Benjamin ("Big Ben") Brain (1753 – 8 April 1794) was a

bareknuckle Bare-knuckle boxing (or simply bare-knuckle) is a combat sports, combat sport which involves two individuals throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time without any boxing gloves or other form of padding on their hands. It ...

prizefighter Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who took the championship of all England in 1791 against the reigning champion Tom Johnson. A collier by trade, he was a valiant fighter whose career spanned twenty years.

Early life and boxing career

Brain was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, in 1753. His surname was "Bryan" or "Brian": later in life this was sometimes corrupted into "Bryant" and also "Brain". Prior to moving to London in 1774 in order to work as a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

porter at a

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (moorings), berths ...

he had already defeated Jack Clayton, the champion of Kingswood, Bristol. and also a fighter called Harris. His career as a professional started on 31 October 1786 at Long Fields, when he fought John Boone, who was known as "The Fighting Grenadier". Toughs broke into the ring and ganged up on Brain. In the resulting melée, Brain suffered a beating that almost closed one of his eyes. When order was restored and a surgeon had

lanced Incision and drainage (I&D), also known as clinical lancing, are minor surgical procedures to release pus or pressure built up under the skin, such as from an abscess, boil, or infected paranasal sinus. It is performed by treating the area with an ...

the swelling around the eye, he resumed fighting and within thirty minutes had forced Boone to quit in defeat.

Cancellation of first bout with English champion Tom Johnson, 1789

After soundly defeating William Corbally in 20 minutes on 31 December 1788 in

Navestock Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is located approximately northwest of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of t ...

, he finally received a scheduled contract to fight the English champion, Tom Johnson for a prize of £500 the following year. When Brain fell ill and cancelled the bout, he forfeited the £100 he had put up for the fight. Later in that year he was well enough to fight Jacombs at

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

, winning in 36 rounds. In 1790 his 100 guinea fight against Bill Hooper at Newbury turned into a farce. Hooper became fearful after Brain's first successful hit on him and resorted to tactics such as falling over and spitting water in his face in order to distract him. The fight lasted over three hours and 180 rounds before being declared a draw due to the darkness of evening setting in. Hooper had fallen 133 times during the fight. Mendoza Boxer

Retaining English championship against Tom Johnson, 1791

Brain then got another opportunity to fight Tom Johnson on 17 January 1791, at

Wrotham Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 and M26 motorways. History The name first occurs as '' ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He received 500 guineas by the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sc ...

for the bout. The fight was a brutal but short-lived affair: despite being a 7–4 favourite, Johnson was incapacitated after 21 minutes, after he broke a finger by hitting a rail that surrounded the ring. Nonetheless, Brain was winning prior to the injury, and was allowed to retain his claim to the championship with his eighteen-round win, in twenty-one minutes.

English championship becomes vacant, death and burial, 1792–4

Soon after winning the championship, and with no challengers coming forward, Brain retired from boxing and his title of English Champion became vacant. It was next taken by boxer Daniel Mendoza, author of ''The Art of Boxing'' whose writing greatly added science to the sport. There were attempts to arrange a fight against

Isaac Perrins Isaac Perrins was an English bareknuckle prizefighter and 18th-century engineer. A man reputed to possess prodigious strength but a mild manner, he fought and lost one of the most notorious boxing matches of the era, a physically mismatched co ...

but these came to nothing and until 1794 Brain made his living by

sparring Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative deba ...

and acting as a second to other fighters until 1794. On 24 February 1794, he was scheduled to fight William Wood but then died, of a "scirrhous liver", on 8 April, at his house on

Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at the City of London boundary, where it bisects High Holborn, and ends at King's Cross an ...

, London before the bout could take place. He was buried at St. Sepulchre's Church, London, and his funeral was attended by four fighters: William Wood, Tom Johnson, Bill Warr and John Symonds. The epitaph on his headstone reads:

Boxing achievements and honors

, - , -

External Sources

Section on Brain in ''Pugilistica, the History of British Boxing'', volume 1, 1906, Henry Downes Miles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Benjamin 1753 births 1794 deaths Bare-knuckle boxers Sportspeople from Bristol English miners English male boxers