The blood-splattered truth behind Britain’s underground fight club that attracted crowds of thousands – including kings and prime ministers – even after it was outlawed.
On the morning of 17 April 1860, boxing’s first-ever ‘world title’ match took place in a field near the small town of Farnborough, Hampshire. Billed as the ‘fight of the century’, the bout was between all- American champ John Heenan and England’s reigning champion Tom Sayers.
The greatest of his generation, at 1.7 metres (5 foot 8 inches) tall and weighing 67 kilograms (147 pounds), Sayers had managed to punch his way up into the heavyweight division. Here he demolished his lumbering opponents through a combination of incredible skill and tenacity. However, that was in the 1850s, and ‘Brighton Titch,’ as Sayers was nicknamed, was now 33 – old even by modern boxing standards. In contrast, Heenan was in his mid-twenties and at the height of his powers. He was about 1.9 metres (6 feet, 2 inches) and 43 kilograms (195 pounds), with an apparently lethal left hook. Known as the ‘Benicia Boy,’ Heenan grew up in New York State, but learned to fight in California, where he worked as an ‘enforcer’ for a San Francisco gang, before taking up the sport. Still, Heenan’s training had been sporadic – unlike Sayers – and he didn’t have the old pro’s experience to fall back on.
The title fight gripped the imagination on both sides of the Atlantic. As Harper’s Weekly put it: “The bulk of the people in England and America are heart and soul engrossed in a fight compared to which a Spanish bull-bait is but a mild and diverting pastime.” Meanwhile, in Britain, the Manchester Guardian observed that “no pugilistic contest ever decided has excited so great an interest, both in this and other countries.”
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 66-Ausgabe von All About History.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 66-Ausgabe von All About History.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE
Guy Ritchie's entertaining WWII thriller throws light on Operation Postmaster
SURVIVING A FINANCIAL CRISIS
Jame DiBiasio explores how financiers can learn from the mistakes of the past
FORT KNOX BULLION DEPOSITORY
United States 1937-present
MUSSOLINI HAD JOINED THE ALLIES?
Driven by ambition, Italy's participation in the Axis war effort led to the collapse of its empire, the fall of the Fascist Party and Mussolini's death Interview
BATTLE OF DETTINGEN
DETTINGEN (MODERN-DAY KARLSTEIN AM MAIN, GERMANY), 27 JUNE 1743
THE USSR's FAKE OLYMPICS,
Having boycotted the 1984 games in Los Angeles, the Soviet Union hosted its own competition
Hürrem Sultan
From slave girl to imperial consort, how one girl captured the heart of an emperor to become the most powerful woman in Ottoman history
OVERTHROWING THE MONGOLS
How a Buddhist rebellion toppled the mighty empire and began the rise of the Ming dynasty Written
MAKING A MONSTER
Natalie Lawrence explores the creation of enchanted creatures through 15,000 years of history Interview
SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS
From sacred rituals to hidden treasure, uncover why these world wonders were built