Round the London Ring: Boxing, Class and Community in Interwar London

Abstract

Professional boxing emerged in the first half of the twentieth century as one of the most popular of working-class spectator sports. London was at the heart of its growth, from major international contests featuring the stars of the sport to numerous weekly small-hall programmes. Boxing was an increasingly popular form of national entertainment but also remained closely tied to local and neighbourhood identities. This paper assesses the relationship of boxing to notions of class, locality and space in London in this important boom period of participation and spectatorship. It draws on case studies of boxers, promoters and venues, relating boxing to the wider social and cultural history of sport and entertainment in London.