The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1882-09-22

Gle, I" it would be long odds on the pugiI-
istic champions, even though their nm
tagonists welded the dread cactus. The
science of Mace or a Nat Langham
would have been more than counter
balance to extra force given by the aid Of
the c@tus, aud it is more than probable
that The Ancient would have been
knocked out" before he could have de-
livered single blow. An artful and
cunning fighter like Tug Wilson would
have the ancient gladiator so bewildered
and tired at the expiration of ten min-
utes that he would be perfectly willing
to take the weights off his hands and to
give those members a rest. In all the
prints and sketches that have been hand
ed down to us, wherein ancient enconn-
ters have been depicted, the action been
constrained and awkward, showing very
little knowledge Of science or the proper
poise of the body This in itself wonld
have contributed TO their defeat. as any
blow delivered from such crouching and
curious attitude must lose much Of its
force before delivery, even, if it ever
reached the mark intended. In later
years, the same erroneous theory pre-
vailed, and the great fight between Hum
phrey and Mendoza showed that even
these celebrities paid very little atten-
ton to the science Of forces, and their
proper application they relying mainly
on brute strength and capacity to stand
punishment. Even the championship
| fight between Molyneux, the American
negro, and Thomas Crib shows that the
science Of boxing as we now understand
it was really au unknown art, and it was
not until the era Of light weight champi.
ons, as Langham, Sayers, Mace, Goss,
and Wilson, that the true theory Of po-
sition was brought to light. Any Of
these knights of the ring would have had
an easy task Of subduing the pondsrous
pummellers Of the early days, when wide
spread feet and open arms were thought
to be the correct thing. In those days
it was punch for punch. until one drop
ped from sheer exhaustion, but even
then very few fatal encounters were
chronicled.
Many men have been undoubtedly
killed through fights, but it is a strange
thing that very few have fallen dead in
the ring. The first instance on record
that exists showing that a man died from
a pummeling received in the 'fmagic cir
Gle" is on Tuesday, October %, 1916, at
Moulsey Hurst, in England, Dick Curtis
not the one known as the "Pet Of the
| Fancy"--met one Ned Turner and had a
bout of fisticuffs, which lasted one hour
and twenty-five minutes, occupying SIX
ty-eight rounds. i'urtis was beaten to
state Of insensibility, and the records
state that at the end Of the fight his
head dropped on his breast, and despite
all the doctors could do for INN he died
within the day. In those times prize
| fighting was looked upon as d regular in
stitution, and after a long and elaborate
trial Turner got off with two months i'm.
prIsonment, The next instance where O
man lost his life in the twenty -four foot
ring was that of Dan Donnelly, who
fought and defeated Tom Cooper on Ju.
ly 81, 1919 1t is stated that six months
afterwards Donnelly died in Dublin, Ire
land, at the age Of 33 years.
| One of the curious features Of sucn af
fairs was the incident Of the Simor
Byrne encounter, when the latter receiy
ed his death blow, Simon Byrne wen
to his grave from thrashing admins
tered at the hands of Deaf Burke, wht
was once Champion Of England, and wal
also well known to older ring followers
The fatal fight between Sandy McKa,
i aud Simon Byrne came off June Q, 1880
He was triedfor manslaughter and &C
quilted.
On May 80, 1888. three years after
ward, Simon Byrne and James (Deaf
Burke, met in the ring and fought d ter
rifle battle at ST.. Albans, which laste,
three hours and sixteen minutes, during
which time SO rounds were fought
& Byrne was not actually killed in the RIM
but he received such terrible punish
. ment about the head that he died withi
three Gays after the contest. This tim
J a verdict Of manslaughter was returne,
by the coroner, but the trial resulted il
a verdict Of not guilty. This brings Til
} record up to 1912. a year which saw.th
} first fatal ring fight in America.
Two-years after this, Nike Madden
} an English pugiIist, caused the death q
rival named William Jones, Of Ports
: mouth, in the ring.
{ Then comes Charley Lynchis. who ha
r the misfortune to kill an antagonist i
! fha sino Hie mama mae T(cff.~ 49,.