James Burke (boxer)
James "Deaf" Burke (8 December 1809 – 8 January 1845),[1][2] 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, weighing 200 lb (90 kg), was one of England's earliest boxing champions. He trained in the area around the River Thames.
On May 30, 1833, in a particularly brutal fight for the English heavyweight championship that lasted more than 3 hours, Burke defeated Simon Byrne, the Irish champion. Burke knocked him unconscious in the 10th round and Byrne died three days later. Burke was promptly arrested and tried for Byrne's murder, but he was acquitted on 11 July 1833 and subsequently freed. The former English champion Jem Ward, who had earlier retired rather than face Burke in the ring, refused to hand over the championship belt or acknowledge Burke as heavyweight champion.
Following Byrne's death and the resulting stigma from having killed his opponent, Burke found it impossible to obtain opponents in Britain. He went to the United States and fought the new Irish champion Sam O'Rourke in New Orleans on May 6, 1837. As the fight progressed, O'Rourke took heavy punishment. In the third round, fearing O'Rourke's defeat, elements of the crowd started rioting and caused the fight to be abandoned. Burke was forced to flee on horseback.
On February 12, 1839, Burke fought William Thompson for the English heavyweight crown. Burke was disqualified in the 10th round for hitting Thompson when he was down. Thompson retired the next month and Burke claimed the title. A great gandson now currently resides in Kings Mountain NC Jem Ward's younger brother Nick Ward fought Burke for the English championship on 22 September 1840. The fight ended in disarray when Ward's gang forced the referee to disqualify Burke for an alleged foul.[3]
Burke challenged William Perry, 'The Tipton Slasher', to a fight in July 1842. Perry declined.
Burke won his final fight against Bob Castles (to whom he was related in marriage) in the 37th round on June 13, 1843.
At the age of 36 and in extreme poverty, Burke died of tuberculosis at home on 8 January 1845 in Francis Street, Waterloo, London. He is buried in St John's Church-yard, Waterloo.[4]
One hundred and forty-seven years later in 1992, he was added to the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Cyber Boxing Zone contains records of James Burke's matches.
- Enshrinees contains a biography of James Burke.
