Tom Cribb

Tom Cribb was an English bare-knuckle boxer who became the dominant heavyweight champion of the Regency era. His two celebrated bouts with the African American fighter Tom Molineaux in 1810 and 1811 drew enormous crowds and became entangled with nationalism, race and disputes over fair play.

In George MacDonald Fraser’s Black Ajax, Molineaux’s power, discipline and public charisma make him the leading challenger to English champion Tom Cribb and a focus for gamblers, promoters and spectators whose admiration remains inseparable from racism.