AFRICAN, AMERICAN SLAVE Buried Here He Inspired Mike Tyson, Grave Forgotten For 200 years

Thomas Molineaux (March 23, 1784 August 4, 1818), sometimes spelled Molyneaux or Molyneux, was an American bareknuckle boxer and possibly a formerly enslaved person. He spent much of his career in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, where he had notable successes. He arrived in England in 1809 and started his fighting career there in 1810. His two fights against Tom Cribb, widely viewed as the Champion of England, brought Molineaux fame even though he lost both contests. The result of the first encounter was hotly contested, with accusations of a fix. The second match with Cribb, however, was an undisputed loss. His prizefighting career ended in 1815. After a tour that took him to Scotland and Ireland, he died in Galway, Ireland, in 1818 at age 34. According to some of the chroniclers of 19thcentury boxing, Molineaux was born into slavery in the State of Virginia, USA in 1784. The most detailed account claims that he was born on a plantation and that he took his surname from the owners