Jem Mace — Official World Champ? School Me Please

Gilbert Odd was the Father of British Boxing Writers. He was still contributing to Boxing News, which he edited for many years, into his 80's,

 

In the bare knuckle era, the popular newspapers of the day were where Champions were acknowleged. Mace was universally recognized. I've got a fabulous book about him called ' Master of the Ring'. A must read for lovers of our sport's history.

 

I think that it is a reasonable title claim.

 

True. Odd was amazing. His life spanned almost the entire 20th century and he saw so many greats, both live and on tv/film.

I was 12 years old in 2004 when my Mom bought be Odd's encylopedia. This was in the pre-youtube days. I hadn't yet seen footage of Joe Louis or Jack Dempsey and many others. Odd was my introduction to classic boxing. I remember reading everything in his encyclopedia and was fascinated by all these mini biographies of historical greats. Of course, then youtube hit and i was able to view everything. Still, i loved Odd's encyclopedia and continued to read it.

The bareknuckle section of his book was amazing too- so much knowledge. I will definitely order it again.

 

I think it comes down to wether you think the Bareknuckle champion status before the 1880s, is part of the lineage under Queensberry rules. If yes, then you could say Jem Mace was a legit world champion. If not, then John L. Sullivan would still be the first World champ.

 

One of the first tacticians of modern boxing.

 

I am sure that thee were tacticians long before his time.

For example Jem Belcher was called "The Napoleon of the Ring."

 

Yes but Mace's era was closer to modern boxing than Belcher's.

 

I suspect so, but can we really be sure?

Certainly there have been men described as "scientific boxers" going well back into the 18th century.

 

Rules wise, yes. Belcher's era was under the Broughton Rules, which allowed for kicking and grappling. Whereas Mace, for the most part, fought under the Queensbury Rules. This restricted the wrestling.

Belcher was still likely very skilled and scientific, but relative to his own profession. I think a good example of this would Melankomas of Caria. He was an ancient Greek boxer who also had defense and head movement, but you couldn't compare him to modern boxing. That being said, he was probably a beast in his own profession like Belcher was

 

I agree with this.