‘Boxing is in the blood’: Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and the prize ring
Summary
Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes, was a big fan of boxing and practiced the sport himself. He wrote about boxing’s history, its challenges with illegal fights, and supported its growth in schools and the military. Doyle included boxing as a skill of Sherlock Holmes in his stories.Key Facts
- Arthur Conan Doyle enjoyed boxing and practiced it while a medical student.
- Doyle described himself as an average amateur boxer, standing 6 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds.
- He wrote positively about boxing and saw it as a valuable form of exercise and sport.
- Doyle claimed he was asked to referee the 1910 Johnson-Jeffries heavyweight championship fight, but this is unlikely to be true.
- He criticized the rough illegal fighting days of the past but welcomed boxing’s more organized form in the early 20th century.
- Doyle opposed attempts to ban boxing, believing it was a sport deeply loved by the public and impossible to stop.
- Sherlock Holmes is described as an expert boxer in the stories written by Doyle.
- Boxing plays a minor role in Holmes’s character but reflects Doyle’s own interests.
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