According to a few accounts, particularly the 1904 volume, Famous Fights Past and Present,[2] he may well have been an illegitimate child, born out of wed-lock, though his mother, not his father's parentage was in question.

He was also a marker at the King's Bench Racket-ground, where he learned to play the game with science and skill, rivalling the greatest players of his era.

[1] Sam's first benefit fight, considered a sparring exhibition, was at the Old Fives Court on Saint Martin's Lane, where his considerable skill was noted.

Young Dutch Sam displayed a mixture of power and speed in the ring, yet he had the ability to inflict serious punishment, notably the strong left jab he used to soundly defeat Gypsy Cooper in 1826.

The reporter for London's Morning Chronicle wrote that Jones showed less aggression in the final rounds, where Young Dutch Sam took the lead in the fighting.

[8] Sam's habit of drawing his man to him, and then taking advantage of the closeness to punch with accuracy echoed the scientific boxing style of his primary mentor Dick Curtis.

Gypsey Cooper, though a stouter and somewhat more muscular opponent, left his head unguarded during his mad rushes which gave Young Dutch Sam the opportunity to frequently connect with blows to this vital spot.

[9] On 8 June 1826, Young Dutch Sam met Bill Carroll, a brickmaker, in Ascot, in a match at the well known racetrack that lasted sixteen rounds and took thirty minutes.

Dick Curtis (boxer), there to support Sam, his friend and mentor, insisted on seconding the match despite having just completed a difficult bout with Barney Aaron.

According to Puglistica, Cooper had previously been sentenced to six months in jail for the death of Dan O'Leary, a recent opponent who had died from the ring injuries he inflicted.

Though Davis was determined to continue the bout, in the late rounds his handler could not induce him to get close to Young Dutch Sam, and he received the worst of the exchanges without getting inside his opponent.

[13] On 4 November 1828, Young Dutch Sam defeated Jack Martin in seven rounds taking sixteen minutes on Knowle Hill, near Maidenhead, for the impressive purse of £100 a side.

[3] Young Dutch Sam defeated Ned Neale on 7 April 1829 in 78 rounds, lasting around 1 hour 41 minutes,[14] The fight took place in Ludlow, over 150 miles from London, so the attendance was not great.

By the fight's end, Neale was functionally blinded by the swelling of his eyes and required the intervention of a doctor, and though Sam was able to walk to his coach with difficulty, the damage to the left side of his face and head was considerable.

Many believed that Ned's loss of weight to make the pre-fight weigh-in cost him in physical endurance and was a factor in his poor performance in the late rounds.

The leading prizefight reporter of the period, Pierce Egan, used these words to describe Young Dutch Sam's emergence into the ring: While seconding for boxer Owen Swift in a particularly brutal three hour fight against William Phelps known as "Brighton Bill" on 13 March 1838, Bill died in the ring, and Swift, Sam, and all the other participants were arrested and tried, some for manslaughter.

At the time of the assault, he was in the company of Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford, also known as Lord Waldegrave and occasionally titled "The Mad Marquis", and the two were under the influence of alcohol.

[20][21][22] In 1840, Young Dutch Sam's residence was used to finalize the financial arrangements as specified by contract for the English championship fight between Ben Caunt and Nick Ward.

[22] His premature death at 35 was believed by a few accounts to be the result of multiple organ failure and lung disease, referred to as a "protracted pulmonary illness" in London's The Era.