Abraham Cann

[3] Inheriting from his father a love of play, he defeated John Jordan, Flower, Wreyford, Simon Webber, and the other good wrestlers in Devonshire, and carried off the prizes at all the places where he became a competitor.

[2] On 21 September 1826, at the Eagle Tavern in City Road, London, he contended without shoes for the first prize with James Warren of Redruth (who was conspicuous for his bravery at the time of the loss of the Kent, Indiaman, in 1825), and although the latter made a gallant struggle, Cann was declared the victor.

Polkinghorne was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighed 320 lbs, and had not wrestled for some years, being the landlord of the Red Lion inn at Saint Columb Major.

This match, the purse for which was £200 a side for the best of three back falls, took place at Tamar Green, Morice Town, near Devonport, on 23 October 1826, in the presence of upwards of 12,000 spectators.

[2] Cann was a fighter of the Devon style, a "kicker"; he wore boots with toes that had been soaked in bullock's blood and then baked as "hard as flint".