Knuckles And Gloves - free ebook by Bohun Lynch

KNUCKLES AND GLOVES BY BOHUN LYNCH WITH A PREFACE BY SIR THEODORE COOK Illustrated LONDON: 48 PALL MALL W. COLLINS SONS & CO. LTD. GLASGOW MELBOURNE AUCKLAND

Copyright First Impression, October, 1922 Second Impression, November, 1922 Manufactured in Great Britain...

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PREFACE

In the brickwork of a well-known London house, not far from Covent Garden, there is a stone with the date, 1636, which was cut by the order of Alexander, Earl of Stirling. It formed part of a building which sheltered successively Tom Killigrew, Denzil Hollis, and Sir Henry Vane; and that great kaleidoscope of a quack, a swordsman, and a horse-breaker, Sir Kenelm Digby, died in it. Within its walls was summoned the first Cabinet Council ever held in England, by Admiral Russel, Earl of Orford. Its

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NOTE

Certain passages in this book, notably in the Introduction, and in the second part, dealing with recent contests, are substantially based, and in some instances literally culled, from articles which I wrote for The Daily Chronicle , The Field , Land and Water , The Outlook , and The London Mercury , and to the editors of these journals I owe my best thanks for much kindness and consideration....

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RULES

As agreed by several Gentlemen at Broughton’s Amphitheatre, Tottenham Court Road, August 16, 1743. Reproduced by permission of “The Field.” II.—That, in order to prevent any Disputes, the time a Man lies after a fall, if the Second does not bring his Man to the side of the square, within the space of half a minute, he shall be deemed a beaten Man. III.—That in every Main Battle, no person whatever shall be upon the Stage, except the Principals and their Seconds; the same rule to be observed in b

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CHAPTER I JOHN BROUGHTON AND JACK SLACK

The first Boxing Champion of England of whom any record has been handed down to us was Figg. Fistiana or The Oracle of the Ring gives his date as 1719. Strictly, however, his title to fame rests more securely on his excellence with the cudgel and small-sword than on fisticuffs, and the real father of the ring was John Broughton, who was Champion from 1738 to 1750. Broughton had a famous place of entertainment known as the Amphitheatre, in Hanway Yard, Oxford Road, near the site of a like establi

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CHAPTER II TOM JOHNSON AND ISAAC PERRINS

It is character and knowledge of character, which, together with strength and skill, makes boxing champions to-day. And we are inclined to think that the psychological element in fighting came in only within the day of gloves, and rather late in that day. Certainly the old records of the early Prize-Ring are of brawn and stamina, skill and courage rather than of forethought and acutely reasoned generalship, but there are exceptions, and one of the most noteworthy is that of Tom Johnson. Johnson

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CHAPTER III RICHARD HUMPHRIES, DANIEL MENDOZA, AND JOHN JACKSON

The Jews in this country have taken very kindly to boxing, both as spectators and as principals, throughout the annals of the Ring, both in the days of bare knuckles and in later times down to the present day, there has generally been a sprinkling of good fighting Israelites. And the first Jew of any note as a boxer became Champion of England. The battles for which Daniel Mendoza was most famous were the succession, four in number, in which he engaged Richard Humphries. The first of these was ne

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CHAPTER IV JEM BELCHER

If the love of Fair Play is not born in us, and has therefore to be taught, we do have ingrained in us a very real admiration for a good loser. Nothing, as we know only too well, succeeds like success—particularly material success. But somewhere or other deep down in us we have a kind of mistrust of what the world at large calls success: there may be a tinge of superstition in our feeling. At any rate we have a very warm corner in our hearts for the glorious failure: and not without good reason,

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CHAPTER V JEM BELCHER AND TOM CRIBB

After Jem Belcher’s signal defeat at the huge hands of Pearce, the “Game Chicken,” two years passed by before the temptation once again to risk the chances of the ring overpowered the old champion. During that time his life as a publican had by no means improved his already enfeebled physique. And those two years had seen the rise to fame (and that fame steadily growing) of one Tom Cribb, a Gloucestershire man like Pearce and Belcher himself, a heavy, slow, ponderous fellow, who had beaten good

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CHAPTER VI JOHN GULLEY

Before continuing the history of Tom Cribb and finally disposing of the unlucky Belcher, it is necessary to turn aside and examine the brief pugilistic career of John Gulley, who, like Jackson, fought but thrice and like him depended for fame more upon his respectability than upon the drive of his fist. To get the worst over at once I may record the notorious fact that Gulley, after leaving the Ring, made money and flattered his self-esteem by entering Parliament, sitting for Pontefract. Nowaday

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CHAPTER VII JEM BELCHER’S LAST FIGHT

