Tom Cribb: The Life of the Black Diamond

Bareknuckle fighter Thomas Cribb (1781-1848) was a sporting legend whose exploits still feature in thousands of publications on boxing, a primitive activity he dragged from the gutter into the smoking rooms of country houses. His most famous bouts were against Tom Molineaux, a black American. These fights really captured the imagination of the public - the English patriot versus the black American slave. People slept in ditches and dangled from trees to catch a glimpse of a fight that would never be forgotten. The exploits of Cribb popularised boxing among the upper classes, and in 1821 Cribb was a Page at the Coronation of King George IV. A key figure in the history of boxing, an amazing character and a great story.