#33: ‘East End Born and Bled’ by Jeff Jones

‘East London Born and Bled – The Remarkable Story of Boxing in London’ by Jeff Jones.

I really enjoyed reading this book and being led through the east end of London via its boxing clubs, gyms and venues, most of which don’t exist anymore. Though luckily for the boxing historians out there, east London does still have a few clubs that can trace their way back to the early days of organised ‘boys clubs’.

As well as the usual interviews with former boxers, promoters and trainers, there is a fantastic section which explains the links between some of the earliest amateur boxing clubs, set up as acts of philanthropy by public (fee paying) schools and their wealthy alumni. This was something I was completely unaware of, as well as the effect this had in the early 20th Century, when several boxers refused to turn professional in order to honour the schools’ (and therefore the clubs’) fundamental belief that amateur sporting pursuits were purer, due to their connection with the Olympic ideal.

This may be anecdotal, and I’d definitely need to research it more, but it seems like this connection could be the reason that east end clubs like Repton and West Ham still found their training methods in use of the ‘fencing’ style, with a ‘blinding’ lead hand. This ‘fencing’ style is mentioned a lot in books looking into how boxing was codified, as gloves and the rules we know today were introduced, with this style being the one which ‘gentlemen’ should adopt.