As already said, John Gulley retired from the ring after his second fight with Bob Gregson, and Tom Cribb, having himself beaten Gregson a few months later—that is, on October 25th, 1808, was declared Champion of England. And once again Jem Belcher’s unreasoning ambition (or insensate jealousy—whichever way you like to put it) caused him to challenge Tom for the title. This time, though Jem found backing, as an old favourite somehow always will, his friends frankly dreaded the issue. In the two

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CHAPTER VIII TOM CRIBB AND MOLINEUX

With those whose charity begins—and ends—at the farthest possible point from home, with those who, to be more particular, born of British blood, cannot speak of the British Lion without referring to mange, who never refer to British traditions or institutions without a sneer, the present writer has little patience. It is necessary to say that at some point in this chronicle in order to avoid misunderstanding. Tutored by Pierce Egan, Borrow, and other and later writers, we are apt to lose all sen

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CHAPTER IX JACK SCROGGINS AND NED TURNER

In the days of bare knuckles there was only one champion, and though there were one or two exceptions—Tom Sayers is the most notable—little men, or men little by comparison, were quite out of the running. Champion, therefore, meant Champion—the best man that could be found. There was no qualification of the title—no middle, welter, feather, bantam, fly, or paper-weight. If a first-rate boxer of eight stone liked to fight another of sixteen stone—I suppose he could, but, rather naturally, he didn

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CHAPTER X JACK RANDALL AND NED TURNER

Jack Randall, the Irishman, whom George Borrow describes as the King of the Light-weights, was a few pounds over the ten stone which is the generally recognised light-weight limit of to-day. He was a frank-faced, open-hearted fellow, a good and chivalrous sportsman, strong-willed, courageous, and by no means a fool. In the year 1818 he was at the height of his fame, but was anxious to fight one or two more battles, before taking the customary tavern and retiring. And a match was accordingly made

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CHAPTER XI BILL NEATE AND TOM HICKMAN

Perhaps one of the best known of William Hazlitt’s essays is that called The Fight , though it is the coach drive towards Hungerford and some very intimate and exact discussions upon training which really interested the writer. The fight in question was that between Bill Neate and Tom Hickman, known as “The Gasman,” or, simply, “Gas.” Hitherto Hickman’s chief title to consideration had been the remarkably short work he had made of at least three sturdy opponents. He had thrashed Peter Crawley in

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CHAPTER XII TOM SPRING AND BILL NEATE

We come now to another of the outstanding figures of the Prize-Ring, the famous Tom Spring. This man’s real name was Winter—“sharp as Winter, kind as Spring”—as Borrow has it. He was born in the county of Hereford in 1795. His height was 5 feet, 11¾ inches, and in perfect condition he weighed 13 stone 6 lb. During his career he fought a dozen main battles, being beaten once by Ned Painter, whom he had previously defeated. They refused to fight out the rubber because they had become fast friends,

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CHAPTER XIII TOM SPRING AND JACK LANGAN

The year 1824 was the climax of the best period of the Prize-Ring. There were good fights in later years, as we shall see, first-rate champions, high skill, noble endurance: but the institution of the Ring was never in such good case again. And the most notable events of that year in pugilism were the two great fights between the Champion of England, Tom Spring, and the Champion of Ireland, Jack Langan. This combat, which was for £300 a side, took place at Worcester Racecourse on January 7th. Th

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CHAPTER XIV DEAF BURKE AND SIMON BYRNE

On the retirement of Tom Spring the championship fell to Jem Ward, who held it for many years. He was followed by Deaf Burke, whose fight with Simon Byrne is the subject of this chapter. This, as will be seen, was a disastrous fight, in that the unfortunate Byrne died immediately after it. It is, however, necessary to give some details of the circumstances, because Byrne’s death was typical of the sort of accident that occasionally happened in connection with the Prize-Ring, and has since happen

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CHAPTER XV BENDIGO AND DEAF BURKE

It is not generally known that a Mr. William Thompson was once Champion of England. Sometimes a nickname will stick to a man much harder than the name of his father, and so it was with Thompson. He was one of a triplet, called, in and out of the family, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. This last, “Thormanby” tells us, soon became “Bednego,” of which “Bendigo,”—a much easier word to say—is the natural corruption. To start with, Thompson tried to maintain the full “Abednego,” and advertised himsel

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CHAPTER XVI YANKEE SULLIVAN AND HAMMER LANE

In one respect the most remarkable fight in the whole history of the Prize-Ring was an unimportant affair, so far as title or money goes, between Jack Lane, commonly known as “Hammer,” and Yankee Sullivan, an East-End Londoner born of Irish parents who had emigrated to America. Lane in training weighed 10 stone 10 lb. He was twenty-six years of age, and hitherto his most considerable battles had been with Owen Swift, whom he beat; and a black man who had taken the celebrated name of Molyneux, an

