Owen was born on 21 December 1768 in Portsea, Portsmouth, England. He worked as an inn keeper in Hampshire near Portsmouth during his years as a professional boxer. Innkeeping was a common profession for boxers of the era, perhaps because their notoriety drew more tenants, or because boxers had a better chance of maintaining order and collecting fares from unruly travelers.
Owen fought under English Broughton rules. Under Broughton, if a man went down and could not continue after 30 seconds, the fight ended. Hitting a downed fighter and grasping or hitting below the waist were prohibited. Broughton invented and encouraged the use of "mufflers", a form of padded gloves, which were used in training and exhibitions. The advent of the Broughton rules around 1743 did allow fighters an advantage not enjoyed by modern boxers; a boxer could drop to one knee to start a 30-second count at any point in the match, but overuse of this privilege was frowned upon and sometimes disallowed by the judges.
Taking the heavyweight championship of England
In 1796, the better known and larger English boxer, Londoner John Jackson vacated his English heavyweight championship, allowing Owen to fight for the title. Owen took the heavyweight championship of England on 14 Nov 1796 against William Hooper in forty rounds in Harrow, England. The bout lasted one hour and four minutes. Owen was known as a tough, strong opponent and used a studied and careful defense against Hooper in their well-known contest. In a rematch against Hooper, he successfully defended the title in February of 1797 in a win at Jeffries Close, England. Owen lost the English championship on 22 Aug 1797 to well known boxer Jack Bartholomew in a thirty minute bout at MoulseyHurst, England in twenty-six rounds. Owen met the great London boxer Daniel Mendoza in a grudge match on 20 July, 1820, at Banstead Downs. Mendoza, the far better boxer in his prime, had been absent from the ring for fourteen years and was six years older. Owen defeated his best known opponent by knockout in twelve rounds, in a bout that lasted fifteen minutes. Like Mendoza, who would work at the Admiral Nelson Inn, Owen would work as an Inn Keeper as his second profession after ring retirement.
