The Story of Boxing

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The Story of Boxing

Boxing is as old as civilization. The Greeks created rules and held organized competitions. Homer wrote of it in the Illiad and boxing was introduced as an Olympic sport in 688 BC. The Romans carried on the tradition until 393 AD when Theodosius, Emperor of Rome, banned the Olympics. In 500 AD, boxing was banned completely.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, records of boxing disappeared completely. It would seem that the sport would forever disappear from the planet Earth.

That was until 1670, when 9 fans of classical boxing became determined to resurrect the sport.

They bought a small warehouse on a corner in London, built a small wooden platform, and began staging exhibitions of classical boxing. At the beginning of 1671, they realized there was a market. At first, only a handful of people would show up to watch the exhibitions, but it caught on quickly when a small London newspaper did a story on the men and their warehouse boxing shows.

They drew up some rules, how long the fights would last and how a winner would be determined, and on January 12th, 1671, the men held their first fight card.


(note: The vast majority of what I just wrote is not historical. I made most of it up. )

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First, introducing the 9 pugilists.

Morgan Arkle
Mason Atwater
Wade Broomhead
Neil Lewis
Robert Stansfield
Louis Tomkinson
Bradley Trewhells
Bill Weighill
Kane Winslow

The rules of the fight:
Each fight will be 10 rounds of 3 minutes each
The fighter can be saved by the bell in any round
The referee can stop the fight
The referee scores the fight
If fight is stopped on an accidental headbutt, it is a No Contest through 5 rounds, goes to the scorecard after
Scoring system by Rounds

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January 12, 1671
HW: Wade Broomhead 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Kane Winslow 0-0-0 (0) KO4 Robert Stansfield 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Mason Atwater 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Neil Lewis 0-0-0 (0)

Broomhead won a very close 5-4 decision. Winslow was dropped in round 3, and answered in round 4 with the KO. Atwater was cut in the 5th round, but he answered by cutting Lewis in round 7. Atwater won a 6-4 decision.

A successful night. The fight card drew in enough people to make the venture a profitable one. The pugilist agreed to put on two shows every month (every other Saturday), each consisting of 3 fights each.

January 24, 1671
HW: Kane Winslow 1-0-0 (1) Draw10 Morgan Arkle 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Wade Broomhead 1-0-0 (0) UD10 Louis Tomkinson 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Mason Atwater 1-0-0 (0) KO6 Bill Weighill 0-0-0 (0)

Arkle dropped Winslow in the 2nd round, but was unable to keep up the pressure and the fight ends in a 4-4 draw. Broomhead won an uneventful 5-3 decision. Atwater is becoming an early fan favorite after a bloody battle in his first fight and now a KO victory over Weighill.

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February 7, 1671
HW: Bradley Trewhells 0-1-0 (0) UD10 Robert Stansfield 0-1-0 (0)
HW: Neil Lewis 0-1-0 (0) UD10 Kane Winslow 1-0-1 (1)
HW: Mason Atwater 2-0-0 (1) UD10 Wade Broomhead 2-0-0 (0)

Trewshell won the first half of the fight. Stansfield came back, but it was too little, too late as Trewshell won a 6-4 decision. Lewis won an uneventful 5-4 decision. Atwater was dropped in the 7th round, but still ends up doing just enough to win a 6-4 decision.

February 21, 1671
HW: Morgan Arkle 0-0-1 (0) UD10 Bill Weighill 0-1-0 (0)
HW: Neil Lewis 1-1-0 (0) Draw10 Louis Tomkinson 0-1-0 (0)
HW: Kane Winslow 1-1-1 (1) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-1-0 (0)

This card featured 2 decisive winners. Arkle won a 7-3 decision over Weighill. Lewis and Tomkinson fought to a 4-4 draw. Kane Winslow won a lopsided decision, 8-1, over Trewshell.

The card have shown to be a commercial success. The crowd showing up to the fights have grown with each week. The pugilists have already started to recruit new fighters so that they can expand and hold a card every week. Doing so would require a doubling, or even tripling, of the current roster.

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March 7, 1671
HW: Morgan Arkle 1-0-1 (0) KO8 Bradley Trewhells 1-2-0 (0)
HW: Louis Tomkinson 0-1-1 (0) UD10 Kane Winslow 2-1-1 (1)
HW: Mason Atwater 3-0-0 (1) UD10 Neil Lewis 1-1-1 (0)

Arkle knocked down Trewhells 4 times in his KO victory. Tomkinson won a 6-4 decision. Atwater had a decisive victory over Lewis,getting an 8-0 decision.

