Hen Pearce

Henry "Hen" Pearce (7 May 1777, in Bristol – 30 April 1809, at St. Martin's Lane, London) was an English bare-knuckle prizefighter who fought under the London Prize Ring rules and was the recognised English Champion from 1804 until his retirement due to ill health in 1807.^[1]

Pearce was known as "The Game Chicken", a nickname probably derived from his habit of signing his name "Hen" instead of Henry. He was reckoned a fast, skillful boxer who hit hard with both fists.

On 6 December 1805, Pearce defeated Jem Belcher in a Championship decider (a fight reported in Pierce Egan's first volume of Boxiana).^[2]

He was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.

External Sources

• Chapter on Pearce in Boxiana, or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism volume 1, 1830, Pierce Egan
• Chapter on Pearce in Pugilistica, the History of British Boxing volume 1, 1906, Henry Downes Miles

See also

• List of bare-knuckle boxers