Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 1 (of 3): Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863Miles, Henry Downes
History
Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 1 (of 3): Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863
Miles, Henry Downes
Boxing
After his defeat by Johnson, Warr’s next battle was with Wood, the
coachman, December 31, 1788, at Navestock, Essex. It snowed incessantly
during the combat, “yet,” says the report, “the ardour of the combatants
was not chilled, nor even the curiosity of the spectators damped. The
snow, however, did not fail to have its effects upon the battle; for the
boards of the stage being rendered extremely slippery, the pugilists
were unable to keep their feet, and each in his turn, as well in giving
as receiving blows, was brought to the ground. Warr fought in his usual
style, with much clever shifting, and displayed great agility and
science. Considering this Wood’s first essay, and against one of such
experience in the pugilistic art, he showed great courage and
determination. He fought, however, with too much impetuosity, and by
this means exposed himself to the more deliberate defence of his
opponent. For the first twenty minutes the battle was most admirably
contested on both sides. In five minutes after setting-to Warr succeeded
in closing Wood’s right eye, yet he continued the fight for half an hour
with astonishing firmness, until Warr got some heavy hits in succession
on the other eye, when he was forced to yield the victory.”
His two defeats by Mendoza are reported in the memoir of that pugilist
(pp. 76, 77).
On the 5th of May, 1789, as Bill Warr and Watson were going down to
Stilton to be present at the battle between Mendoza and Humphries, he
met with an unfortunate occurrence. A man of the name of Swaine, a
smith, who was an outside passenger of the same coach, having had some
words with Warr about the merits of Mendoza, challenged Warr to fight.
Accordingly, at the Bell Inn, Enfield, they turned out, when Warr struck
him an unlucky blow in the chest: Swaine fell and instantly expired.
Warr was taken into custody, and the following Sessions, at the Old
Bailey, was convicted of manslaughter. The whole tenour of the evidence
went to show that Warr tried everything short of cowardice to avoid the
encounter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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