The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-07
ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST
 MODERN BATTLE WITH FISTS


 It was 1s8 years since the first mod ern prize fight for the championship was fought. This historic fstic con- test was staged at James H1ggs ann phitheatre in Oxford road, London, and Figg, the first champion of Eng land had as his opponent Ned Sutton, Ia Gravesend pipenaker, who had made a great reputation as Q fighter with broad sword, quarterStaf and fists. James Ffggs professione7 ,card,s de- signed by the great artist Hogarth, announced that he was Master of Ye Noble Science of Defence For many years he had been teaching boxing and fencing to the young b1oods of the nobility The Earl of Peterborough, famed as a soldier, was his patron, and built for him an amphitheatre capable of holding some 1,30o people. It was here that Figg's celebrated battle with Sutton was staged.
 It was not alone pugiHstic battle, for fstic contests were just coming into vogue and were not popular. To begin with the combatants were to en- gage in swort bouts until one or the other had demonstrated his superior ity. The fstic contest was to follow, and after that, if both were able, they were to engage in a bout with the cud- gels.
 A representative crowd filled the amphitheatre on June 6, 18727. Among those present were Dean Swift and Pope, the great authors; Colly Ctbber, Kitty Give, and other celebrities of the stage, and Horace Walpole, the Prime Minister, with other eminent statesmen. There were almost as many ladies as men, and before the bout they amused themselves by tell ing stories of a character that would not be considered quite beyond the pale at a stag party.
 The broadsword exercises between LTsr- A4r~,, before Figg slashed his opponent on the shoulder, and thus won the honors in the first event on the program. Af- ter resting an hour, the men reap peared, and the boxing bout com rnenced. There were no rules to gov ern the game in those days, and from the first it was a trial of brute strength, although Figg used some science in evading the wild rushes of Sutton. After eight minutes of spar ring Sutton rushed '-- dodging a blow, and grasped Ffgg by t waist, carry reused the champions ire, and in a few minutes he had reta1iated Ly stretching S-1+ton on his back, using wrestling tactics. After a few min utes of futile hitting, Ffgg again closed and threw Sutton. The latter soon turned the tables, driving blow after blow to the champions face. Figg was knocked down, and, after resting fifteen minutes, was permitted 1 to resume. In the interval the men | swi1led much port wine. After 8 few minutes more Ffgg threw Sutton, and, when he got up, knocked him down with a blow to the chest. The cham pton then sprang upon the prostrate body of his foe, shouting, "It 1t 1 enough?' Sutton admitted that he had had suff1ciency, and the first hstic championship battles was at an end. Ned Sutton was badly bruised, and covered with blood, but the cham pion also bore marks of combat. After 1 a rest, however, both men amour ced their willingness to proceed with the cudgelltng match. For some little time they 1annbasted each other, when Figg landed a blow with his cudgel which broke one of Sutton s, legs at the knee.
 1 While this first prize fight was a | brutal affair, compared with modern ring battles, it was considered a mild sort of entertainment compared with the cudge1ling and broadsword bouts which were then in vogue. Before condenming early pugilism, it should be kept in mind that the art of the 1 bruiser supplanted} so-caIed sports which were much lore dangerous to 1 the combatants. Boxing, even in it's dubious infancy, was thus a humane | triumph over the prevailing brutal in- | st1ncts.