, 1860-05-10
THE GREAT FIGHT.
N&spouso Of tho Referee 10 Geo. wilkes.

lFEom Btla Lie In LoGdon.1
We have taken some pains to trace out the
ut the ropes-when we were forced out
If our place oy the crowd-and also as to the
fact Of Hcenan's having struck the seconds of
SayerB attertb battle was virtually over, and
wc sze informed by gentlemen Of position who
we're present, and who had an opportunity Of
seeing, that once if not t" ice, ,while Heenaa had
Tom on the roper, the latter got his knee on the
ground, and Was lifted up agsin By the Boy, and |
ugain held in his vicious grip. If this were the
case, aud We lave no. the slightest reason to. 1
doubt its truth, it is . fortunate thing for
Heeran that the referee was prevented from see-
Jag; for, bad he Witnessed this set, be must
have decided against Heenan. By the rules Of
the ring man on both knees is down, aud if
iuterlered with after that event before s'time"is
called, be is entitled to the money. On the other
point, we have only the st1tement of Mcdonald
to contradict the testimony Of some twenty or
thirty gentlemen, besides our own reporter, as
to Heenag's hasing struck doTn and kieked
seconds knee. As to his kicking Brunton, the
evidence is not conclusive, but in the case Of:
Welsh and the Champion We have no doubt,
especially as re are corroborated by the &c.
count in Lts1s,s 1nnstrdied Paper, alluded to
below, which was written b{ Mr.. Wilkes. Of
"Heenan, finding that, though Sayers could
rot, Or would not rise from his seat in the cor
'uer, ind his seconds refused to award him the
victory that belonged to him, By throwing up
the sponge, he advanced upon him in the
midst OF his seconds, and struck him where be
sat." This admission is tautamount to m &C
acknowledgement Of defeat By q foul blow, and
ret Mr. Wilkes calls on every impartial English~
man to award the belt to ueenan. Our own
opinion of the matter is this: that IS the men
we're fighting il crowd without any order or
regularity, and as Heenan was almost blind and
his noddls Was doubtless ii q stste Of consider
bic confusion, he did not quite know what he was
about, and may, therefore, be excused for the
unjustl6able act. Nevertheless, had the referee
been present, he would hare had to do his duty,
and no one would more hove regretted this
than himself That the ring
was broken in by The friends Of Sayers alone VIC
deny. We are satisfied the police. who had
ed pressure from without, and, being aided by
certain gentry, who were present for otncr Pur-
poses than sport, and whose object was to stock
thsir jewelers. shops from the pockets Of the
spectators, the pressure gradually reached its
eliminating point ut Or about the time named.
all being gradually forced either into the ring
itself or else altogether away from its precincts.
Ast to who cut the ropes-if they were cut-we
cannot say; hut this we do sag, il it be true
that the life Of Sayers was in danger. aud it he
had touched the ground with his knees, it was
| perfectly lust1hable act. AuEs1nE Is not
fighting, and though there is no written rule
upon the subject, 9 man should be released
when it comes 10 such near thing as it is stated
| to have been on Tuesday. We deny
strenuous1y that ueenan, in any way, gained q
right to the belt. The determination on the
part Of tue referee not to allow second meet
ing during the week is strictly in accordance
| wita The general custom in this country, where
men are 20 injured Us we're botn these gallant
| fellows on Tuesday. The last instance On rec
ord Of q postponement was the match between
Aaron Jones and Sayers, in which the formei
was allowed month, en- producing medica
certificate that he would require that time to eel
over an injury to his hand somewhat similar tt
that incurred By HceQan. Mr. Wilkes appR
rcntly would intimate that the referee has de
parted from the usualpractice on this occasion
and says that Hcenan does not require any con
sideration on the ground Of humanity. In re
ply, a!l ne hare to say is. the referee is th'
proper person to judge ID this matter, and ha
had considerably more experience than 1ir
Wilkes himself. Had he ordered second meet
ing this week, he would have ordered it th
same day, supposing u fitting ground could ha!
been got, and as, By that time, Heenau woul
have been quite blind; We leave the public t
decide who would hare had the advantage
Had he postponed it till the following or an
succeeding day in the week, his conduct woul
llnye received universal exccration il Ill couI
tries where <*humaaity" at oil enters into put
| lie consideration.