Pierce Egan (1772 - 1849)

Pierce Egan (1772–1849) was an early British journalist, sportswriter, and writer on popular culture. Egan was born in the London suburbs, where he spent his life. By 1812, he had established himself as the country's leading 'reporter of sporting events', which at the time meant mainly prize-fights and horse-races. The result of these reports, which won him a countrywide reputation for wit and sporting knowledge, appeared in the four volumes of Boxiana, or, Sketches of Modern Pugilism, which appeared, lavishly illustrated, between 1818-24. It was Egan who first defined boxing as the sweet science.