The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-19 00:00:00

FIGHT FUR THE CII.IIIIPIONSIIIP.

It is, perhaps, no information ever. for those leas
acquainted with the dirty arcana of the prize ring
to be told that the champion's belt, for the posses-
sion of which Hunan and Sayers struggled with
such cruel obstinacy, was eventually awarded to
neither. The trophy was left open to public com-
petition, though as the belt happens to be one of
those peculiar gifts of fortune which are not to be
had for the asking, and as its possession entails
some personal responsibility, in the way of having
to fight all corners, no matter how many or how big,
the number of candidates for the dangerous honour
was, on the whole, decidedly limited. The first
claimants were Hurst and Paddock. Hurst is the
champion wrestler of Lancashire, a man of gigantic
frame and almost superhuman strength, but per-
haps the most unskilful boxer that ever entered the
prize ring. In his contest with Paddock he was
dreadfully punished, but almost by accident con-
trived at the close of the fight to hit his adversary
one blow, and one blow from such a Goliah was
quite sufficient, for Paddock was all but killed by
it. Hurst therefore came into full possession of the
turbulent honours of the belt, to which a boxer
named Mace at once laid claim. Mace is a very
small man, though possessed of wonderful strength
and activity, almost a harder hitter than Sayers
himself, and reputed to be the most scientific pugi-
list alive. Yet, even with these advantages, it
seemed almost monstrous to suppose that he could
contend for an instant with any chance of success
against an adversary so overpowering in strength,
and size, and weight as Hurst. Nevertheless, a
match was made for the championship, and yester-
day it was fought to an issue on an island in the
Medway, and resulted in Mace punishing his
gigantic antagonist so fearfully that he may lite".
ally be said to hare almost killed him without re-
ceiving a single blow in return. The contrast
between the two men as they entered the ring was
even more startlinglydisproportionato than that be-
tween Heenan and Sayers. Hurst stood nearly six
feet three inches in height, and weighed 16 stone,
while his gigantic swarthy chest and limbs, in which
the muscles stood out in great folds and knots like
bosses of bronze, made his figure look even larger
and more formidable, if possible, than it was in
reality. In looking at his massive proportions, and
the evidences of tremendous strength as the thews
and sinews crept and rolled with every movement;
one felt a kind of fascinating terror, which chat_ the
changed
to almost sickening apprehension for the fateo
man who had dared such a Colossus to as combat.
Among ordinary men Mace would haveseemed a
terrible antagonist for any to cope with,
but, dwarfed
and almost overshadowed by the
tlgrantshort he had
sechal-
lenged, his venture seemed e
stone barely over sft. Sin., 'his
madness. His height is
a half; yet, as he pre-
pared himself for weight only tenthe
e
contest yesterday, there was
an easy air of nonchalance about him which,coupled
with his compact, fair frame,
but
and lithe and active
figure, on
which the small, hard and well-
developed
muscles, showed out in startling relief,
made his venture appear less desperate than it was
to those acquainted with his skill and strength.
Hurst to his other advantages added that of winning
the choice of corners, and of course took that with
his back to the sun, leaving its fierce rays full in
the face of his antagonist. When at last, after
shaking hands, the men stood l a one in the centre of
the ring, it seemed almost like conniving at a mur-
der to permit a contest between two men so dis-