New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-03-04
a puaILIsglg SOLDIER.
THE BRrrTsu L1pR euARpsMAN.


iondoners and the members of the pugilistic corps
may reasonably divide the applause and emotion
which always attend the recital of the simple story
OF John Shaw. He was o native of Violation, in
Nottinghanlshre, where he was in the occupation
of farmer until eighteen years of age, when he
listened to the seductive voice of recruiting SER
ggeant, and intoxicated with honor and glory en-
listed in4Epne Of the famous regiments of horse
guards, who, afterwards, upon the sanguinary field
of Waterloo smote the cuirassiers of Napoleon
hin. and thigh. He became recruit upon the 10th
of October, 1907, but prior to that period he had
distinguished himself with the fist upon several
occasions. Upon one of these, while he, a mere
stripping, was fighting with a man forty pounds
heavier than himself he attracted the attention of
the famous Jem Belcher, who happened to be at
Nottingham.
The champion stepped to the side of young
Shaw, and gave him such sound advice as to the
tactics he should pursue. that in the cours" Of a
rev lew, more t aa9ada lie took decided lead ana finally
Va1 NJ nd y stsat sEFe. Soon ster his arr
afll, necessary to make him tile oaasfgene tne
wen as powerful cavalry sola .tskt ana aetVe as
anpeananes as sparrer sE> s u a GonTf nus FTs
amateurs hy IN 4 Ra ~ ,etsce of the pugists and
Jack Randall. II .een, the patron and hacker OF
sidered rather : stS Rrst exhibitions he was CON
ing with the ..e& in his movements, but practice
oausa. EeSst experienced and scientific boxers
:, 80 sasssS and permanent improvement IN his
bi-.theF. & stack
Els punles displays were soon considered far
meg aud neltST OIL
Tom Mols; neaux in desperate glove encounter.
1t was INV that three of the best judges in England
OF the = oints of boxer set to work to study and
estIlsP tie those Of Shaw, with view to backing him
in " e nrize ring. These were Col. Barton, Capt.
IA .clav and Mr. Jackson, who had defeated Men
d oza and was champion when he retired They
found that Shaw possessed oil the requisites to
make d first rate pugist. ie was SIX feef ana half
an inch in height, and weighed, when stripped, two
/ hundred and ten pounds. As part OF his military
4 discipline he had been accustomed to use heavy
dumb bells ana from this he had derived great ben
| eft, white the continual practice OF the bread
sword exercise had not only given great strength
and elasticity to his wrists and shoulders, but made
i him an accurate judge Of time and distance. His
three Judges, then, came to the conclusion that he
ought to be capable of administering very effective
nnnshment and they determined to have 4 trial set.
to al Mr. Jackson's rooms, in Old Bond street. be-
tween Shaw and the famous Capt, Barclay.
The latter, so celebrated for his pedestrian per-
fornanees and the trainer of Tom Crib for his
4 great battle with Moyneaux, was himself of
great strength and science. He never shrank from
punishment in sparring, nor ever hsstaed to inct
/ it upon his adversary and IN his person the trying
| tackle for Shaw was considered Hrstrate. few
Of the aristocratc and wealthy amateurs, besides
Col. Barton and MIR. Jackson, we're present at the
| trial test between Captain Barclay and the young
1 Life Gaardsman Atter'It was over, they unan
/ mouslY agreed that he was one of the thorough
| bred sort. He was very cool and all resolution.
1t was next to impossible to hit him without being
returned upon; in retreating he made fine effective
4
| manner of closing with his adversary was com
pared to that of the steady and ind0mitable Crib,
Captain Barclay had beenqsed to say " the beauty
/ Of Tom ID, yoa cam make him lose his temper hit
4 him how and where You WILL he IS always steadily
| on his guard while on his legs
This was found to be one of Shaw's Characters
| tics and this famous set to between him and the
CAPTAIN was settled by tremendous blow on the
mouth which shook the teeth of the gentleman and
caused the services of dentist to be brought into
reqnisition on the spot The conelaye broke up,
highly pleased with the display they had had of
ShaH's powers, and with q determination to back
him as soon as an opportunity offered. Meantime
however, three big fellows quarreled with Shaw in
the naighbofhood of Porsman Square, and applied
some opprobrious epthets to his regiment. He
forthwith administered a severe whipping to the
three, one after the other and then took his seat
cool and inlpassVe.
