James Figg rose to prominence as the first recognized boxing champion of England. Born in Thame, Oxfordshire. Figg grew to be a 6 foot tall, 185 pound athlete who engaged in fighting, wrestling, and swordplay. Figg began to give exhibitions which displayed his fighting ability and during one of these shows the Earl of Peterborough was impressed by his ability and taking the role of patron offered Figg an opportunity to go to London to further improve his skills.

Figg began to take on all comers and beat them all as they showed up. Boxing in Figgs day was a bare Knuckle affair with very little in the way of rules. Gambling was definitely a part of the sport and the Earl of Peterborough was probably a big winner from bets placed on his man Figg. By 1719 Figg was the undisputed champion of London and England with no opponents in sight who could challenge him.

Figg fought many famous battles of the day one of which was against  a Gravesend pipe maker, Ned Sutton. The Sutton fight took place in 1727 and drew one of the largest crowds of the day for any event. The format of these early competitions were divided into 3 separate battles. The first would be a swordfight where first blood drawn constituted a win and sometimes a death. The second was the bare\re knuckle fight where kicking biting and spitting all were acceptable as allowable techniques. The third was a fight with quarterstaffs which could be the most dangerous if a heavy blow was landed. Many of the countries leaders and famous people, such as the Prime Minister Robert Walpole, were present at the great match 

Figg won the sword fight by cutting Sutton's shoulder. In the second competition he managed top put a wrestling hold on Sutton and forced him to concede and in the quarterstaff fight Figg actually shattered Sutton's knee. The Earl of Peterborough supported several of Figg's successful business endeavors. Figg opened a Defense school at Tottenham Court Road which was attended by most of the notable aristocrats of the day. He also established an Boxing Ring at Oxford Circus which set the pattern for boxing as we know it today.

A ring was put in place with ropes around the sides and the floor was raised so the spectators could see the fight. This pit the sport onto a professional basis and anyone who had aspirations to become a boxer would show up at the Oxford Circus Amphitheatre as a participant or a spectator. By 1730 Figg was semi-retired fighting just enough to maintain his claim on the champion title. Later that year he handed his title over to one of his students, George Taylor who stepped up to the ring to carry on the traditions established by Figg.

Figg died in 1734 at the age of 40 having established boxing as the most popular sport in England and laying out the direction it's development would take for the 200 years.