On this day in Wembury — 12 May 1896
A lively letter from Tom Merren, self-described “Light-weight Champion of the West of England,” was written from Down Thomas, Wembury, to The Mirror of Life, a popular sporting paper of the day. Merren took issue with a report from the previous week, clarifying that he had indeed defeated his opponent Alf Wright at Dartmouth in two rounds, and that he was ready for a rematch “with a purse offered of £25 and articles signed for twenty rounds.”
This kind of public exchange was typical of the bare-knuckle and early gloved boxing scene of the late Victorian era, when challenges and disputes were fought as much in print as in the ring. Fighters would write to national or regional sports journals to boast, correct the record, or issue open invitations for bouts — all part of the performance that surrounded the sport.
Tom Merren’s letter shows that even from the quiet lanes of Down Thomas and Wembury, Devon’s boxing circuit was active and ambitious, feeding into a wider network of contests across the South West. His confident tone — correcting his critics and calling for a rematch — gives a glimpse of the bravado and local pride that fuelled the sport long before the professional era took hold.
(Boxing World and Mirror of Life, 23 May 1896; letter written 12 May 1896, Down Thomas, Wembury)