Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 3 (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 3 (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
On the Thursday following the trial, a congratulatory dinner took
place at Tom Spring’s, at which a subscription was commenced towards
defraying the expenses of the defence. At the suggestion of a
gentleman who presided, a subscription was also opened, which, in a
short period, amounted to the sum of 100 guineas, for the purpose of
presenting a service of plate to the Editor of _Bell’s Life in
London_, as a token of the respect in which he was held, not only by
the men who had recently undergone their trial, and whose defence he
had conducted, but also for the manner in which he invariably
advocated the cause of fair play, and had always been foremost in the
cause of the distressed, the fatherless, and the widow. The service of
plate was presented to Mr. Dowling at a subsequent meeting at Tom
Spring’s.
Soon after the termination of the proceedings against Burke, a
challenge appeared in the Dublin and London papers from O’Rourke,
“Champion of Ireland,” for a meeting on the Curragh of Kildare; but
Burke’s friends properly objected at such a juncture to his fighting
in Ireland, the match therefore dropped.
In July a renewed proposal from Young Dutch Sam to fight the Deaf’un
for £500 a side was made over a sporting dinner at Spring’s, and £5
there and then posted; the battle to come off within a twelvemonth.
This ended in talk and a forfeit, as the Deaf’un could not raise such
a sum.
In the month of September, 1833, the air was filled with challenges,
which fell “thick as the autumn leaves in Vallombrosa;” among them one
from some “gentlemen,” who were ready to back an “Unknown, to be named
at the last deposit, against any man in the world,” for £500 to £1,000
a side. Whereupon Jem Ward accepting the proposal for £500, and
declaring his readiness to make the match, the challengers were
silent, and the “Unknown” remained thenceforth unseen and unheard of.
In September, 1833, a paragraph appeared in London and provincial
papers, to the effect that Deaf Burke would persist in his claim to
the Championship, whereon Ward wrote as follows:――
“_To the Editor of_ ‘BELL’S LIFE IN LONDON.’
“SIR,――Should the patron of the ’unknown’ candidate for ‘the
Championship’ agree to allow his man to fight for £500 a
side, my friends are ready to back me for that sum. Failing
a match being made with him, I am ready to give any other
customer a chance, and for his accommodation will fight for
any sum, from £300 to £500 a side. I am, Sir, your most
obedient servant,
“JAMES WARD. Champion of England.
“Liverpool, Sept. 18, 1833.”
The Editor having submitted this epistle to “the Deaf’un,” observes,
“that individual desires us to say, that ‘he’s ready to stands nps for
the title for a hundreds, but as for tousands, and that sorts o’
rediklus tings, he can’t say nuttins about ’em.’” Another challenge
elicited the subjoined from Ward:――
“_To the Editor of_ ‘BELL’S LIFE IN LONDON.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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