Jack Angle

Jack Angle was not only a boxing judge and referee at the three Olympic Games between 1908 and 1924, but was a very influential man in both the amateur and professional branches of the sport. He was one of the founders of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) in 1881 and served them for many years, during which time he was highly respected by boxers, officials, managers, promoters and spectators. Angle was also one of the original members of the National Sporting Club (NSC) in 1891 and, being a member of the London Stock Exchange, he founded the Stock Exchange Boxing Club.

Angle officiated in many bare-knuckle fights, and was the referee for the famous 106-round contest between England’s Jem Smith and America’s Jake Kilrain on an island in the River Seine, Paris, in December 1887. The fight was billed as being for the “Championship of the World” and it ended in a draw when Angle stopped the contest with darkness approaching after nearly two and a half hours fighting. Angle also refereed the first Georges Carpentier - Joe Beckett meeting for the European heavyweight title at the Holborn Stadium in 1919, when the British champion was knocked out within two minutes.