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 contest against the English Champion Tom Johnson. Such was the mismatch that Perrins was described as Hercules fighting a boy.

During the period when he was prizefighting Perrins worked for Boulton and Watt, manufacturers of steam engines, based at their Soho Foundry, Birmingham, but also travelled around the country and at times acted as an informant on people who were thought to have breached his employer's patents. In the later years of his life he also ran a public house in Manchester and undertook engineering work on his own account. He was appointed to lead the Manchester fire brigade in 1799, and died a little over 12 months later in the performance of his duties.

There is little information regarding Issac Perrins' early life, but he was probably born in about 1751. His father, also called Isaac, worked for Boulton and Watt erecting stationary steam engines in the West Midlands until his death in 1780. In that year Isaac junior was offered work in Cornwall by the business but turned it down. He subsequently accepted a Birmingham-based job with the firm in 1782.

Bareknuckle fighting was "particularly popular" in Birmingham during Perrins' lifetime. From a legal standpoint such fights ran the risk of being classified as disorderly assemblies but in practice the authorities were concerned mainly about the number of criminals congregating there. The patronage of the aristocracy – including royal princes and dukes – and other wealthy people ensured that any legal scrutiny was generally benign, in particular because fights could take place on private estates. There was increased support for the sport from around 1786 because of the interest shown in it by the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) and his brothers, the future King William IV and Duke of Kent.

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