My quick answer is the 1820s-40s American anti-immigration movement that highlighted boxing as a violent european sport that is unfit for America similar to how the border wall makes Mexico way more popular and spoken about now than it was when I was a child.
It has to begin with Molyneaux because Molyneaux is why black men kept going to England for fights after Molyneaux. Not much flow of white american interest in boxing but a good flow of black americans coming to England trying to meet Richmond. Langham and Oliver would train a few but from memory even those dudes came to meet Bill they just didn't get on well.
Meanwhile, on the white side of things the English boxing industry has grown tired of the way champions abuse their titles. So the Englishmen set up an all European title fight in the US.
In vague terms we could call both eras 1820s-30s
Right around the time Ireland is kicking off their great Irish invasion of the US. Bringing with them, boxing.
In my own opinion this is your source for the popularization of boxing in the United States. There was boxing prior, there is training coming in from England prior, but the public's interest is low. When English Burke fought Irish O'Rourke most of the audience was European. It was a means of avoiding the English champion's demands. The black fellas coming to England to learn boxing and make coin fought in England. It's not much fan fair stateside for them.
See, everyone who is American know we had a bit of a struggle with my ancestors coming here being all Irish and ****. Dirty lazy drunken violent leprechauns and what have you. Irishmen like boxing. Irishmen use boxing as a means to make money and settle disputes.
The Young Americans, similar to like a Tea Party, not a political party per-se more like a party in a party. Young Americans were anti-immigration and often used boxing as proof of European immigration ruining good wholesome American values.
It wasn't boxing writers who followed guys like Yankee Sullivan around the US to print all his exploits. It was dudes more similar to Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, or Anderson Cooper. Dudes whose job is to stir **** for views.
That made boxing super popular
Tom Hyer made boxing okay. Because Tom Hyer was a Young American and something like the logic of using boxing to prove superiority over the Europeans took root.
Now we're in the 1840s
Right around the time Bill Fuller and Aaron Molyneaux began their training facilities open to the public. Fuller was first and served more rich white clients. Hewlett by the mid 1850s was training black men in boxing and was pretty popular on the sparring circuit.
Sparring was not yet a standard in training for practice. Sparring was just testing. Both Fuller and Hewlett sought to make sparring its own sport. Boxing is still to the finish but sparring was done by points. This is the birth of the points system.
This is what made boxing popular enough in the USA to have a sizeable industry worth mention in England. We had a belt, public interest, trainers, and fighters now and could put on all American shows without any Europeans.
I say we because I am American but my folks wouldn't be yet. So I guess they is more correct.
The birth of the World title rolls on in by 1860s and imo it the main focus of big time boxing until at least the 1870s. America had become so important English dudes fight for American titles but wasn't big enough to outright control boxing.
1870s is when Mace began his let's teach the world boxing campaign, which just made boxing huger and got Australia and Canada more up to snuff, the raise and fall of Joe Goss, and the whole maybe we should use gloves and points in boxing and sparring for practice bit. I believe mostly done by Mace.
Joe Goss was pretty popular, even though he's English he was well known in America and even featured in some play or some such nonesense.
Paddy Ryan whoops Goss's ass
John L whoops Paddy's ass.
The rest is pretty well covered and seem well known here.
I don't think you have much of any interest in America if not for fear mongering.
Cricket?
Rugby?
Y'all know I can go on for a minute like that. America has proven for centuries she does not give a damn about European sports and far, far, less than other former European colonies. There's no reason to believe without American immigration fear making it more popular and focused on the mainstream boxing would have been any more popular in the USA than soccer, darts, and pool. Sports most don't watch habitually here.
It has to begin with Molyneaux because Molyneaux is why black men kept going to England for fights after Molyneaux. Not much flow of white american interest in boxing but a good flow of black americans coming to England trying to meet Richmond. Langham and Oliver would train a few but from memory even those dudes came to meet Bill they just didn't get on well.
Meanwhile, on the white side of things the English boxing industry has grown tired of the way champions abuse their titles. So the Englishmen set up an all European title fight in the US.
In vague terms we could call both eras 1820s-30s
Right around the time Ireland is kicking off their great Irish invasion of the US. Bringing with them, boxing.
In my own opinion this is your source for the popularization of boxing in the United States. There was boxing prior, there is training coming in from England prior, but the public's interest is low. When English Burke fought Irish O'Rourke most of the audience was European. It was a means of avoiding the English champion's demands. The black fellas coming to England to learn boxing and make coin fought in England. It's not much fan fair stateside for them.
See, everyone who is American know we had a bit of a struggle with my ancestors coming here being all Irish and ****. Dirty lazy drunken violent leprechauns and what have you. Irishmen like boxing. Irishmen use boxing as a means to make money and settle disputes.
The Young Americans, similar to like a Tea Party, not a political party per-se more like a party in a party. Young Americans were anti-immigration and often used boxing as proof of European immigration ruining good wholesome American values.
It wasn't boxing writers who followed guys like Yankee Sullivan around the US to print all his exploits. It was dudes more similar to Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, or Anderson Cooper. Dudes whose job is to stir **** for views.
That made boxing super popular
Tom Hyer made boxing okay. Because Tom Hyer was a Young American and something like the logic of using boxing to prove superiority over the Europeans took root.
Now we're in the 1840s
Right around the time Bill Fuller and Aaron Molyneaux began their training facilities open to the public. Fuller was first and served more rich white clients. Hewlett by the mid 1850s was training black men in boxing and was pretty popular on the sparring circuit.
Sparring was not yet a standard in training for practice. Sparring was just testing. Both Fuller and Hewlett sought to make sparring its own sport. Boxing is still to the finish but sparring was done by points. This is the birth of the points system.
This is what made boxing popular enough in the USA to have a sizeable industry worth mention in England. We had a belt, public interest, trainers, and fighters now and could put on all American shows without any Europeans.

The birth of the World title rolls on in by 1860s and imo it the main focus of big time boxing until at least the 1870s. America had become so important English dudes fight for American titles but wasn't big enough to outright control boxing.
1870s is when Mace began his let's teach the world boxing campaign, which just made boxing huger and got Australia and Canada more up to snuff, the raise and fall of Joe Goss, and the whole maybe we should use gloves and points in boxing and sparring for practice bit. I believe mostly done by Mace.
Joe Goss was pretty popular, even though he's English he was well known in America and even featured in some play or some such nonesense.
Paddy Ryan whoops Goss's ass
John L whoops Paddy's ass.
The rest is pretty well covered and seem well known here.
I don't think you have much of any interest in America if not for fear mongering.
Cricket?
Rugby?
Y'all know I can go on for a minute like that. America has proven for centuries she does not give a damn about European sports and far, far, less than other former European colonies. There's no reason to believe without American immigration fear making it more popular and focused on the mainstream boxing would have been any more popular in the USA than soccer, darts, and pool. Sports most don't watch habitually here.
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