 Curtis' lone defeat came at the hands of Jack Perkins of Oxford on 30 December 1828, when he lost on a foul at the Parish Meadow at Henley Bottom in an eleven round match, around thirty-four miles from London.Curtis was attended by his friend Young Dutch Sam, a talented Jewish lightweight he had mentored in his early career.Both Curtis and Perkins were believed by their backers to have been undefeated in former contests, and a crowd close to 5,000 assembled to view the contest.