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
With such a character, though the “if” in respect to his “game” looks
very like a misgiving, Carter was matched against Boone, the soldier,
for an unknown stake. Boone (made Bone in “Boxiana”) has not a single
fight to his credit in “Fistiana,” except that with Crockey, a wretched
affair, four years after this exhibition. The battle came off on Friday,
September 18, 1812, near Ealing, Middlesex, when, after twelve rounds,
in seventeen minutes, Boone gave in. Egan says it was “a severe
contest,” and adds, “In this battle Carter’s patrons thought he had made
good his pretensions to milling, and looked forward anxiously to place
him nearly, if not quite, at the top of the boxing list.” They
accordingly matched him against Jack Power. (See POWER, in Appendix.)
The stake was the handsome sum of 200 guineas, subscribed by Gregson’s
friends, and on the 16th of November, 1812, the fight came off at
Rickmansworth, Herts. The battle will be found in the Life of POWER,
who, despite the recent rupture of a blood-vessel, and incapacity for
severe training, thrashed Carter in thirty-nine rounds, occupying one
hour and five minutes. “Boxiana” says, with edifying _naïvete_, “Carter
attributed the loss of this battle to his second (Isaac Bittoon) placing
a Belcher handkerchief over his mouth, which tended rather to deprive
him of his wind (query, courage) than to do anything to increase that
necessary _quality_ in a boxer.” He adds, “If Carter in his battle with
Power did not exhibit those traits of finished elegance which
characterise the skilful pugilist, he nevertheless portrayed that he was
not ignorant of the principles of boxing, and his patrons were perfectly
satisfied with the bottom which he manifested upon the occasion,” which
shows they were thankful for very small mercies, as Carter brought
youth, weight, length, and strength to the losing side.
After much cavilling a match was made between Carter and Molineaux. Poor
Molineaux, having been twice beaten by Cribb, was now on his downward
course (see vol. i., pp. 282–285, _ante_), yet, in this contest, which
took place at Remington, Gloucestershire, on Friday, the 2nd of April,
1813, Carter was disgracefully beaten by the once formidable nigger. Of
this affair, on which we have commented in the life of Molineaux, a
contemporary writes:—“It was the opinion of the most experienced
pugilists that such a set-to was never before witnessed; one ‘was
afraid, and the other dared not.’ Carter was the best man after the
battle began, and continued so throughout the fight. Molineaux was
wretched in the extreme, and at one time positively bolted from his
second. But to the great astonishment of all the spectators, when
Molineaux was dead beat, Carter fainted and dropped his head as he sat
on the knee of his second. All the exertions of Richmond could not
arouse Carter from his lethargic state, and he thus lost the battle.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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