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On 22 December 1800, near Abershaw's gibbet on [[Wimbledon Common]], he fought Andrew Gamble, the Irish champion. Four days before the fight, Belcher said that he was attacked by four thugs in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], whom he proceeded to beat up without getting harmed himself.<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/3232581954/in/album-72157616043429682/ Jem Belcher from Bristol]</ref> It was suspected that someone sent those men so he would be unable to fight the high stakes match, but since he couldn't provide evidence the fight still went underway. Belcher defeated Gamble shockingly in only five rounds, Gamble being utterly confounded by his opponent's quickness. On 25 November 1801 he met Joe Berks of Wem, and defeated him after sixteen rounds of desperate fighting. He fought him again on 20 August 1802, and Berks retired at the end of the 14th round, by which time he could scarcely stand and was badly cut about the face. In April 1803 he severely punished John Firby, 'the young ruffian,' in a hastily arranged encounter. Next month he had to appear before [[Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough|Lord Ellenborough]] in the court of king's bench for rioting and fighting, and was defended by Erskine and Francis Const.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNBSupp|wstitle=Belcher, James}}</ref>
In July 1803 Belcher lost an eye when playing raquetball. He never could really overcome the loss of his eye so his friends bought him the pub "Jolly Brewers" on [[Wardour Street]], where he put on sparring exhibitions and met and inspired Henry Pearce, a young boxer of which he became his manager.<ref>[https://www.okaybliss.com/jem-belcher-death/ How did Jem Belcher die? His tragic death detailed]</ref> It became apparent that he would be Belcher's succussor to the title Champion of England. In 1805, Belcher returned to the ring as he refused to give up his title without a fight. Belcher invited Pearce to London, hoping to keep the championship in Bristol's hands, The two men had a tough fight at a common in [[Blyth, Nottinghamshire|Blyth]], a coaching stop seven miles north of [[Retford]], [[Nottinghamshire]] on the [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]] on 6 December 1805. Belcher chose the venue on a coin toss, deciding to site it 150 miles north of London so that the police did not disrupt the fight.<ref>E. Dipple, The Sportsman's Magazine of Life in London and the Country, Volume 1 (1845)</ref> The crowd were adorned with handkerchiefs of blue birdseye in support of "the Chicken", and the "famous yellow-striped 'Belcher'". Here Belcher displayed all his old vigour and punching speed, but lacked power, and was impaired by his damaged vision in ascertaining range; he was defeated in 18 rounds.<ref name="Age 31"/> Pearce never fought again and died from
This fight was followed by another two bouts, both against [[Tom Cribb]]. In their first encounter, on 8 April 1807, at [[Moulsey Hurst]], they fought forty-one rounds, where Belcher came a close second due to his vision and a sprained wrist; the sequel, on 1 February 1809, was in answer to a challenge for the belt and two hundred guineas. Belcher again lost after thirty-one rounds,<ref name="MacCabe 78"/> but it was judged that, had Belcher been in his peak condition, Cribb would have been the loser.<ref name="DNB"/> This was Belcher's last fight; virtually ruined by the huge gambling losses he sustained at this fight, he caused a fracas after the bout, for which he spent four weeks in [[prison]].
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