James "Deaf" Burke (1809-1845), 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, weighing 200 lb (90 kg), was one of England's earliest boxing champions. He trained in the area around the River Thames.

In 1833, in a particularly brutal fight for the English heavyweight championship, Burke defeated Simon Byrne, knocking him unconscious. Byrne died three days later and Burke was promptly arrested and tried for Byrne's murder, but he was acquitted on 11 July 1833 and subsequently freed. The reigning English champion Jem Ward, who had retired rather than face Burke in the ring, refused to hand over the championship belt, and Burke was not acknowledged as heavyweight champion. Following this event Burke found it nearly impossible to obtain opponents in Britain and went to America. Later, after his return from America, he fought a bout with Ward's younger brother Nick Ward. Burke lost this match when he was disqualified when the crowd convinced the referee he had struck an unfair blow. ^[1]

Burke fought internationally but refused to fight Irish champion Sam O'Rourke in Ireland. Byrne had been the Irish champion and Burke was afraid of the hostile crowd he would encounter in Ireland, so O'Rourke went to the United States and from there jeered at Burke's lack of courage. In response, Burke too went to the United States, thus escaping the stigma of having killed his opponent. Burke and O'Rourke fought in New Orleans. As the fight progressed, the pro-Irish crowd, remembering Byrne, joined the violent brawl and Burke ran away on a horse, fleeing for his life.

Burke in 1840 made one last attempt for the English championship when he fought Jem Ward's brother Nick. The fight ended in disarray when Ward's gang forced the referee to disqualify Burke for an alleged foul.

At the age of 36, Burke died at home of tuberculosis on 8 January 1845 in Francis Street, Waterloo, London. He is buried in St John's Church-yard, Norwood. ^[2]

One hundred and forty-seven years later in 1992, he was added to the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.