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Tom Johnson (born Tom Jackling; c. 1750 – 21 January 1797) was a bare-knuckle fighter who was referred to as the Champion of England between 1784 and 1791. His involvement in pugilistic prizefighting is generally seen to have coincided with a renewed interest in the sport. Although a strong man, his success was largely attributed to his technical abilities and his calm, analytical approach to despatching his opponents. But Johnson was less prudent outside the ring; he was a gambler and considered by many of his acquaintances to be an easy mark. He is thought to have earned more money from the sport than any other fighter until nearly a century later, but much of it was squandered. Johnson's first fight probably took place in June 1783 against Jack Jarvis, after he had unintentionally slighted the wagon driver and professional fighter. Jarvis challenged Johnson to fight him as a matter of honour, and was comprehensively beaten in the resulting match. Johnson's success encouraged him to take up the sport professionally. By June 1784 he had declared himself to be the champion, although whether of England or the world is uncertain. In the later years of his fight career, and for some time after it ended, he acted as a second for other prominent fighters and ran a public house. His dissipation outside the ring appears to have resulted in his decision to leave England for Ireland, where he continued to tutor other boxers but eventually resorted to gambling to earn a living. He died a broken man, both physically and financially. Johnson was inducted into the ''Pioneer'' category of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Pioneer )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tom Johnson )〕 ==Life before boxing== Tom Johnson was born in Derby, England in about 1750, although at least one early historian of boxing, Pierce Egan, states that Johnson was born in Yorkshire. His birth name was Thomas Jackling, but he used the name Tom Johnson throughout his fight career.〔 〕 Johnson moved to London at a young age and spent the next twenty years or so〔 working as a corn porter, loading and unloading sacks of corn from a wharf near to Old Swan Stairs, (Upper) Thames Street.〔 His selflessness and strength were exemplified during this period by the assistance that he gave to a fellow worker who had become ill. Johnson would carry two sacks of corn on each journey between the wharf and the grain warehouse, rather than the usual single sack, up an incline so steep that it was known as Labour-in-vain-hill. He gave the extra money he earned to the family of the sick man until he was able to return work. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tom Johnson (bareknuckle boxer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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