Owen Swift

{{Short description|British bare-knuckle prize fighter (1814–1879)}}

Owen Swift (1814– 9 June 1879) was a British bare-knuckle prize fighter, who killed three men in boxing bouts. The death of "Brighton Bill" in one particularly savage 85-round bout in 1838, and Swift's subsequent conviction for manslaughter, led to the adoption of the London Prize Ring Rules.

Career

His 1 June 1837 fight with Israel "London Izzy" Lazarus (the father of Harry Lazarus) is recounted in detail in Frank Lewis Dowling's 1855 book, Fights for the Championship; and Celebrated Prize Battles; Or Accounts of All the Prize Battles for the Championship &c. Swift was the outsider, and at odds of 6 to 4, bet on himself to win. Swift was much the lighter man, at no more than nine stone (57 kg; 130 lb) in weight, with "not an ounce of superfluous flesh on his ribs". The odds on both fighters changed many times, and each was "within an ace of losing". The fight lasted 113 rounds, two hours and fifteen minutes, and Lazarus was "dreadfully punished", and it was his last ever fight.{{cite book|author=Dowling, Frank Lewis|title=Fights for the Championship; and Celebrated Prize Battles; Or Accounts of All the Prize Battles for the Championship From the Days of Figg and Broughton to the Present Time; &c.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPD0iUdQ_rwC&pg=PA354|accessdate=3 August 2015|year=1855|place=London|publisher=Bell's Life|pages=354–362}}

After one of his fights in 1838, which lasted 85 rounds and 95 minutes, Swift's opponent, William Phelps, known as "Brighton Bill", died.{{cite book|title=The Annual Register, Or A View of the History and Politics of the Year 1838|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9k7AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA40|accessdate=27 July 2015|year=1839|place=London|publisher=J.G. & F. Rivington|pages=40–41}} The fight took place at Melbourne Heath, Essex, in front of a crowd of about 3,000. Phelps — who had already killed a man — became the third man Swift killed. Bets were taken that neither man would survive for long after the fight; Swift was very badly beaten, making his eventual recovery doubtful.

After the coroner's inquest, Swift was tried and found guilty of manslaughter, as were three of the organisers. In 1839, The Annual Register described the fight as "one of the most savage 'pieces of sport' that has disgraced the country for several years".

This event led to the rules of boxing being rewritten.{{cite book|title=Paths of Glory|date=1997|publisher=Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, FOKGC |location=London|page=96}} The London Prize Ring Rules were introduced by the Pugilists's Protective Association and replaced Broughton's rules of 1743.{{cite book|author=Barry Jordan|title=Medical Aspects of Boxing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAlXNUzDUXwC&pg=PA5|accessdate=3 September 2015|date=23 November 1992|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-8493-4281-3|page=5}} There were 29 rules, built on Broughton's rules, but with more depth and detail. These rules more clearly defined the range of fouls and introduced certain safety measures.

Swift's last two fights were both with Jack Adams, on 5 June and 5 September 1838, both in France. Swift won both fights. Afterwards, Swift became a tavern owner, running the Horse Shoe in Tichborne Street (now Glasshouse Street), Soho, London.

In 1840, Swift published The Hand-book to Boxing, which was a defence of the sport, a history of boxing, a guide for spectators, and advice on how to train and fight.{{cite book|author=Carter Wood, J.|title=Violence and crime in nineteenth-century England: The shadow of our refinement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9d_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA164|accessdate=27 July 2015|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|place=London|isbn=1-134-33246-7|page=164}}{{cite book |url=http://www.nycsteampunk.com/bartitsu/manuals/TheHandbookToBoxing1840.pdf |first1=Owen |last1=Swift |title=The Hand-Book to Boxing; Being a Complete Instructor in the Art of Self-Defence, with a Complete Chronology of the Ring From the Days of Fig and Broughton to November 1840 |location=London |publisher=Nicholson |year=1840 |accessdate=12 September 2015}}

Death

Swift died in 1879. He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. In 2025 he was inducted to International Boxing Hall of Fame as a pioneer inductee.{{Cite web |title=Owen Swift |url=http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/pioneer/swift.html |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=www.ibhof.com}}

Homonym

Another professional boxer active in 1931–1932, Forest Hall, also used the name Owen Swift.{{cite web |url=http://www.boxinghistory.org.uk/Boxer_Owen_Swift_Forest_Hall.htm |first1=Miles |last1=Templeton |title=Owen Swift (Forest Hall) |publisher=boxinghistory.org.uk |accessdate=12 September 2015}}

Publications

{{cite book |url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-modern-English-boxer-descriptions/dp/B0008BDZSK |title=The modern English boxer,: Or, Scientific art and practice of attack & self defence explained in an easy manner that any person may comprehend this useful ... descriptions of correct pugilistic attitudes |publisher=H. Hewitt |year=1830 |first1=Owen |last1=Swift |asin= B0008BDZSK}}{{cite book |url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-modern-English-boxer-descriptions/dp/B0008BDZSK |title=The modern English boxer,: Or, Scientific art and practice of attack & self defence explained in an easy manner that any person may comprehend this useful ... descriptions of correct pugilistic attitudes |year=1830 |first1=Owen |last1=Swift |publisher=H. Hewitt |asin= B0008BDZSK |accessdate=12 September 2015}}
{{cite book |url=http://www.nycsteampunk.com/bartitsu/manuals/TheHandbookToBoxing1840.pdf |first1=Owen |last1=Swift |title=The Hand-Book to Boxing; Being a Complete Instructor in the Art of Self-Defence, with a Complete Chronology of the Ring From the Days of Fig and Broughton to November 1840 |location=London |publisher=Nicholson |year=1840}}
{{cite book |first1=Owen |last1=Swift |title=Owen Swift's boxing without a master, or, The art of self defence Owen Swift |publisher=Henry J. Wehman |location= New York |year=1885|oclc=54240360 }}{{cite book |first1=Owen |last1=Swift|title=Owen Swift's boxing without a master, or, The art of self defence |publisher=Henry J. Wehman |location= New York |year=1885 |oclc = 54240360}}

References

External links

Category:1814 births

Category:1879 deaths

Category:19th-century English people

Category:English bare-knuckle boxers

Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery

Category:English male boxers

Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees