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| John Jackson (28 September 1769 – 7 October 1845) |
Jackson was a celebrated English pugilist of the late 18th century.
He won the title Champion of England in a fight on 15 April 1795 in which he beat Daniel Mendoza. After this he created a boxing academy for gentlemen at 13 Bond Street, London. Jackson’s Saloon was popular with the nobility and gentry. Lord Byron relates in his diary that not only did he receive instruction in boxing from Jackson, but also had a homosexual fling with him.
Byron referred to Jackson as the ‘Emperor of Pugilism’, and the leading prizefight reporter, Pierce Egan, writing in Boxiana declared him to be the ‘fixed star’ of the ‘Pugilistic Hemisphere’.
In the artist Thomas Lawrence’s 1797 exhibition at the Royal Academy, an enormous painting of Satan Summoning his Legions was based upon a giant portrait of Jackson. In 1814, Jackson helped to establish the ‘Pugilistic Club’.Jackson is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.
-Read more at Wikipedia
Further Reading:
John Jackson, English Boxer – Britannica
Gentleman John Jackson and Daniel Mendoza: Heavy Hitters of Regency Boxing – The Jane Austen Centre
The Old One-Two: Boxing in Regency England – Regina Scott
Gentleman Jackson (1769 – 1845) – Regency World
Gentlemen’s Sports in the Regency – Susana’s Parlour
Jane Austen Society of North America - New Jersey Region 