Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1881-10-21
TOM SAVERS son.
What He Remembers of His Faith.
er'S Career.
Buffalo Evening News.


Mr.. Tom Sayers, whose singing and
posturing was one of the attractions at
the Adelphi last week, is a son of Tom
Sayers of prize-ring fame, the champi-
on of England, who was vanquished bv
The Benicia Boy" John c. Heenan.
The son has also won considerable
fame, and his fine baritone voice will
long be remembered by those who had
the pleasure of hearing him here. 70
a Ae'cs reporter Mr.. Sayers gave the
following Renaissance of his father.
Tom Savers, my father, was born in
Brighton, Sussex County south of Eng
land, in May, 1921, where he followed
the avocation of bricklayer until he
was 20 years of age. He was always
ready with his fists from childhood, and
in impromptu fights always won. He
never lost battle. At the age of 20
he was taken in hand by an expire
fighter, whose name, think, was Nc
Dowell, and put through course Of
training. He promised well and kept
his promise, for in the fifteen battles he
fought he was defeated but once. He
participated in several a nateur fights.
in all Of which he was victorious, but
his first professional mill was with Abe
Crowell, about 1851 He finished Crow
ell oil neatly and tastefully after several
round3, and the next year served the
redoubtable Jack Grant the same way.
The same year he also polished off
Dan Collins, and in So whipped Jack
Martin, after desperate fight.
"He met his Waterloo In his next
fte,,t u-hf al MIL Ma I
1t was his first defeat, and it would
have been difficult to tell which was
the worst punished. At any rate, he
Immediately challenged Langham a.
gain, and Langham was afraid to ac-
cept, and preferred to forfeit the mid
dle-weight championship NY father
next fought Ben Benjamin and whipped
him twice in succession, and duplica-
ted this achievement by thrashing
Adam Jones in two consecutive bat
ties.
He next got in his work on the ia
nous Upton Slasher, and followed up
by fighting and whipping in succession,
Tom Paddock, Bob Breton, Harry
Poulson and George Simins
Last came his great battle with John
c. Heenan, the American champion,
in 1860, which was drawn. | was with
my father the night before this battle,
and he seemed very confident OF victo-
ry. He was not as badly punished
about the face and body as Heenan
was; but he had hi arm broken, and
it gave him trouble for some time. Ny
father and Heenan were great friends
after their fight, and they travelled to-
gether over the United Kingdom and
parts Of the continent At Farnbor-
ough, England, and in Dublin, where
they gave sparring exhibitions, they
met great receptions. When Heenan
accepted Tommy Kings challenge, my
father was his second. He was so con-
fident that Heenan would win that he
lost several thousand pounds in wagers
when King came off victorious. Heenan
was very anxious to bring my father
over to this country, but his fear of the
ocean prevented. / have often heard
him say that he would not cross the
Atlantic for any amount Of money.
when Howe and Cushing brought
their great American show over to
England n father became infatuated
with that >usiness and bought them
out. He travelled over England and
Ireland with this circus until about a
year before his death. He died in 1866
from over-exertion and exposure, con-
sequent upon his profession and mode
of life, when but II years Of age, ieav-
ing my mother, a sister and myself in
very comfortable circumstances. Ny
portion Of his estate was eaten up, how
ever, in the Court of Chancery, Of
which | was ward Ny mother died
a year or two after my father, and my
sister has married and settled in Eng
land"
tDo you ever think Of adopting your
fathers profession ?" inquired the re-
porter, glancing at Mr.. Sayers' we'll
built frame and shspely> arms and
shoulders.
Prize fighting Is too much ike hard
work for me-" he replied Besides,
have not NV fathers weight or
breadth of shoulder. He had a ire
mendous chest, and weighed ten stone
ten. or $50 pounds."
How long nave you been cn the
stage ~
About twelve years. The prestige
Of my fathers name gave ms good
start In the United Kingdom. and
was very successful there. Last year
Tony Pastor brought me over to his