Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-03-31
Office No. 14l Superior Street.
Gnal oil.
THE GREAT FIGHT

be known, even in circles where sporting news
papers are never seen, that the ight between
Tom Sayers and Heenan, called the Benicia
Boy, is to take place on the day nimed; 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 exteusixe interest
The explanation of this change Of sentiment
towards prize-fghting is to be found, we think,
in various Circumstances. Is the first place, the
international character which has been ascrib-
ed to the approaching contest gives to it an i'm
/ pOrtance which an ordinary mstch between
two Englishmen arranged perhaps for the
benefit OF few sporting publieans, 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 princia
Pally concerned. It is Of course the business
of Tom Sayers, as Champion of England, to
answer all worthy ohallengers, but we believe
that his opponent rather declines the honor
which has been thrust upon him OF represent
| ing the pugilism Of America. He IS reported
TO have said that he has come to England to
| fight Tom SayeTs, because be 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
| . aited 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
deeper reason why prize fighting is likely to
regain some of the consideration which is en-
| 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
and generally as the race course now is, Amid
the din of prolonged war, prize fighting reach
ed its highest as 10 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 will dislike; but as soon as it is
generally felt that fighting in sober earnest may
possibly become every mans highest duty, any
imitation of actual battle which call forth cour-
age, skill, and perseverance, is certain to &C.
quiIe popularity, in spite Of adjuncts which are
coarse and brutal, and auch as sensitive natures
shrink from with intense disgust. In country
where it is known that honor and property are
only safe so long as its 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 Sayers, who left his
business as bricklsyer from more devotion to
| boxing, possesses, we may say, g character
which, in proportion as it prevails among
Euglishmen, will make this country feared
abroad and safe at home. We hope and believe
that there are many thousands Ike him in
strength and spirit, but sticking to THAR bus
mess, whatever il 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 disagreaabIe duty, but as pleas.
ant inteTlude in the daily routine Of lifs
It may surprise some persons, but It is
nevertheless true, that Tom Sayers and the
Beneia Boy furnish at the present moment an
example which deserves to be generally imi>
tated. For what, let US ask, in the course of
training which these champions must undergo
| at their country quarters during the weeks
which PrOeede the fightl The frst principle
necessary to be observed is ''to keep the BODY
in temperance, sOberness, and chastity" In
deed the leading rules which guide the Judi
ciOus trainer might almost all be found in the
New Testament. "TO keep under the bodv,
and bring it into su5jection,' is 3 precept Of
which no one knows the value better than the
/ successful prize fighter.
The NAHUM, $50 run that ye may obtain"
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 he
trains diligently. But, as the Oracle Of the
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, far
quicker, and with vastly greater case to them
selues, did they submit TO training" We
believe this is true of every one of LIES duties
but it is in an eminent degree true of duty
which many men have recently undertaken to
perform-We mean the duty of Volunteer rife
men. A great part Of the doubt which veteran
officers entertain as to the utility of Volunteers
would be disipated if the preeepts laid down
for general training in FiStiGRA were diligently
acted upon during the next three months. We
should then see bodies Of active, patient, Vol
unteer soldiers rea iy to bear at least as much
fatigue as any regiment of the Line, and to
bear it with more cheerfulness. sit is not de-
manled Of professional men that they should
train rigidlY like the boxer. Their oesuPa-
tons would not permit it; but to initiate his
mode Of training as far as circumstances will
allow" The training which is here recon-
mended depends only upon diet and exercise.
A man who had habitually pTsctised it lately
showed himself able, at more than seventy
years Of age, to walk from London to Canter-
bury. depend upon it, says the authOr of
FTstiana, ''that man had been temperate, q
sober, nay, ehaste man"
He bids u readers look for their examples to
the savages of North America whose lives from
childhood to old age were 3 long course of
rigid training" Those saVsges, be ssys, were
ever Watchful, ever exercising Themselves
They commanded their passions. They became
| tough as the ash of their mountains. They
consumed what nature required, and no more
And this is the model which the boxer must set
before himself in training, and which should
also be studied by every Englishman who des
Tres to serve his country with the full capacity
which Heaven has given hm. The BOXERS
mode Of life ought to be so simple and natural
it is to feared that in London only distant
imitation oft would be possible. He is to rise
| with the sun, and in summer time he is also to
90 TO be bed with it. His food is to be beef
and mutton, plainly cooked, country made
bread, and Q very moderate allowance of gen
uine home brewed beer. H3ossible, let him
avoid tea and coffee altogether; but if the habit
oftaking them cannot be wholly laid aside, he
must be content TO drink them cold. But he
win do far better to give them up entirely and
to take to bis breakfast water Cruel. 'At any
hour Ofthe day Of night let no man who seeks
health deny himself ell potent Cruel" Perhaps
We cannot better convey q notion OF the strict
ness of the precepts set forth in Fistiaaa than
by saying that water Cruel is the only luxury
with regard to which the author omits to insist
upon in his golden rule of ''mOderation-mod. d.
rsstion-moderstion."
Such then, are the limits of sensual enjoy
ment prescribed to the combatauts in the inter-
val before the fight Of the active duties Of
boxer in tFaining-of his walking, running,
sparring with his pTecsPtor, pummeling away
at stuffed sacks. and welding clubs and dumb
bells-it is enough to say, that when the the
day Of battle comes, it is often fell as a relief
from the more severe punishment Of the pre-
paratiOu Many pugiIist has exulted in his
escape from hiE trainers hands into his ad-
Veruary's, just as, in armies where a severe dis
clpline prevails, the a,tuAl duties OF a eamPaion