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CHAPTER XVII BENDIGO AND BEN CAUNT

After this battle with Deaf Burke, Bendigo was given a champion’s belt by Jem Ward, and for a year he remained undisputed Champion of England. In March of 1840, however, whilst skylarking and turning somersaults at some military steeplechases at Nottingham, he slipped his knee-cap and was told by his doctor that he would never be able to run or fight again. For two years he had to remain in retirement. During this time Burke tried to assert himself as champion, but was beaten by Nick Ward, and s

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CHAPTER XVIII NAT LANGHAM AND TOM SAYERS

Tom Sayers was the last of the great champions of England under the old dispensation. And, as champions go, he was a little man, standing 5 feet 8 inches and usually weighing about 11 stone. He was born at Brighton in 1826, and as a lad was apprenticed to a bricklayer there. At the age of twenty-two he came to London to work on the London and North-Western Railway. He was known from a lad as being fairly handy with the gloves, and in more than one pot-house brawl he had shown more than that he c

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CHAPTER XIX TOM SAYERS AND THE TIPTON SLASHER

Unequal fights always engage both our sympathy and our interest, and Tom Sayers was hardly ever matched with a man of anything at all near his own height and weight. William Perry, commonly called the Tipton Slasher, from the place of his birth in the Black Country, was Champion of England. He had fought ten big battles and had beaten good men, including Tass Parker twice. He had held the championship for four years when Sayers challenged him. It was looked upon as an absurd match. Sayers was a

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The Fight of Sayerius and Heenanus A LAY OF ANCIENT LONDON

(Supposed to be recounted to his great-grandchildren, April 17th, A.D. 1920, by an Ancient Gladiator) Well, never mind about the canting rogues: we have seen Thackeray’s opinion of the men’s chances and the popular opinion. Let us now see what may be said on the other side. A few days afterwards a correspondent, signing himself “Heavy-weight,” wrote to the Times pointing out that Heenan’s behaviour in the thirty-ninth round was fair by the Rules, 3 though the Rules were quite unnecessarily barba

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CHAPTER I PETER JACKSON AND FRANK SLAVIN

It is appropriate to begin the second part of this book, which deals with Boxing in its modern sense, with an account of a fight described by all who saw it as the best ever seen. It took place thirty years ago, and things that happened thirty years ago are apt to be, superlatively, the best or the worst according to the point of the story. There seems to be no doubt, at all events, that the encounter between Frank Slavin and Peter Jackson was the best ever seen at the National Sporting Club. Fr

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CHAPTER II JAMES J. CORBETT AND JOHN L. SULLIVAN

The last three years of the nineteenth century were rich in great encounters, or so, at any rate, it seems to us now. The transition period, when bare-knuckle fighting had degenerated into the most sordid and secret ruffianism, had passed; and a virtually new sport had taken its place. And of all the giant names associated with Boxing as we understand the word, those of Corbett and Sullivan are immortal. A boxer’s life, as a boxer, is a very short one, so that though both of these men have long

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CHAPTER III ROBERT FITZSIMMONS AND JAMES J. CORBETT

Robert Fitzsimmons was in all respects the opposite number of Jem Corbett. He was in the great tradition of fighting blacksmiths. A rough, simple soul, who was perfectly content to be a prize-fighter. Three or four years younger than Corbett, a Cornishman by birth, he had emigrated to New Zealand with his people, as a lad. His first successes were won in amateur competitions organised by Jem Mace, the old bare-knuckle champion. Later on he went to Sydney and learned under Larry Foley, himself a

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CHAPTER IV JAMES J. JEFFERIES AND ROBERT FITZSIMMONS

James J. Jefferies was an enormous fellow who for many years held the World’s Championship. He stood 6 feet 1½ inches, and his weight was generally in the neighbourhood of fifteen stone. He was born in 1879, and before he was twenty he had at least eight conquests to his name, and had fought drawn battles of twenty rounds each with such men as Gus Ruhlin and Joe Choynski. And having knocked out the majority of his opponents in a very few rounds, and being a man of phenomenal strength and hitting

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CHAPTER V TOMMY BURNS AND JACK JOHNSON

If the last decade of the nineteenth century saw the growth of glove-fighting to a high level of scientific achievement, the first decade of the twentieth saw the decline of its management to the uttermost pit of low commercial enterprise. Not that the promotion of any professional athletic contest has ever been entirely free from the besmirching influences of money: it has not. Rascality apart, there have always been hucksters who shouted their merchandise of weight and muscle and skill in rauc

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CHAPTER VI TOMMY BURNS AND JOE BECKETT

