There were no formal weight divisions at the time, and although Sayers was only five feet eight inches tall and never weighed much more than 150 pounds, he frequently fought much bigger men.

His lasting fame depended exclusively on his final contest, when he faced American champion John Camel Heenan[2] in a battle which was widely considered to be boxing's first world championship.

At the age of six, Tom became a Jack-in-the-water, earning a few coppers performing small duties for holidaymakers and fishermen on Brighton beach.

In an anecdote of his early life, it was reported that whilst working on the construction of Wandsworth Prison, he was struck by his supervisor, described as a "great big bully of a fellow", and on his returning the blow, it was decided to carry on the fight at a nearby common.

[8] In 1846, he finally settled in the capital, taking up residence in the notorious slum of Agar Town, just north of where St Pancras Station now stands.

Although the prize ring had long been illegal, it continued as an underground activity, and Sayers, having earned a considerable reputation from a number of informal fights, decided to try to make a living with his fists.

[11] For this fight, Grant had Harry Orme in his corner whilst Sayers was attended by Nat Adams and Bob Fuller.

In 1853, Sayers challenged Nat Langham, who, despite the absence of formal weight divisions, was widely accepted as England's middleweight champion.

To make matters worse, on top of an expensive failure to set himself up as a publican, he had great difficulty arranging another payday in the ring.

The fighter was George Sims, described by the boxing chronicle Pugilistica as " a civil, well-behaved, courageous fellow, ridiculously over-estimated by his friends".

[11] According to the boxing chronicler, Fred Henning: "this battle brought the plucky Brighton Boy still nearer to the coveted title, and it was evident that giving away weight made very little matter to him and he proved by his conquering of the two heavy weights that he must have some chance for the Championship, so his friends were determined that he should have a try when the opportunity offered itself"[14] At this time, there was no undisputed champion of England amongst the heavier fighters.

Harry Broome, who had won the title in 1851 against William Perry (known as the "Tipton Slasher") and defended it against Harry Orme in 1853, had forfeited an arranged re-match with William Perry and had written to the editor of the sporting paper Bell's Life in London in August 1853, when he "intimated his intention of retiring from the Prize Ring".

By this time the prize ring was in utter disrepute – and virtually ignored by everyone outside the ranks of the Fancy, as the followers of boxing were known – yet the Sayers–Heenan fight caught the public imagination on both sides of the Atlantic.

[25] Efforts of a number of concerned citizens to have the illegal event prevented came to nothing, and the battle took place at Farnborough in Hampshire on the morning of Tuesday, 17 April 1860.

[27] According to one eyewitness: "Several members of Parliament were present, and among the "nobility and gentry," besides the noble owner of the property, we were shown the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of Stafford, and Colonel Peel.

"[27] Sayers' seconds for the fight were Harry Brunton and Jemmy Walsh,[28] whilst Heenan was attended by Jack MacDonald and Jim Cusick.

[29] To make matters worse for Sayers, his right arm was damaged in the 6th round, warding off a blow from Heenan, and he had to fight one-handed for most of a ferocious contest which went on for more than two hours.

[28] However, in the next round, which one reporter called "a fine specimen of stratagem and skill", Sayers struck several blows around and on Heenan's right eye, which had the effect of closing it for the remainder of the fight.

The fight was finally declared a draw, but hostilities continued for some weeks outside the ring, with the American camp claiming that Heenan had been cheated of victory, and the British insisting that Sayers had been on top.

According to Iain Manson, a careful study of newspaper reports of the fight and the subsequent controversy[30] leaves little doubt that Heenan was on the verge of victory when the action was stopped.

According to one source: "newspapers were filled with frenzied denunciations, Parliament angrily discussed the question, Palmerston quoted, with every sign of satisfaction, a French journalist who saw in the contest a type of the national character for indomitable perseverance in determined effort".

[35] Advertised as Tom Sayers' Champion Circus, pitched in the towns of Wisbech, March, Chatteris and Ely in April 1862 and described as "a mere wreck of what it was a few years earlier".

However, he made one last appearance in the prizefighting ring, when on 10 December 1863, he was one of Heenan's seconds, when the American returned to England to fight the then champion, Tom King.

[40] According to his own account, MacDonald only found out that Sayers would appear as his assistant on the morning of the fight, having been told that James Heenan would be fulfilling that role.

[42] In Liverpool on 25 and 26 January 1864, Myers' American Circus was hired by John Heenan, who invited Sayers to recreate the "Great Battle of Farnborough".

[43] In June 1864, it was reported that Sayers was promoting a benefit evening for the boxer Jem Mace, hiring the Standard Theatre, Shoreditch for the occasion.

In April 1865, Sayers was well enough to make a visit to Brighton, appearing "robust and strong" but by August, whilst staying with his sister, it became clear that the disease in his lungs meant he would not survive many weeks.

According to the Spectator magazine, the crowd that accompanied the coffin, stretched for more than two miles in length and the bier was drawn by four sable-plumed horses, Sayer's dog sitting alone in a pony cart.

The parents' subsequent marriage had not changed their legal status, and a judge ruled that, while they were certainly illegitimate, it could not be proved that Sayers was not the father of his wife's other three children.

[53] Tom Sayers is buried in Highgate Cemetery, his marble tomb, the work of the sculptor Morton Edwards, guarded by the stone image of his mastiff, Lion, who was chief mourner at his funeral.