If some one asked me to read a book about a boxer. Then I would humour them saying "maybe, sometime! ". But this book is fascinating. It Is an insight into the life and times of a local 19th century sporting hero and legendary figure. Though not a avid fan of fighting sports, the pages of this book turn very easily for me, I often laughed out loud when I red of Bendigo's antics and wondered wether I would be happy to know such a character if he were alive today.

    It is peppered throughout with historical facts, figures and placenames, which add a real dimension to anyone who lives near, or is familiar with, any of the places mentioned in the book, and that covers Nottingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, London, and lots of places in between.

    The descriptions of some of the fights are gripping, they mention a blow by blow account of two men brutally beating each other up, in a cross between bare knuckle fighting, and all in wrestling, often lasting 30, 40 or even 99 rounds! The descriptions come down to us from contemporary sporting press, including an insight into the fighting politics of the time. Including how, while illegal, the sport had a wide and influencial appeal.

    It is interesting to compare these fights from the mid 1800's to our own times, when equally controversial and colourful characters pepper the modern boxing world, and often complaints are made about rule breaches serious and minor.

    I can thoroughly recommend this book.

William Thompson aka ‘Bendigo’ became the bare knuckle boxing Champion Of England in 1845.JP Bean’s detailed and well crafted biography of the great man’s life is well researched and brilliantly brings to life, the era and characters on Bendigo’s journey from the poorhouse to the pugilist and finally to the pulpit.
The exploits surrounding illegal prize fighting have familiar rings to them
and in etiquette and essence the circus that is boxing has remained unchanged. Parallels between then and now are easy to draw. Fight locations were on county boundaries to evade last minute orders from magistrates put me in mind of Tyson going from state to state to try and get a licence to fight Lewis. Fight results were often contested, titles disputed, payments and belts withheld, But it is through all this that Bendigo with his speed and
boxing skill, rose to the top to become the undisputed champion of
England and it is here that Bean’s book accelerates. He reproduces the round by round reports of fights from ‘Bells Life’ the sporting papers of the day to tremendous effect. As is often the case the detail does not detract from the pace. Descriptions of arranging fights, logistics, location, travel, training and spectators all build magnificently to the fight. In the day when ‘game’ fighters came to the Scratch stood still and pummelled each other with little thought of defence Bendigo kept moving and evaded his opponents blows. Bendigo’s longest fight lasted 99 rounds! With rounds only ending when a fighter was hit to the ground, bouts could exceed two hours.
Bendigo who lived and trained in Sheffield for some time was a great showman often criticised for his cocky nature nearly ended his career trying to impress his fans by turning somersaults. Sound familiar; Naz you have been warned!
Sprinkled with all the larger than life characters of the day the book makes for an illuminating, colourful and exhilarating read.