Colonel barton, Captain Barclay and Mr.. jack
son were not the men to leave Shaw long without
a match: and on the 18th of July, 1884, he made
his regular debut with Burrowes, a West country
man, of game and sturdy qualities. He must have
been. q good one, for he fought Tom Molyneaux for
above an hour, when that renowned pugilist was
in the prime of his strength. But, to the amaze
ment of those not in the secret, who had not been
present in Jackson's rooms, Burrowes stood no
chance whatever with Shaw. He hit him as he
pleased so often and so heavily that his blows on
the West coantrymen's head resounded like the
clank of The sabre nj his own heels when he
marched through the paved courts at St. James
Palace. In seventeen minutes, during which thir-
punished his man about the head that he was led
out of the ring stone blind. The Life Guardsman
was scarcely touched himself. He had not mark
upon his face, and Burrowes drew no blood from
him.
Three years elapsed before the young soldier en-
tered the ring again, and twas exactly two months
before That memorable day whose close saw him
e on that field Of his fame, fresh and
gory.n During the interval he had practiced much
with the gloves and was held to be, by long odds,
the best man ia the three regiments of HoSeT |
guards. Those that have seen troop of these |
stalwart men, mounted on their big black horses
will scarcely fqget the idea of the immense physi,
cal power they convey, aud for time out of mind
they have been noted for their skill and activity in
athletic exercises, The battle in which Shaw made
his second and last appearance in the prize ring,
was with the famous Ned Painter, who afterwards
defeated Tom Spring 1t was fought on the 18th
of April, 1916, on Hounslow Heath, and he won
again with consummate ease III twenty-eight
minutes. Painter was waited upon by Tom Cribb |
and Tom Oliver. He set to with alacrity, and con
tinued to fight with undaunted pluck, but the
guardsrnan had too much weight and metal
Ii was like the charge of his ownregiment at Wa |
teroo upon the light cavalry Of the French or the
broadside of a line Of batte-shp against that OF
sloop.of.war. The punishment administered by |
Shaw was TERRIBLE He stood over his man and plant
ed his hits with arapidity and force which reminded
everybody Of jackson in his fight with Mendoza. |
Painter was Knocked down ten times in succession |
and in this case the natural effect of such blows
quickly followed, for atthe expiration of twenty |
eiSub 4sbu IalilST WAS taken OF the |
ring totally exhausted and beaten. Yet this was
man of five feet ten inches hight whose weight was
lS2 pounds, and whose frame, when stripped, was |
model Of athletic beauty. Moreover, he was con |
sidered match for the best of his dav and we re-
peat, afterwards defeated Spring In his defeat |
we have the means of estimating the tremendous |
pngilistic powers Of Shaw, and it affords another
proof that length, strength weight and science are
irresistible by smaller men. if their possessor is
first rate fighter and q hard hitter. In jackson
they defeated Mendoza with ridiculous ease In
Shaw they beat Ned Painter and it was literally
a horse to a hen all through the fight And now
we should like to know whether any man in bis
senses believes that Tom Sayers could have fought
Shaw long, or thath could have come again with
little external appearance of punishment, after
being knocked down ten. or q dozen times by |
jackson? |
The Life Guardsman left the ring Immediately |
after the fight with Painter, very little the worse
for the effects of the battle; and he Immediately
announced that he should fight for the Champion |
ship. He challenged any man in England and |
Crib Yves ready to take itup. As usual, in mat |
tiers of this kind there great diversity of opin
ion among the amateurs as to the probable result
of a contest between them. Shaw, in his own |
mind, felt confident that there was no man living
who could beat him, and there seemed to have
been several good reasons to lead us to concur in
the opinion. His strength and activity were such
that he could hit and get away. He was d fine |
Judge of time and distance. and his blows were too
heavy to be warded off, Then, again, Crib may |
reasonably be supposed to have declined as afight-
er in the four years which had elapsed since his |
last battle with Molyneaux. But these gallant |
heroes were never to meet in the pugilistic arena