page_title: John C. Heenan
section_title: Prize ring career
hierarchical_section_title: John C. Heenan / Prize ring career
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: John Morrissey: born February 5th 1831. height 6 feet. weight 170 lbs Physical description: 1 print&#160;: lithograph.
context_page_description: John Camel Heenan, also known as the Benicia Boy was an American bare-knuckle prize fighter. Though highly regarded, he had only three formal fights in his career, losing two and drawing one.
  Heenan is best remembered for his second contest, when he traveled to England to fight British champion Tom Sayers. The bout ended in chaos when spectators broke into the ring and the police intervened. The referee finally called a draw. The Benicia Boy came home to a hero's welcome, but later returned to England where he had just one more fight, losing controversially to new British champion, Tom King. He died at Green River Station, Wyoming Territory in October 1873, and is buried at St Agnes Cemetery, Albany, New York.
context_section_description: The prize ring was in fact outlawed, but on 10 December 1857, Heenan fought a legal exhibition bout against Joe Coburn at the National Hall, Canal Street. He made a living as a "shoulder hitter" – a strong-arm man who might be hired for enforcement or protection in the seamy and often violent worlds of New York business and politics. His efforts earned him a sinecure in the New York Customs House.
caption: John Morrissey, the first opponent of John Heenan
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Artist": "Library of Congress", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}