I first became interested in Tim Collins as he was a bareknuckle boxer I had never heard of until he was involved in the only bare knuckle fight I could find information on in my home town of Reading. Tim Collins was born on Christmas Day 1845 in Blackrock, Dublin, where the young Collins and his parents emigrated from in 1849, moving to London and by the time Collins was fourteen he was working as a “mudlark”, (children who trawled the muddy banks of the Thames looking for things of value discarded by the factories, docks and ship-works that lined the river bank), with coal, brass or other objects of metal being the most valuable to try and sell for a few pennies. The young Collin’s patch was close to St. Martin’s Lane where he came to the attention of the son of famous pugilist Ben Caunt and apparently had access to young Ben Caunt’s sparring rooms, where he honed his boxing skills on the local talent. By now Collins was employed as a crossing sweeper in London, sweeping the streets of litter, dust and dirt along with the horse and dog droppings, with his spare time taken up with fighting for a few coppers and running with the local street gang. On May 9th 1862 the now sixteen year old Collins had his first recorded paid fight for an undisclosed purse at Aldershot in Hampshire against Jem Pickett. The seconds for Collins were Oliver and Drew with Pickett acquiring the services of Shaw and “Puggy” White as his seconds. Apparently the fight over the whole sixty rounds was an outstanding, toe to toe fight lasting just over an hour and a half before Collins was declared the winner.

After this success a fight was arranged for seven weeks later on June 30th at an unknown venue somewhere in London against a certain Tom Frost about which nothing is known apart from it being another win for Tim Collins in twenty five rounds and an hour of fighting over an opponent who apparently stood no chance against the fists of Collins, who collected a purse of ten pounds. For his next fight in December of that year, Collins was pitched in with someone only know as Jesse Hatton’s Spider. Again the venue was Aldershot with a third win for Collins in ninety minutes for another ten pound purse. No details of the fight exist apart from the fact that Collins left ear was badly damaged in this fight. In fact as time went on his appearance was described as having a ruddy look, piercing eyes, a nose with a double curve, wide mouth, ears that were prominent with the left one being a cauliflower one, thick neck, square shoulders, on a muscular body. He stood 5’ 5½” high with a fighting weight of about 120lbs.

Early in 1863 Bob Dackem became the Irishman’s next opponent when they met at Long Reach, Dartford, Kent and in an epic marathon of just over two hours the fight was declared a draw with an undisclosed purse shared between the two combatants. Later that year Tim Collins found himself in the opposite corner to Denny Cronin but no records can be found of the venue or the fight apart from it being another win for Collins in two hours for a purse of ten pounds. Collins had now began to gain the interest of some factions of the London Fancy and so his next selected opponent was a step up in class with Jerry Hawkes, locally known as “the Nonpareil of the Surrey side” with three wins and a loss on his record. A ring was set up in an unrecorded venue somewhere in London and on November 17th, 1863 and the fight started with Collins rushing in, but over the twenty two round it lasted Collins took a hammering from the superior Hawkes.

In April 13th 1865 he faced the very capable London born Bob Furze for a twenty five pound a side purse. Furze had previously shown impressively against top lightweights Ted Napper and Wolverhampton’s Abe Hicken. At an unknown venue in Surrey after being disturbed by the law twice, a third ring was set up two days later somewhere in the London area where after being disturbed twice more by the law and after another three rounds of fighting in a third ring, Collins acknowledged defeat, with the fifty pound purse being handed over to Bob Furze. A return fight against Bob Dackem, which I have no details of was apparently contested next and is recorded as a draw after just over two hours for an unknown purse. Collins then entered the lists against Joe Bent, the son of the well-known Leicester boxer Mickey Bent. Prize ring novice Joe Bent was a twenty year old, lofty, 6’ 4” beanpole of 121lb. when they clashed at an unknown venue. The seconds for Collins were Ned O’Baldwin and George Iles while Ned Donnelly and Job Cobley done the honours for Bent. After two hours of fighting they were disturbed by the law so a second ring was formed and after rejecting an offer of a draw by the Bent camp, simply because Collins was hardly marked, while Bent was a mass of cuts and bruises, the fight carried on until the eighty seventh round when the sponge was thrown in for the badly battered Joe Bent. A fifty pound purse was Tim Collins reward for a hard day’s work against a gallant loser. Collins was then apparently involved in another three fights of which there are just the briefest details, all in 1867. They were a win against Denny Cronin, a loss by knockout to Young Hundreds in a gloved fight and a return fight with Cronin also being with gloves, but no details of who won. Jem Rawlings was Tim Collins next opponent when they met somewhere just outside London on March 30th, 1868 when after a fight that lasted twenty one rounds, for a purse of twenty five pounds the Irishman was declared the winner after easily disposing his victim.

The fight with Bill Gillam at Reading Races now followed in July 1868 after a row between the two men, where after a ring was hastily formed for a purse of ten pounds, Gillam was beaten but he refused to accept the defeat after he fouled Collins, so a second fight was then arranged where after another ten rounds Gillam was thrown heavily, Collins picking up another ten pound purse. (A fuller description of the fights appear in Old Prize Fights in and around Berkshire by Mick Hill). But the story doesn’t end there because soon after this fight Collins emigrated to America and by May 25th 1871 was contesting the Lightweight Championship of America with the great Billy Edwards at Long Island, New York. From the first round Tim set about his task with relish and not put off by being knocked down in the first round. From then on it was all the 25 year old Irishman’s fight, knocking Edwards all over the ring although the Birmingham man was never going to give in however bruised and battered he had become as the rounds continued. Apart from the odd blip Collins had it all his own way and by the time the ninety third and fourth rounds arrived all Collins had to do was knock Edwards over. In the ninety fifth and last round, after knocking Edwards over again the referee postponed the fight until the next day, as it was now dark and when Collins approached Edwards who was sat on his second’s knee, Edwards threw himself to the ground.

Thus ended the combat, but at midnight both men were arrested and slung in a New York prison. They both spent under a year in Blackwell Island prison, Edwards went onto better things while there are the odd snippets of minor fights and exhibitions by Collins in the American papers including two exhibitions with Edwards in April 1874. It is possibly safe to say that Collins was in and out of trouble from after the title fight with Billy Edwards and also gradually drinking heavier as time went on. By 1881 he was reported as being interned in an asylum in Boston, Massachusetts and in 1886 in a sanatorium in Northampton, Massachusetts, suffering from dementia and alcoholic abuse. It is still a mystery as to when he exactly died. How good a fighter was Tim Collins? In this country he fought mostly fighters of the second order apart from Gillam, who was over the hill and possibly Furze and Hawkes who beat him. He also claimed to be the lightweight champion of England which was basically laughed at because of fighting mostly unknowns for small purses. He then goes to America and beats the great Billy Edwards in all but result only, for the American lightweight title! But that is the fascination of boxing.

This is a shorter version of the article that appears on Mick Hill’s website www.bareknuckleboxing.co.uk under Various Articles.