Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 2 (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, 1719-1740, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863Miles, Henry Downes
History
Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 2 (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, 1719-1740, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863
Miles, Henry Downes
Boxing
The betting was six to four on Painter. He was decidedly the favourite
in the metropolis; but in Norwich, long odds were laid on him. So great
was the interest that, for a week before the fight, numerous parties
left London daily to be sure of witnessing the battle. The stage
coaches, besides a variety of vehicles from London, were filled inside
and out for some days previous to the appointed time; and small groups
of persons mustered of an evening in the streets of Norwich to hail the
arrivals. In short, the ancient city appeared as much alive upon the
subject as on the eve of an election. This sensation was also felt for
miles around Norwich. The spot selected for the combat was North
Walsham, sixteen and a half miles from the above city; and so little
apprehension was entertained of the fight being interfered with, that a
stage was built upon the ground for the accommodation of the spectators.
In short, this fistic tourney engrossed the conversation in Norwich.
On Monday, July 17, 1820, every vehicle in Norwich was engaged to go to
the scene of action. People were in motion by four o’clock in the
morning; and in the streets which tended towards the place of contest
the doors and windows of the houses displayed groups, eager to witness
the departure. The road to North Walsham, which is delightful and
picturesque, was thronged with carriages, equestrians, and pedestrians.
To give some idea of the appearance the route presented, it may be
mentioned that at least twelve hundred vehicles, of various
descriptions, are ascertained to have passed over Coltishall Bridge. By
ten o’clock, North Walsham was literally crammed with strangers; and the
arrival of persons, continued up to two o’clock, from all the roads
leading to the fight, baffled description.
In the field, a stage of a hundred yards in length was erected for
spectators; and a circle of about sixty wagons was formed round the
outer roped ring, at about ten yards distance from it, which were also
filled with spectators. In the space between the outer and inner ropes
some few persons were likewise admitted. The ring was similar to that of
the Pugilistic Club, and the stakes were also of the same colour. Upon
the whole, it was better made, and the accommodation it afforded to the
spectators, as well as to the combatants, was superior to the London
ring. £50 were collected at the gate (the pedestrians being made to
tip), and the stage produced £80. The greatest order prevailed; the
decorum of the thing was kept up by Shelton, Randall, Turner, Scroggins,
Eales, Josh. Hudson, Harmer, Purcell, Teasdale, etc. And the immense
concourse of assembled faces above faces, rising in amphitheatric tiers,
formed an extraordinary and an interesting sight.
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