Jack Slack
English bare-knuckle boxer known as the "Norfolk Butcher", who defeated Jack Broughton on 11 April 1750 and held the title of champion of England until 1760.
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Jack Slack was an English bare-knuckle boxer known as the "Norfolk Butcher". He became famous for defeating Jack Broughton on 11 April 1750 and becoming the new champion of England. We have not been able to verify the dates of his birth and death in the sources.
According to one source, he sold his butcher's shop to his brother and moved to London in 1748. In 1749 he opened a boxing school in Bristol. On 31 January 1750 he was defeated by George Taylor. He became champion after the bout with Broughton, once Broughton refused a rematch with Taylor.
He held the title of champion until 1760. On 17 May 1760, at the Tennis Court in the Haymarket, William Stevens defeated him with a blow to the stomach after roughly three to three and a half minutes. The contemporary Sporting Magazine, in its 1797 Chronology of Boxing survey, records an accusation that Slack paid Stevens to lose the subsequent bout against George Meggs; this accusation is not verified.