March 21, 1671
HW: Wade Broomhead 2-1-0 (0) UD10 Mason Atwater 4-0-0 (1)
HW: Neil Lewis 1-2-1 (0) UD10 Louis Tomkinson 1-1-1 (0)
HW: Kane Winslow 2-2-1 (1) KO4 Bill Weighill 0-2-0 (0)

Broomhead gives Atwater his first lose, winning a narrow 6-4 decision. Lewis won a 7-2 decision over Tomkinson and Winslow dominated his fight from the opening bell.

The Pugilists have recruited 17 fighters to join their ranks. That will make for a total of 25 fighters in the stable. They increase their cards from 3 fights to 4, and they will be held weekly.

Here are the 17 newcomers:
Bernard Agar
Ron Bradridge
Dane Burrough
Lee Clothier
Evan Collick
Byron Congdon
Michael Dunstone
Ben Ensor
Dominic Farnsworth
Aaron Gauntlett
Damien Gillbard
Paul Gurney
Joey Mortimer
Declan Purssell
Bill Shrimpton
Richard Waterfall
Stuart Wrixon

[mh2365]

Are these all RFG'd? Do you intend to add real fighters later?

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Originally Posted by mh2365

Are these all RFG'd? Do you intend to add real fighters later?

Yeah, they're RFGs. I'll add real fighters as they come up. I don't plan on actually researching and rating them, I'll just use the RFG to make them the appropriate Overall Rating and rename them (and, of course, use the real ones in the DB as they start coming up when I get to them)

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April 1671

April 4, 1671
HW: Ron Bradridge 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Michael Dunstone 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Evan Collick 0-0-0 (0) KO2 Declan Purssell 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Dane Burrough 0-0-0 (0) KO5 Wade Broomhead 3-1-0 (0)
HW: Bernard Agar 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-3-0 (0)

April 11, 1671
HW: Joey Mortimer 0-0-0 (0) KO2 Morgan Arkle 2-0-1 (1)
HW: Robert Stansfield 0-2-0 (0) UD10 Bill Weighill 0-3-0 (0)
HW: Bill Shrimpton 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Dominic Farnsworth 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Byron Congdon 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Neil Lewis 2-2-1 (0)

April 18, 1671
HW: Dane Burrough 1-0-0 (1) UD10 Stuart Wrixon 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Paul Gurney 0-0-0 (0) KO3 Evan Collick 1-0-0 (1)
HW: Declan Purssell 0-1-0 (0) KO5 Ron Bradridge 1-0-0 (0)
HW: Mason Atwater 4-1-0 (1) KO5 Michael Dunstone 0-1-0 (0)

April 25, 1671
HW: Bill Shrimpton 1-0-0 (0) KO7 Louis Tomkinson 1-2-1 (0)
HW: Joey Mortimer 1-0-0 (1) TKO7 Bill Weighill 0-4-0 (0)
HW: Ben Ensor 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Byron Congdon 1-0-0 (0)
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Morgan Arkle 2-1-1 (1)

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May 1671

May 2, 1671
HW: Dominic Farnsworth 0-1-0 (0) UD10 Michael Dunstone 0-2-0 (0)
HW: Dane Burrough 2-0-0 (1) KO2 Wade Broomhead 3-2-0 (0)
HW: Neil Lewis 2-3-1 (0) UD10 Robert Stansfield 1-2-0 (0)
HW: Richard Waterfall 0-0-0 (0) TKO10 Paul Gurney 1-0-0 (1)

May 9, 1671
HW: Ron Bradridge 1-1-0 (0) KO9 Bernard Agar 1-0-0 (0)
HW: Ben Ensor 1-0-0 (0) KO1 Byron Congdon 1-1-0 (0)
HW: Louis Tomkinson 1-3-1 (0) KO4 Mason Atwater 5-1-0 (2)
HW: Morgan Arkle 2-2-1 (1) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-4-0 (0)

May 16, 1671
HW: Lee Clothier 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Damien Gillbard 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Evan Collick 1-1-0 (1) KO3 Kane Winslow 3-2-1 (2)
HW: Dominic Farnsworth 1-1-0 (0) ND2 Michael Dunstone 0-3-0 (0)
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 1-0-0 (0) UD10 Wade Broomhead 3-3-0 (0)

May 23, 1671
HW: Byron Congdon 1-2-0 (0) KO8 Bill Weighill 0-5-0 (0)
HW: Bill Shrimpton 2-0-0 (1) KO3 Mason Atwater 5-2-0 (2)
HW: Louis Tomkinson 2-3-1 (1) UD10 Neil Lewis 3-3-1 (0)
HW: Bernard Agar 1-1-0 (0) UD10 Dane Burrough 3-0-0 (2)

