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The BARE-Knuckle PUGILISTS
The Champions & Big Fights of the Broughton & LPR Rules Era.
October 22, 1858.
"The fight of the century."
John Morrissey vs John Heenan
Prize Fighting was outlawed in the United States and
this heavyweight fight was staged across the border
from Buffalo in Canada.
THE GREAT PRIZE FIGHT
The Combat of Morrissey and Heenan
for the "Championship" of America
Quarter of a Million of Dollars Staked
on the Result
Appearence of the Champions Before and
After the Fight
MORRISSEY VICTORIOUS
ACHIEVEMENTS OF MODERN CHIVALRY.
SKETCHES OF THE COMBATANTS
THE WAY THEY WERE TRAINED.
TRIUMPH OF BRUTALITY
The fight between John Morrissey and John Heenan,
the Benicia Boy, came off Wednesday afternoon at Long
Point, Canada, between seventy and eighty miles from
Buffalo. Eleven terrific rounds were fought in twenty-
two minutes, when Morrissey was declared the victor.
A more severe fight for the time it lasted never took
place in this country. Morrissey was the favorite at one
hundred to sixty. About two thousand persons witnessed
the fight, who behaved themselves in the most or-
derly manner, and everything passed off very quietly.
Morrissey was seconded by Kelly, of Australia, and an
assistant. The Benicia Boy was seconded by Aaron
Jones, an English pugilist, and Johnny Mackey. Per-
sons from all parts of the United States and Canada
were present to witness the fight. Heenan had the best of
the fight at the commencement, but after the fifth round
Morrissey took the lead and kept it. He has improved
greatly in his style since his fight with Yankee Sullivan.
The fight is over and the battle won. Another of those
brutal exhibitions which disgrace the civilization of the
age - a relic of the barbarism of old Rome and the Mid-
dle Ages - has taken place, and the victor, wearing the
laurels of triumph, is the "observed of all observers,"
and is admired and acknowledged as the champion gladia-
tor of America. Are we at the height of progress in
civilization that we claim to be, or are we in a condition
that the laws, moral and legal, are powerless to prevent
these occasional disgraceful displays of human brutality?
In spite of the laws prohibiting prize fighting, two men
have been allowed to prepare for a contest, which might
have resulted in the death of one or the other of the par-
ties engaged, in the very face of the officers of law,
and almost in the sanctuary of justice. Pretended efforts
of the authorities were made to arrest the principals in
the affair, but which, in fact, were only a notification for
them to select a locality out of their immediate jurisdic-
tion, and which would afford greater facilities for the of-
ficers themselves to learn how matters were progressing.
The laws of this State do not tolerate prize fighting, but a
successful prize fighter seems to hold a prominent position
among the politically pious and moral of the community.
This Thread Will Have Reports of the fighters and the fights from James Figg To Bob Fitzsimmons as well as trivia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THE NEW YORK HERALDOctober 22, 1858.
"The fight of the century."
John Morrissey vs John Heenan
Prize Fighting was outlawed in the United States and
this heavyweight fight was staged across the border
from Buffalo in Canada.
THE GREAT PRIZE FIGHT
The Combat of Morrissey and Heenan
for the "Championship" of America
Quarter of a Million of Dollars Staked
on the Result
Appearence of the Champions Before and
After the Fight
MORRISSEY VICTORIOUS
ACHIEVEMENTS OF MODERN CHIVALRY.
SKETCHES OF THE COMBATANTS
THE WAY THEY WERE TRAINED.
TRIUMPH OF BRUTALITY
The fight between John Morrissey and John Heenan,
the Benicia Boy, came off Wednesday afternoon at Long
Point, Canada, between seventy and eighty miles from
Buffalo. Eleven terrific rounds were fought in twenty-
two minutes, when Morrissey was declared the victor.
A more severe fight for the time it lasted never took
place in this country. Morrissey was the favorite at one
hundred to sixty. About two thousand persons witnessed
the fight, who behaved themselves in the most or-
derly manner, and everything passed off very quietly.
Morrissey was seconded by Kelly, of Australia, and an
assistant. The Benicia Boy was seconded by Aaron
Jones, an English pugilist, and Johnny Mackey. Per-
sons from all parts of the United States and Canada
were present to witness the fight. Heenan had the best of
the fight at the commencement, but after the fifth round
Morrissey took the lead and kept it. He has improved
greatly in his style since his fight with Yankee Sullivan.
The fight is over and the battle won. Another of those
brutal exhibitions which disgrace the civilization of the
age - a relic of the barbarism of old Rome and the Mid-
dle Ages - has taken place, and the victor, wearing the
laurels of triumph, is the "observed of all observers,"
and is admired and acknowledged as the champion gladia-
tor of America. Are we at the height of progress in
civilization that we claim to be, or are we in a condition
that the laws, moral and legal, are powerless to prevent
these occasional disgraceful displays of human brutality?
In spite of the laws prohibiting prize fighting, two men
have been allowed to prepare for a contest, which might
have resulted in the death of one or the other of the par-
ties engaged, in the very face of the officers of law,
and almost in the sanctuary of justice. Pretended efforts
of the authorities were made to arrest the principals in
the affair, but which, in fact, were only a notification for
them to select a locality out of their immediate jurisdic-
tion, and which would afford greater facilities for the of-
ficers themselves to learn how matters were progressing.
The laws of this State do not tolerate prize fighting, but a
successful prize fighter seems to hold a prominent position
among the politically pious and moral of the community.
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