Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-03-30
Office No. 144 Superior Street,
@Oa!lII al Ol..-.
THE GREAFT FIGHT.

of not being uDderstoOd. Il Is beginning 70
| be known, even in circles where sporting news
lpaperB are never seen, that the fight between
j Tom Savers and Hsenan, called the Benicia
! Boy, is 10 take place on the day named; and
Il is evident to every one who observes what
is passing in society, that both in Great Britain
and the United States this battle is regarded
with an unusually deep and extensive interest.
The explanation Of this change Of sentiment
towards prize-fghting Is to be found, we think,
in various Circumstances. Is the flrst place, the
international character which has been sscib-
ed to the approaching contest gives to It an i'm.
portance which an ordinary match between
two Englishmen arranged perhaps for the
benefit Of few sporting pableans, could not
claim. We are BY no means sure that thIs
match has not attained its world wide fame
contrary to the intention of the parties princi.
pally concerned. It is of course the business
Of Tom Sayers, as Champion of England to
answer all worthy challengers, but we believe
that his opponent rather declines the honor
which has been thrust upon him of represent
ing the pugilism of America. lie is reported
60 have said that he has come to England to
fight Tom Sayers, because he wishes to fight
him, and for no other reason. Nevertheless,
the public appears to be determined to look
upon the Benicia Boy as the champion Of the
! Upited States, and to treat the issue of this
fight as a matter of national importance.
But it seems to Us that there is another and
a deeper reason why prize fighting is likely to
regain some Of the consideration which IL en- q.
ioyed fifty years ago The truth is, that the
minds OF men are being carried more and more
every day towards the subjects which chiefly
interested them when the Ring was supported
by the wealthy and the noble, Just as openly
aud generally as the race course now is. Amid
the din Of prolonged war, prize fighting reach
ed its highest, as in the slumber of profound
peace it sunk to its lowest point. There is
much in the modern proceedings of the Ring
which nobody can defend, and much more
which many viii dislike; but as soon as it is
generally felt that fighting in sober earnest may
possibly become every m ms highest duty, any
imitation of actual battle which call forth cour-
age, skill, and perseverance, is certain to ae-
quire popularity, in spite OF adjuncts which are
coarse and brutal, and auch as sensitive natures
shrink from with intense disgust. In a country
where it is known thai honor and property are
only safe so long as lis citizens are ready to
fight in their defence, the nature which loves
fighting for its own sake Will always command
respect A man like Tom Ssyers, who left his
business as a brieklayer from more devotion to
boxing, possesses, we may say, a character
which, in proportion as it prevails among
Englishmen, will make this country feared
abroad and safe at home. We hope and believe
that there are many thousands like him in
strength and split. but sticking to THAR bus
mess, whatever it be, steadily, and yet ready
for fight with any one who may think fit to
challenge them, and looking upon the use of
arms, not as disagreaable duty, but as pleas.
ant interlude in the daily routine of life.
It may surprise some persons, but It is
nevertheless true, that Tom Sayers and the
Bencia Boy furnish at the present moment an
example which deserves to be generally imi>
tated. For what, let us AJAX, in the course OF
training which those champions must undergo
at their country quarters during the weeks
which procede the fightl The first principle
necessary to be observed is ''to keep The body
in temperance, sobemess, and chastity In.
deed the leading rules which guide the Judi
Icious trainer might almost all be found in the
New Testament. t'To keep under the body,
and bring il iHto Subsection is precept OF
which no one knows the value better than the
successful prize fighter.
The maxlum, $50 run that ye may obtain, y
is frequently forgotten by the candidates for
literary and scientific and forensic eminence
but never by the aspirant to the honor of the
champions belt. The boxer knows that he is
nothing without training, and accordingly be
trains diligently. But, as the Oracle of tkt
Ring puts it, ''the mass of mankind who in
dulge in excesses of every kind-in too much
eating, drinking, sleep, slOth, smoking, &C.
would go through the task of life, would dis.
charge their respective duties much better, fal
quicker, aud with vastly greater case to them.
selues, did they submit to training" We
believe this is true of every one of lfe's duties
but it is in an eminent degree true of duty
which many men have recently undertaken tC
perform-we mean the duty of Volunteer rifle.
men. A great part Of the doubt which veteran
officers entertain as to the utility of Volunteer
would be disipated if the precepts laid doWI
for general training In FSstiaRa were diligently
acted upon during the next three months, We
should then see bodies Of active, patient, Vol
unteer soldiers really to bear at least as mucl
fatigue as any regiment Of the Line, and t,
bear it with more cheerfulness. 1T is not de
manled of professional men that they SHOULD
train rigidlY like the boxer. Their OccuPa
tions would not permit it; but to initiate hi
mode OF training as far as circumstances vii
allow" The training which is here recon
mended depends only upon diet and exercise
A man who had habitually pTactised Il lStel.
showed himself able, at more than seventl
years of age, to walk from London to CanteT
bury depend upon it, says the author O
FIstiaRa, ''that man had been m9erste,
sober, nay, ehasts man."
he bids his readers look for their examples Il
the savages Of North America ''Whose lives from
childhood to old a. were long course o.
rigid training Those savages, he says, wef
ever watchful, ever exercising themselves
They commanded their passions. They beeam
tough as the ash of their mountains. The
consumed what nature required, and no mere
And this is the model which the boxer must Sc
before himself in training, and which shOul
also be studied by every Englishman who des
Tres to serve his country with the full eapacit
which Heaven has given b N. The boxer
- mode of life ought to be 50 simple and natu!I
it is to feared that in London only digtan
imitation Of it would be possible. He is to ris
Of with the sup, and in summer time he Is also [
90 to be bed with IT, His food is to he be,
and mutton, plainly cooked, country mad
bread, and q very moderate allowance of ger
uine home brewed beer. If possible, let hil
avoid tea and coffee altogether; but if the hab
of-taking them cannot be wholly laid aside,
must be content 10 drink them cold. But
will do far better to give them up entirely, an
to take to his breakfast water Cruel. AT an
hour of the day of night let no man who seek
health deny himself all potent Cruel" PerhRI
we cannot better convey notion of the stric
ness Of the precepts set forth in FistiaEa tina
BY saving that water Cruel is the only luxur
with regard to which the author Omits to insi
upon in his golden rule of ''mOderation-moC
reation-moderadon.
Such, then, are the limits of sensual enjoy
ment prescribed to the cOmbatants in the intel
val before the fig int. Of the active duties Of
boxer in training-of his walking, runnin
sparrinp with his preceptor. pummelling ava
at stuffed sacks. and welding clubs and dunn
bellS-it is enough to say, that when the Il
day of battle comes, it is often fell as a rsli
from the more severe punishment of the pr
paration. Many pugilist has exulted in h
escape from his trainers hands into his a
verSary's, Just as, in armies where a severe di