May 30, 1671
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 2-0-0 (0) UD10 Lee Clothier 1-0-0 (0)
HW: Paul Gurney 1-1-0 (1) KO1 Dominic Farnsworth 1-1-0 (0)
HW: Evan Collick 2-1-0 (2) UD10 Wade Broomhead 3-4-0 (0)
HW: Declan Purssell 1-1-0 (1) KO1 Bradley Trewhells 1-5-0 (0)

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June 1671

June 6, 1671
HW: Stuart Wrixon 0-1-0 (0) KO7 Robert Stansfield 1-3-0 (0)
HW: Dane Burrough 3-1-0 (2) KO1 Richard Waterfall 1-0-0 (1)
HW: Morgan Arkle 3-2-1 (1) UD10 Kane Winslow 3-3-1 (2)
HW: Joey Mortimer 2-0-0 (2) KO8 Bill Shrimpton 3-0-0 (2)

June 13, 1671
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 3-0-0 (0) Draw10 Bernard Agar 2-1-0 (0)
HW: Paul Gurney 2-1-0 (2) KO1 Bill Weighill 0-6-0 (0)
HW: Evan Collick 3-1-0 (2) UD10 Lee Clothier 1-1-0 (0)
HW: Ben Ensor 2-0-0 (1) KO4 Michael Dunstone 0-3-0 (0)

June 20, 1671
HW: Dominic Farnsworth 1-2-0 (0) UD10 Damien Gillbard 0-1-0 (0)
HW: Stuart Wrixon 1-1-0 (1) UD10 Byron Congdon 2-2-0 (1)
HW: Dane Burrough 4-1-0 (3) UD10 Joey Mortimer 3-0-0 (3)
HW: Bill Shrimpton 3-1-0 (2) UD10 Ron Bradridge 2-1-0 (1)

June 27, 1671
HW: Mason Atwater 5-3-0 (2) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-6-0 (0)
HW: Louis Tomkinson 3-3-1 (1) Draw10 Michael Dunstone 0-4-0 (0)
HW: Neil Lewis 3-4-1 (0) UD10 Ben Ensor 3-0-0 (2)
HW: Lee Clothier 1-2-0 (0) UD10 Bill Weighill 0-7-0 (0)

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July 1671

July 4, 1671
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 3-0-1 (0) UD10 Wade Broomhead 3-5-0 (0)
HW: Joey Mortimer 3-1-0 (3) Draw10 Bernard Agar 2-1-1 (0)
HW: Richard Waterfall 1-1-0 (1) UD10 Paul Gurney 3-1-0 (3)
HW: Evan Collick 4-1-0 (2) KO1 Robert Stansfield 1-4-0 (0)

July 11, 1671
HW: Declan Purssell 2-1-0 (2) KO9 Morgan Arkle 4-2-1 (1)
HW: Ben Ensor 3-1-0 (2) KO2 Bradley Trewhells 1-7-0 (0)
HW: Kane Winslow 3-4-1 (2) UD10 Damien Gillbard 0-2-0 (0)
HW: Byron Congdon 2-3-0 (1) KO4 Louis Tomkinson 3-3-2 (1)

July 18, 1671
HW: Ron Bradridge 2-2-0 (1) KO1 Stuart Wrixon 2-1-0 (1)
HW: Dane Burrough 5-1-0 (3) TKO9 Robert Stansfield 1-5-0 (0)
HW: Neil Lewis 4-4-1 (0) TKO7 Lee Clothier 2-2-0 (0)
HW: Dominic Farnsworth 2-2-0 (0) KO3 Wade Broomhead 3-6-0 (0)

July 25, 1671
HW: Aaron Gauntlett 4-0-1 (0) Draw10 Damien Gillbard 0-3-0 (0)
HW: Louis Tomkinson 3-4-2 (1) UD10 Bill Weighill 0-8-0 (0)
HW: Evan Collick 5-1-0 (3) KO1 Kane Winslow 4-4-1 (2)
HW: Mason Atwater 6-3-0 (2) UD10 Byron Congdon 3-3-0 (2)

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At the beginning of August 1671, several of the fighters the original signed have become unhappy. They state that while the crowds are getting bigger, and the owners (the original 9) are making more money, they are not. The Nine, as they have come to be called, give out a flat rate for all fighters.

The Nine have said they would be more than willing to renegotiate the terms next year, but some of them are unwilling to wait. Dane Burrough (6-1-0 (4KO)) and Evan Collick (6-1-0 (4KO)) have left to form their own company, taking several fighters with them.