In order to dispose of Tommy Burns so far as this book is concerned, it is necessary to break the chronological order of contests and jump twelve years. Between his defeat by Johnson and the encounter to be described now, the records tell us that he engaged in five matches, none of the first importance. Then, in July of 1920, an affair was arranged with Joe Beckett, the Heavy-weight Champion of England. This took place at the Albert Hall, and should be regarded rather as an event than as an athl

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CHAPTER VII JACK JOHNSON AND JAMES J. JEFFERIES

Johnson’s victory over Burns in 1908 created, if we are to be judged by our newspapers, both in England and America, a sort of absurd terror. A black man was champion, and no white man could be found capable of beating him. Of course, the enmity that he inspired was very largely Johnson’s own fault. His conduct was outrageous, and, worst of all, he had a white wife. If he had behaved as Peter Jackson did there would have been much less trouble. As it was, one man after another was tried with a v

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CHAPTER VIII GEORGES CARPENTIER AND BOMBARDIER WELLS

Bombardier Wells has a most peculiar record. The chart of his successes and failures is like conventionalised lightning. He began with success and then failed miserably: then up again to the top of the tree and down again to the bottom of the ladder. His career, his temperament, the state of his nerves, have been more widely and more portentously discussed than the weight of Tom Sayers, the muscle of Tom Cribb, or the reach of Peter Jackson. One school maintains that Wells is a first-rate boxer,

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CHAPTER IX JOE BECKETT AND BOMBARDIER WELLS

At the time of writing this chapter, Joe Beckett is the Heavy-weight Champion of England, and has been ever since the contest described below when, on February 27th, 1919, he first met Bombardier Wells. He is not a very good champion. His skill is not of the first order, and he has neither the height nor weight to supply his deficiencies. Carpentier disposed of him in a round, because Carpentier is incomparably the better boxer. Wells is also a better boxer so far as skill—one might almost say “

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CHAPTER X GEORGES CARPENTIER AND JEFF SMITH

If an unnecessary fuss has been made about those affairs of other boxers which have nothing whatever to do with boxing, there is some excuse in Carpentier’s case, if only because he is the first Frenchman to achieve real distinction in the sport. Georges Carpentier was born at Lens, in the Pas de Calais, in January of 1894. His father was a collier, and the boy, directly he was old enough (which probably meant long before he was old enough), followed his father underground and worked as a pit-bo

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CHAPTER XI JACK DEMPSEY AND GEORGES CARPENTIER

Carpentier served in the French Flying Corps during the war, but though four years or more were taken from the best of his boxing life, he did not forget how to box. During the “gap” he engaged in no recorded contests, but no doubt did a certain amount of sparring. He had gained weight and lost no ground when the war ended. During 1919 and 1920, he fought five times, knocking out five men, including Dick Smith, Joe Beckett, and Battling Levinsky. Meanwhile, in July, 1919, Jack Dempsey had knocke

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CHAPTER XII GEORGES CARPENTIER AND GEORGE COOK

After his defeat by Dempsey, Carpentier did not fight again until he met George Cook, the Australian, at the Albert Hall, on January 12th, 1922. In the World’s Championship contest he had been badly hurt: and a beating such as he had then might well have produced a lasting effect. It was, then, interesting to watch him to see if his previous downfall would manifestly alter his demeanour in the ring. But though it is not to be doubted that some of his behaviour arose from motives of policy, there

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CHAPTER XIII LITTLE MEN

From the spectator’s point of view much of the interest of boxing (and almost all of it in amateur boxing), is purely dramatic. You can thoroughly enjoy—at least I can, and there are others—a really good fight apart from any science that may be displayed. For enjoyment of skill alone is in another dimension. Of course, there must always be enough science to enable the boxers to fight cleanly and tidily and without the appearance of two angry windmills. But greatly as science improves the complet

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CHAPTER XIV AN AFTERTHOUGHT

The Prize-Ring served its turn and passed; and modern boxing, roughly, fills the gap. At present we do not see why modern boxing should not go on indefinitely. For all that people say human nature has changed, does change, will persist in changing, and—we dare hope—for the better. By modern standards the Prize-Ring was brutal, just as the execution of young lads for sheep-stealing was brutal. The same issue of the Times in June, 1833, which reported the acquittal at the Hertford Assizes of Deaf

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APPENDIX Rules of the Ring AS REVISED BY THE Pugilistic Benevolent Association

1. That the ring shall be made on turf, and shall be four and twenty feet square, formed of eight stakes and ropes, the latter extending in double lines, the uppermost line being four feet from the ground, and the lower two feet from the ground. That in the centre of the ring a mark be formed, to be termed a scratch; and that at two opposite corners, as may be selected, spaces be enclosed by other marks sufficiently large for the reception of the seconds and bottle-holders, to be entitled “the c

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