‘Righto boys, we’re going to the pub’: The bareknuckle bloodlines behind Burgess boxing debut

Ask George Burgess why he fights, and the hulking Englishman will recount an afternoon sat by the bedside of his grandfather who, by now in aged care, and battling dementia, softly whispered a request.

And not only to George, but all four Burgess boys gathered about him in the room.

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“Righto boys,” the old bloke started. “We’re going up to the pub in a few minutes and I’m going to start a fight with the biggest bloke in there.

“And when I do boys, you’ll all come in and finish it …”

For this, you see, is how Butch Burgess used to do things back in the day.

Back home in the north of England when, as a younger man, and a fighting man, he and son Mark – himself, the late father of rugby league’s famed Burgess boys – would not only go down to the local for a spot of bareknuckle brawling, but go fightin’ together.

“And this particular day, my grandad thought we were all his son,” Burgess recounted this week. “It was a while ago. After my dad had passed away from motor neurone disease.

“My brothers and I, we were all visiting Butch who, despite having dementia and a few things going on, still had that fight in him.

“And because he thought we were all Mark, he’s said ‘righto boys, we’re going up to the pub now …’.”

Which brought smiles all around the room.

“Although eventually,” Burgess grins, “we had to say ‘ah, grandad, we don’t actually do those things anymore’.

“But still that moment, yeah, it’s such a nice memory for me.”

And part of why the South Sydney premiership hero is now here.

Understanding that while many things are driving Burgess into Wednesday night’s hyped crossover blockbuster against Nelson Asofa-Solomona, among the most crucial is everything existing in his bloodline.

Sure, to most people, the Burgess surname is synonymous with rugby league.

Especially given big George and his brothers – Sam, Tom and Luke – are together the wonderfully violent swirl that isn’t only 948 first class matches, or 78 Tests, but All Stars games, iconic premiership hugs with Russell Crowe, and too many chaotic collisions to count.

Yet back home in England?

Well, the stories there exist largely in whispers. And on back alley cobblestones.

Yet still, even a quick glance at the two grainy images Burgess keeps of grandad Butch, including one in Dewsbury footy kit, quickly gives you a sense of the reputation he carried.

And why he carried it.

“The bareknuckle fighting,” Burgess continues, “it goes back a long way on my dad’s side.

“It was my father Mark, my grandfather Butch, even my great grandfather Barney. They were all fighting men and bareknuckle fighting really was a way of life for them.

“Eventually, my mum stole dad away from much of it.

“And so while us boys still grew up around some things, it wasn’t to the extent like they’d had it … where you were going out to the pub for fights, having underground fights, fighting with the gypsies, that sort of thing.”

Not that it was ever a family boast.

And nor does Burgess want to make it one now.

Especially given the type of week it has been for this former NRL enforcer.

One that on Monday morning, and while on the way to a breakfast radio commitment, saw Burgess leap from an Uber after noticing a man readying to jump from an overpass onto railway tracks below.

So emotional was everything that took place next, Burgess would later phone his wife in tears.

But only after spending more than 40 minutes talking with the man, providing him money, and exchanging details so that he could act as his emergency contact over the coming days.

“Because everyone needs support,” Burgess said. “And he doesn’t have anyone.”

Which isn’t a yarn this former leaguie wants to open up on entirely.

Just like those bareknuckle bloodlines.

But if you want to understand why a fella who is doing more than OK as an Australian actor, including being mentored by no less than Hollywood megastar Crowe, suddenly wants to go throw down with a bloke dubbed ‘Big Nasty’, this story goes some way to explaining that.

Which again, has only ever really been told in whispers.

“Most of the stories I’ve heard have been since dad passed,” Burgess says, referencing the death of his father in 2019, and at only 45.

“Just different stories that I’m told whenever I go home now to visit family and friends. All the people around that way, they’re old school. Don’t say too much. So I guess that’s all I should really say about it for now, too …”

Yet while his explanations may be brief, know that come Wednesday night, Burgess won’t only carry the name of his late grandfather on his trunks, but also the desire to make his fighting family history proud.

Same as later this year, Burgess is also signed up for the movie Hop Harry – reviving the life of 1900s boxer Harry Stone, who is said to have famously employed a hopping motion, which resembled a kangaroo, in his fights.

Originally hailing from New York, ‘Hop’ first travelled to Australia aged 20 and would eventually complete much of a career here that is thought to have boasted more than 200 fights.

“So really cool story,” Burgess says. “Harry was a fighter who changed the whole boxing landscape in terms of how fights are promoted.

“I’m attached to it all as Jimbo, one of the seconds. And among all of that, I also thought it would be cool to step into this world for real and get a good taste of what it really feels like to be a boxer.

“And I’m loving it. The past four months I’ve dived in headfirst and really have the bug now.”

Which again, proves there are many things that have Burgess here.

Asked, for example, how much influence those family bloodlines have influenced his decision to fight Australia’s new crossover king, and the retired Rabbitoh says that “it really is a combination of things”.

“But when you feel something deep enough in your blood, in your lineage,” he says, “you can either do something now or look back in 20 years wishing you had.”

And as for ever taking a bareknuckle fight himself?

“Who knows?” Burgess grins. “But certainly don’t rule anything out.”