A Thousand Blows is the new Disney+ drama by Steven Knight, set in London’s East End in the 1880s and inspired by the true story of Hezekiah Moscow.
The Jamaican immigrant, played by Malachi Kirby, is drawn into the murky underworld of illegal boxing, where he meets its dangerous leader, Henry “Sugar” Goodson (portrayed by Stephen Graham).
Carol Midgley was immediately immersed in the world of “thieves and bare-knuckle-boxing” noting “the performances, major and minor, are excellent”.
• A Thousand Blows review — Erin Doherty shines in this den of thieves
Moscow and Goodson pre-date our photographic archive. However, such was Goodson’s notoriety, his antics were reported in The Times.
In 1882 several articles described the criminal court case around an “alleged prize fight” at St Andrew’s Hall in Tavistock Place. The evening descended into violent scenes and arrests inspiring an episode of the television drama.
The fight between Goodson and Jack Hicks was described by witnesses for the defence in The Times as a “fair contest under Queensberry rules and there was no kicking by either boxers”. They added that it was not an illegal “contest of endurance”. Nevertheless “hot exchanges ensued during which police stepped into the ring and stopped what promised to be an exciting fight”. Goodson and Hicks were found guilty of a breach of the peace.
After Goodson’s death in 1917 a burgeoning era of professional boxing prospered, filling stadiums as it continues to do today. Viewing these images as a collective captures a bygone era of the sport.
Our earliest boxing photographs show Ted “Kid” Lewis (born Gershon Mendeloff), an English Jewish boxer. He became a boxing instructor for the US army during the First World War and is seen here sparring with troops in 1918:
After the war he became British middleweight champion in 1922, later winning the British Empire and European welterweight titles.
Teddy “The Pride of Poplar” Baldock remains Britain’s youngest world champion after he defeated the American Archie Bell to take the bantamweight title aged 19 in 1927.
Baldock was photographed alongside Bell in the gym preparing for the gruelling 15-round fight of his life:
The Times described Baldock as “by far the fastest and most brilliant boxer at his weight”.
A later image shows him fighting back off the ropes to win in another 15-round epic for the British title, against his local East End rival Alf “Kid” Pattenden in 1929:
Len Johnson was a mixed-race boxer from Manchester who, despite beating some of the most legendary fighters of his era including Lewis, Roland Todd and Len Harvey, was never allowed to fight for a British title because of the colour bar on black boxers.
This image shows Johnson beating Harvey in their first fight, in Southwark in 1927:
A 1932 image shows the Canadian Larry Gains in action in the ring with Lord Douglas-Hamilton, a Scottish Squadron leader and amateur boxer:
Gains sparred with Douglas-Hamilton in preparation for his fight with Salvatore Ruggirello, the Italian heavyweight, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Despite being the Canadian heavyweight and world coloured heavyweight champion, Gains was prevented from competing for the world heavyweight title because of his race. Johnson and Gains were pioneers in boxing’s journey towards racial equality.
It was Dick Turpin, the eldest of the famous Turpin brothers, who would eventually benefit from the lifting of the colour bar in 1948.
He became the first black boxer to contest a British title, defeating Vince Hawkins for the British middleweight belt, in front of a crowd of 40,000 at Villa Park. Dick’s younger brother Randolph went on to become the first black boxer to win the Lonsdale belt.
One of the greatest fighters of all time, Georges Carpentier, was photographed shadow boxing in London in 1922:
The French boxer nicknamed “The Orchid Man”, as he often wore corsages on his tailored suits, competed in nearly every weight class in his long fighting career. In 1922 Carpentier was in London to successfully defend his light-heavyweight title against Lewis.
A stark portrait of a smartly dressed Carpentier focuses the lens on his eyes, his face displaying his battle scars:
Harvey also boxed at every weight division in existence during his 24-year career. The Cornishman was British champion at middle, light-heavy and heavyweight.
He also held the light-heavy and heavyweight title of the British Empire.
A 1936 photograph shows Lord Lonsdale presenting the Lonsdale belt to Benny Lynch:
One of the greatest Scottish boxers, who left the Gorbals during the Great Depression to become undisputed world flyweight champion, winning British and European titles along the way.
The British heavyweight champion Reggie Meen was photographed in jovial spirits in 1934 alongside two unnamed boxers:
The Australian heavyweight Colin Bell, known as the Moree Mountain, stood proudly for the camera in about 1905, showing off his stature:
James Jarché photographed the Birmingham boxer Jack Hood posing in his robe alongside Alf Mancini at the Perry Barr greyhound stadium in Birmingham in 1928:
Hood won in front of a crowd of 20,000.
Jack London faced Bruce Woodcock at Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane stadium in 1945. Filmed by the BBC and promoted by the boxing impresario Jack Solomons, it was the first commercial boxing event in the open air in England since 1939. Boxing was now big business.
In attendance among the 40,000-strong crowd was London’s wife with her sons, Brian and John:
The younger Woodcock towered over London after knocking him out in round six:
