page_title: Barney Aaron
section_title: Arthur Matthewson, 1824
hierarchical_section_title: Barney Aaron / Boxing decline 1824–1834 / Arthur Matthewson, 1824
caption_attribution_description: English: Black and white photo of boxer Dick Curtis with bowtie sash, vest and short hair
context_page_description: Barney Aaron was an English bare-knuckle boxer.
  The father of Hall of Famer Young Barney Aaron began boxing in 1819, and became a leading lightweight contender in the 1820s, arguably the top rated lightweight of the era in England. Known as The Star of the East, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001.
context_section_description: Aaron lost a fierce 57 round bout to Arthur Matthewson on 21 June 1824 at a ring near Colbrook, England for the impressive sum of £100 a side.  Barney was said to weigh slightly over 140 pounds to Matthewson's 135 and had a two inch advantage in height.  Aaron's chief second, Abraham "Abby" Belasco, and his financial backer Mr. Solomon accompanied him to the fight via coach.  A major London newspaper, The Observer noted that Aaron's Jewish supporters were a majority of the crowd, comprising around sixty percent, but referred to them using the ethnic slur Sheenies.   Aaron led in the early betting 5-4.  The Observer clearly viewed the contest as a battle between Jew and Christian, though it admitted the Jewish supporters who favored Aaron did so on account of his "strength, his courage, and unwitting perseverance" and noted that in the close early rounds, Aaron's overzealous Jewish supporters were taking the rather unrealistic odds of 40-1.  In the 17th, Barney was floored by a blow from Matthewson that ended the round.  The majority of the early rounds saw no clear advantage to either boxer, but as late as the 42nd through 49th, Aaron seemed to take a clear lead.    In the 47th, Aaron got Matthewson in a headlock and hit him repeatedly, a tactic known as "chancery", though Matthewson recovered quickly.  As the tide turned in the 50th through 56th, Aaron received severe blows to the body and head, silencing Barney's Jewish supporters.  Aaron was finally knocked out in the 59th by a severe blow to the neck that threw him to the ground and left him senseless for a period of several minutes.  Touting a common anti-Semitic stereotype, the Observer implied that unlike Aaron, Matthewson had more than purely pecuniary or financial motives for his win, and noted that in their disappointment over Aaron's loss, his Jewish followers acted like dogs, not reasoning human beings.  In a contrasting salute to the character of Aaron, The Observer noted that Aaron "fought with great courage and firmness", and if not for Matthewson's final blow in the 57th, may have won the bout.
caption: Dick Curtis
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