This article explores the life and work of Pierce Egan, a 19th-century Irish journalist considered by many to be the greatest boxing writer of all time. His book, Boxiana, is credited with popularizing boxing and shaping the genre of sports journalism.
The publication in 1813 of the first volume of Boxiana marks an important moment in the history of modern sports journalism . Introducing his famed collection of New Yorker writings about boxing, The Sweet Science, the journalist and famed chronicler of the pugilistic arts AJ Liebling acknowledged his debt to a 19th-century predecessor. According to Liebling, the “greatest writer about the ring who ever lived” was an Irish writer and journalist by the name of Pierce Egan .
Egan was born into an Anglican family about 1774, most likely in Dublin, not long before his father decided to move to London. The young Egan started his career as a printer before drifting into journalism. Despite the fact he had no formal education, Egan showed an early talent for writing and began working part-time as a parliamentary reporter. His big break came when he was commissioned to write a serialised history of boxing. The publication in 1813 of the first volume of Boxiana introduced Egan’s writing to a wide readership and marks an important moment in the history of modern sports journalism. The book not only outlined the rudiments of boxing’s history, but also, more importantly, introduced the boxers of the day to a new audience. Although not a well-known name today, for a period in the first half of the 19th century, Egan was a literary star. In Liebling’s words, Egan was ‘a hack journalist’ and possibly a “shakedown man”, yet no one had ever “presented a more enthusiastic picture of aspects of life except the genteel”. Liebling could readily appreciate Egan’s talents. Born into a well-off Jewish family in New York, his passions were pugilism and fine dining; he was equally at home mixing it with the fight crowd ringside at the Garden as he was tucking into a plate of foie gras with the great and the good at a swish Parisian eaterie
Sports Journalism Boxing Pierce Egan Boxiana 19Th Century
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