Jack Randall (boxer)

A tobacco card by Mecca Cigarettes, featuring an 1817 match between Randall (left) and Abraham "Aby" Belasco.

Jack Randall (25 November 1794 – 12 March 1828), nicknamed "The Nonpareil", was a professional boxing pioneer.

Born in London and standing only 5'6" tall, the diminutive Randall was one of the dominant pugilists of his era, compiling a 16-0-1 record as a professional, with all of his wins coming by knockout. Often credited as the inventor of the one-two punch, Randall successfully battled with contemporaries such as Ned Turner and Jack Martin (whom he defeated twice), and starred in a stage version of his ring exploits at the Regency Theatre.

Randall was admired by the foremost prizefighting reporter of the period, Pierce Egan, who also delighted in Randall's Irish parentage:

'JACK RANDALL, DENOMINATED (THE Prime Irish Lad, otherwise the NONPAREIL.)
The Prize-Ring (1818) does not boast of a more accomplished boxer than RANDALL; nor of any pugilist, who, in so short a period, has made greater progress towards arriving at the top of the tree than he has done'. (Boxiana, vol. II, 1818).[1]

Randall struggled with alcoholism, and died of alcohol-related causes at the early age of 34. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, as a member of the "Pioneers" category.

See also

References

  1. ↑ David Snowdon, Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's Boxiana World (Bern , 2013)

External links


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