A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



These qualities, and his indomitable pluck 

 he never knew when he was beaten made 

 him the idol of the sporting world. His 

 great battle on 17 April 1860 with the 

 gigantic American Heenan, to whom he con- 

 ceded 4! in. in height, 3 stone in weight, 

 and seven years in age, was stopped by the 

 police after two and a half hours' desperate 

 fighting (during two-thirds of which Sayers 

 fought with only one arm, his right, the 

 dreaded 'auctioneer,' having been disabled in 

 the sixth round). Public appreciation of this 

 remarkable exposition of pluck was shown 

 by a presentation of 3,000 collected for 

 Sayers in the House of Commons, on the 

 Stock Exchange, and elsewhere, on the 

 condition that he never fought again. To 

 his untutored mind he could not tell the 

 time by the clock this enforced leisure was 

 fatal. Dissipation did its fatal work, and the 

 little warrior who knew no fear lived but five 

 years after his great fight with the American 

 giant. He died at Camden Town 1 i Nov- 

 ember 1865 at the age of 39, and a vast 

 concourse of people attended his funeral in 

 Highgate Cemetery. A fine monument marks 

 his resting-place. 



After the retirement of Sayers many clever 

 men appeared, but the rascality of the low 

 hangers-on of the ring quickly drove respect- 

 able people from attending matches, and the 

 authorities took action by forbidding railway 

 companies to run special trains. Nevertheless, 

 many finely contested matches were brought 

 off in the 'sixties between Mace, Goss, 

 Travers, King, the brothers Allen, and others. 

 Mace may perhaps be said to be the last 

 of the champions of the old style of boxing, 

 and probably was its most scientific ex- 

 ponent. He visited America and Australia, 

 and carried all before him. King, a native of 

 Stepney, was for years a well-known attendant 

 at race meetings, and died in 1888 worth 

 54,000. Several attempts have been made 

 to resuscitate bare-fist boxing, and as late as 

 1886 James Smith, a native of Clerkenwell, 

 gained several victories and was dubbed cham- 

 pion. Since the legalizing of boxing with 

 gloves fist-fighting has died out. 



The transition stage between the two styles 

 was the decade from 1870 to 1880. Many of 

 the professors of the old style tried their hands at 

 the new, and not always with success. Those 

 who excelled at the one did not necessarily 

 shine at the other. Even the great Sayers 

 himself was not infrequently worsted with the 

 gloves by men, half a dozen of whom he would 

 have beaten one after another in the same ring 

 with his fists. There were notable exceptions, 

 however ; Professor Mullins was never de- 



feated in either style. He is still the most 

 capable instructor of the day, and at his 

 academy in Glasshouse Street has numbered, 

 among his pupils, peers of the realm, men of 

 letters, and even, it is whispered, embryo 

 bishops. After the extinction of the ring, 

 however, gloomy times followed in London 

 for devotees of the art. Owing to the vigi- 

 lance of the authorities it was at first most 

 difficult to bring off matches with the gloves, 

 and only a limited number of rounds were 

 allowed as legal. Matters, however, gradually 

 improved. Clubs were formed for the en- 

 couragement of professional boxing, and lead- 

 ing sporting men retained prominent counsel 

 to prove the legality of boxing with gloves for 

 prizes. The defunct Pelican Club in Gerard 

 Street, which numbered amongst its members 

 men of title and position, took boxing under 

 its protection. Here Peter Jackson, the black 

 champion of Australia, defeated James Smith 

 for the championship, and many other notable 

 matches were decided within its walls. 

 When the Pelican Club ceased to exist the 

 National Sporting Club was opened on 5 March 

 1891 in Covent Garden, in what had pre- 

 viously been Evans' Supper Rooms, imirur- 

 talized by Thackeray. The Earl of Lonsdale 

 was elected president of the club, a position 

 which he still holds. This club is not only 

 the head quarters of professional boxing in 

 England, but is the Mecca of boxing champions 

 from all parts of the world. Many hundreds 

 of matches have been decided under its roof, 

 the most famous being that between the two 

 Australians, Peter Jackson and Frank Slavin, 

 while more recently the Canadian T.Burns here 

 defeated ' Gunner ' Moir for the championship. 

 The East End of London also has a famous 

 arena called Wonderland, where boxing 

 matches false place all the year through. The 

 entertainment on a Saturday night is quite one 

 of the sights of London. 



Before leaving the professional section of 

 boxing we may perhaps mention that a few 

 veterans of old-style boxing may be met with 

 in London, among whom we may name 

 J. Carney ; J. Baldock, a fine boxer and 

 better second ; and R. Travers, the only sur- 

 viving opponent of Mace. 



Though many fine amateur boxers were 

 to be found in the early days when notable 

 performers were Captain R. Barclay, E. H. 

 Budd, the Hon. Robert Grimston, and 

 Lord Drumlanrig, boxing was not seriously 

 taken up by the mass of amateur athletes 

 till about the time of the demise of the 

 prize ring. In 1866 the eighth Marquess of 

 Queensberry gave his approval to a code of 

 rules drawn up for amateurs, which has ever 



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