Isaac Bitton (boxer)
| Isaac Bitton | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Born |
29 June 1779 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Stance | Bare-knuckle boxing |
Isaac Haim Bitton (born 29 June 1779 Amsterdam, the Netherlands, died 1839, London) was a Dutch-born Jewish bare-knuckle boxer who is most famous for a fight which lasted 74 rounds.
Early life
He was born in Amsterdam to Abraham Bitton and Rachel Rodrigues de Castro. Abraham was born in the Italian city of Livorno on 25 June 1732, the son of Joseph and Simha. His grandfather Isaac was expelled from the city of Oran in 1669, then a Spanish possession, now in modern day Algeria. Suffering financially due to the war between the Netherlands and Britain, Abraham decided to leave Amsterdam for London with his son Isaac in 1789, leaving his wife and other children in Amsterdam. Owing to the French invasion in 1795, Rachel was unable to join Abraham with her children, and in 1801 Abraham died. In 1812 Isaac's mother died in Amsterdam, all her children apart from Isaac, having predeceased her.
Boxing career
Isaac Bitton went into the field of boxing at around the age of 22 in 1801. Undefeated, he was best known for two fights, with Bill Wood, and with George Maddox on Wimbledon Common which lasted 74 rounds. He retired in 1804, and was weighed at 17 stone.
Personal
He married Eve in 1818 and had 11 children recorded in a charital record in 1838. He died in 1839 and was buried in the Highgate Jewish Cemetery near Bethnal Green.
He is an ancestor of the EastEnders actress June Brown and was featured on Who Do You Think You Are? in August, 2011.[1]
References
- ↑ Who do you think you are? June Brown, video on YouTube
- Who Do You Think You Are: June Brown
- Last Night's TV: Who Do You Think You Are?/BBC1, The Independent Amol Rajan, 11 August 2011