Burrough-Collick Pugilism
Dane Burrough 6-1-0 (4)
Evan Collick 6-1-0 (4)
Aaron Gauntlett 4-0-2
Ben Ensor 4-1-0 (3)
Lee Clothier 2-3-0
Damien Gillbard 0-3-1

They immediately signed several recruits and have announced that their cards will take place on Fridays and begin in September.

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August 1671

August 1, 1671
HW: Robert Stansfield 1-6-0 (0) UD10 Wade Broomhead 3-7-0 (0)
HW: Elton Hornyold 0-0-0 (0) UD10 William Northam 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Ron Bradridge 3-2-0 (2) KO7 Morgan Arkle 4-3-1 (1)
HW: Neil Lewis 5-4-1 (1) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-8-0 (0)

August 8, 1671
HW: Joey Mortimer 3-1-1 (3) UD10 Richard Waterfall 2-1-0 (1)
HW: Michael Dunstone 0-4-1 (0) UD10 Kane Winslow 4-5-1 (2)
HW: Stuart Wrixon 2-2-0 (1) UD10 Paul Gurney 3-2-0 (3)
HW: Mason Atwater 7-3-0 (2) Draw10 Derek Hankey 0-0-0 (0)

August 15, 1671
HW: Bill Shrimpton 4-1-0 (2) KO5 Dominic Farnsworth 3-2-0 (1)
HW: Bernard Agar 2-1-2 (0) UD10 Ron Bradridge 4-2-0 (3)
HW: Taylor Bott 0-0-0 (0) KO2 Bill Weighill 0-9-0 (0)
HW: Morgan Arkle 4-4-1 (1) UD10 Neil Lewis 6-4-1 (1)

August 22, 1671
HW: Kane Winslow 4-6-1 (2) KO3 William Northam 0-1-0 (0)
HW: Paul Gurney 3-3-0 (3) ND2 Kai Parkins 0-0-0 (0)
HW: Joey Mortimer 4-1-1 (3) KO5 Louis Tomkinson 4-4-2 (1)
HW: Stuart Wrixon 3-2-0 (1) UD10 Bradley Trewhells 1-9-0 (0)

August 29, 1671
HW: Michael Dunstone 1-4-1 (0) Draw10 Wade Broomhead 3-8-0 (0)
HW: Taylor Bott 1-0-0 (1) KO2 Mason Atwater 7-3-1 (2)
HW: Byron Congdon 3-4-0 (2) KO3 Bill Shrimpton 5-1-0 (3)
HW: Les Hotchkiss 0-0-0 (0) UD10 Bill Weighill 0-10-0 (0)

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Following the month of August, a local newspaper called the London Daily published their top 5 rankings of London Warehouse Pugilism (the name of the company formed by The Nine).

1. Morgan Arkle 5-4-1 (1)
2. Mason Atwater 7-4-1 (2)
3. Neil Lewis 6-5-1 (1)
4. Louis Tomkinson 4-5-1 (1)
5. Kane Winslow 5-6-1 (3)

A few days later, a competing newspaper, London Herald, published their rankings.

1. Mason Atwater 7-4-1 (2)
2. Morgan Arkle 5-4-1 (1)
3. Neil Lewis 6-5-1 (1)
4. Louis Tomkinson 4-5-2 (1)
5. Kane Winslow 5-6-1 (3)

The differing #1 and #2 fighters caused a buzz among pugilism fans. They started to demand a fight between the two. They have yet to face each other in the ring, and the fans wanted a fight to decide who was the true #1 fighter in London.

It was scheduled for September 19th.

In the meantime, Burrough-Collick had set up their property. They began selling tickets for their first card on Sept. 4th and have a full stable of fighters ready to go.

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(I'm going to stop listing all of the fights every month since it's getting a bit long. I'll just report on the top fights and fighters.)

Sept 19th, 1671
Morgan Arkle 5-4-1 (1) vs. Mason Atwater 7-4-1 (2)

Arkle dominated the first 4 rounds. Atwater began to comeback, but was knocked down in the 6th round. He would then be knocked down at the beginning of the 7th and he could not answer the count.

Arkle wins TKO7

The public was satisfied to have their deciding fight, and it was reported in both London Daily and London Herald. Pugilism was on the raise.

In other notable news...

Even Collick lost his first 2 fights under his own company. His public image is dropping quickly, and his lack of success is starting to hurt his company. However, countering that is Dane Burrough, who won his lone fight of the month by KO.

Bill Weighill finally got his first win, defeating Wade Broomhead (3-8-1) by KO in the first round.