The following is Egan’s exact account of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth rounds:-- “TWENTY-THIRD.--The wind of both the combatants appearing somewhat damaged, they sparred some time to recruit it, when Cribb put in a blow on the left eye of _Molineux_, which hitherto had escaped _milling_. The _Moor_ ran in, gave Cribb a severe hit on the body, and threw him heavily. “TWENTY-FOURTH.--_Molineux_ began this round with considerable spirit, and some hits were exchanged, when Cribb was thrown. The betting tolerably even.” Now at the end of the twenty-second round Molineux was doing better than the champion, and the betting was 4-1 on him. The crowd at the ring side shouted: “Now, Tom, now! Don’t be beat by the nigger.” But all the same Cribb went down at the end of the twenty-third round utterly done. What followed throws no shadow upon the character of Tom Cribb himself. From all we can gather he was a perfectly straight and honest bruiser. But he had been badly knocked about, and Joe Ward, one of his seconds, was desperately afraid that he would never get him up to the scratch by the call of time. There seems to be, indeed, no doubt that Cribb was, but for the squeezing against the ropes, fairly beaten. Ward was a clever rascal, and he ran across the ring to Molineux’s corner and accused Bill Richmond of putting bullets into his principal’s hands.[2] He must have known perfectly well that this was false, just as he must have known, incidentally, that such foul play would do far more harm to the striker than to his opponent. But the altercation achieved its purpose, and Cribb got a good deal more than his due thirty seconds in which to recover. Immediately after this the black got a fit of shivering, as by now, despite the pace at which they had been fighting, the chill of the December day had got into his bones, fresh as he was from a warm climate. Molineux weakened rapidly, though, urged by his seconds, he fought on till the fortieth round. Of the end of this battle Egan says:-- “This (the 34th) was the last round of what might be termed fighting, in which _Molineux_ had materially the worst of it; but the battle was continued to the 39th, when _Cribb_ evidently appeared the best man, and at its conclusion, the Moor _for the first time complained_, that ‘_he could fight no more!_’ but his seconds, who viewed the nicety of the point, persuaded him to try the _chance_ of another round, to which request he acquiesced, when he fell from weakness, reflecting additional credit on the manhood of his brave _conqueror, Tom Cribb_.”