless living in a storage closet. He was just 34. Oh my God. He had drunk himself to death. Oh my God. In a storage closet? Yeah.

Yeah. Richmond's life went in the opposite direction. He was prosperous and accepted by the English. He had revolutionized the sport with his style. Richmond box until he was 55. Wow. Off that against guys half his age who wanted to prove bottom was the way to go and would then get the shit kicked out of them. Yeah. Let go of the bottom. Yeah. I've always said that. Be a top. He beat up his final opponent in three rounds when he was 55. Wow. Because his career lasted so long, by the way, after when he's 55 after beat up the guy, then he ran and jumped over the ropes. Sure. Why not? Because his career lasted so long, which is what he argued his defensive style would allow. His way of boxing was no longer seen as

weak and unmanly. Crib, meanwhile, opened a pub. Richmond and Crib became close friends in the last years of their lives. I like they would often talk late into the night at Crib's pub. Richmond spent the final night of his life there and died at the age of 65 in December 1829. After his death, Crib wrote a letter pleading for racial tolerance in England. Crib eventually died a national hero. In the end, Tom, a former slave from America, went to England and beat the national hero and champion Tom Crib only to have that victory stolen from him by the common deceitful ways of boxing. One of the reasons Richmond was given respect that Tom never received was because he was a gentleman and pursued boxing as a noble sport. Tom was the opposite. In the end, two former

American slaves went to England. One was broken and the other was able to contradict the myth of black inferiority by defeating all but one of his opponents. Of Tom, after he died, Egan wrote, quote, it will also not be forgotten if justice holds the scales that his color alone prevented him from becoming the hero of that fight. Boxing to this day is still a shithole of corruption. Right? Yeah. Nice ending. But that's crazy. That's awesome. Yeah. How it's amazing that no one's ever heard of those guys. Yeah. I mean, one guy changed the sport. Yeah. Just the fact that the two guys free got free from slavery and then went to England and fucking and changed everything up. Yeah. It's crazy. That's awesome. That's awesome. Again, Hollywood, if you're listening.

Come on. Maybe we'll just see it on a mental floss next week. That made me laugh so hard. That made me laugh so hard. Oh, you guys just found a fact from our podcast. I don't care. That's fine. That's how facts go. Yeah. Mental floss clearly always just takes shit from other sites and but whatever it's that's fine. It's the Internet. The fucking Internet. It gives a shit. Yeah. I just think it's funny.