| PAGE | |
| B | |
| BENDIGO. See THOMPSON, WILLIAM. | |
| BENJAMIN, BILL, or BAINGE | 399, 406 |
| BRASSEY, of Bradford (JOHN LEECHMAN). | |
| Fight with Young Langan | 340 |
| Fight with Tass Parker | 344 |
| His death | 351 |
| BRETTLE, BOB. | |
| His pugilistic career | 414 |
| His battle with Tom Sayers | 416 |
| Defeats Jem Mace | 451 |
| Is beaten by Tom Sayers | 452 |
| Is challenged by Jem Mace | 457 |
| Adjourned fight | 458 |
| Is beaten by Mace | 459 |
| BROOME, HARRY (Champion). 1851. | |
| Younger brother to the renowned “Johnny” | 308 |
| Born at Birmingham | 308 |
| Early glove displays | 308 |
| Rivalry of East and West. The Broomes | 309 |
| Fred Mason (the “Bulldog”) | 309 |
| Harry matched against Mason for £50 | 309 |
| A prepossessing “first appearance” | 310 |
| Harry beats the “Bulldog” | 311 |
| A twelvemonths’ rest. Joe Rowe | 314 |
| A trip down the river | 315 |
| Harry defeats Joe Rowe | 316 |
| Tom Spring resigns his post as referee | 319 |
| Second battle of Broome and Joe Rowe | 321 |
| Matched with Ben Terry | 323 |
| A suspicious affair and a “draw” | 324 |
| “The Great Unknown,” Harry and the Tipton Slasher | 325 |
| Broome’s remarkable increase in weight and stature | 325 |
| His fight with the Tipton, and Peter Crawley’s decision, | 327 |
| Negotiations with Harry Orme | 330 |
| Matched for £250 a side | 330 |
| Defeats Harry Orme | 333 |
| The old “Tipton” again | 336 |
| Broome forfeits to the “Tipton” | 338 |
| And to Tom Paddock | 338 |
| Is beaten by Paddock | 338 |
| Retires from the Ring | 339 |
| Becomes a publican at Portsmouth | 339 |
| His death in 1865, aged 39 | 339 |
| Joe Rowe’s “Sultan Stores” (note) | 339 |
| BURKE, JAMES (“the Deaf’un”). | |
| His birth and parentage | 94 |
| Strand Lane Stairs. “Jack-in-the-water” | 95 |
| The Thames in the first quarter of the century | 95 |
| The old “fighting days” | 96 |
| Joe Parish. “the Waterman.” “The Spotted Dog” | 96 |
| Eminent watermen pugilists | 96 |
| The Deaf’un’s first fight | 97 |
| The butchers of Clare Market | 98 |
| An Impromptu mill. Defeats Tom Hands | 98 |
| Defeats a “New Black” for “a purse” | 99 |
| Enrolled in the corps pugilistique | 99 |
| Beats Berridge at Leicester | 99 |
| Matched with Fitzmaurice | 99 |
| Beats Fitzmaurice at Harpenden | 100 |
| Spars with Young Dutch Sam | 100 |
| Is ruptured by an accident | 101 |
| Defeated by Cousens of Chichester | 101 |
| Defeats Girdler at North Chapel, Sussex | 102 |
| “Whiteheaded Bob” and the Duke of Cumberland | 102 |
| High prizes prohibitory of prize-fights | 104 |
| A stratagem. Grabbing the wrong man | 104 |
| Beats Gow at Temple Mills | 104 |
| Bob Hampson’s challenge and defeat | 105 |
| Three battles within six weeks | 105 |
| Beats Tim Crawley | 108 |
| Tommy Roundhead and Frosty-faced Fogo | 109 |
| A Homeric battle; the muses appeased | 110 |
| “The Deaf’un’s” merits as a sparrer | 110 |
| Matched with Birmingham Davis | 111 |
| A disappointment | 111 |
| Defeats Birmingham Davis | 112 |
| Matched with Blissett | 113 |
| Beats Blissett | 114 |
| A dinner at Tom Cribb’s; and a match | 115 |
| Beats old Jack Carter | 115 |
| A “little go.” Lazarus and Jem Brown | 116 |
| An interval and a sparring tour | 116 |
| Beats Yorkshire Macone | 117 |
| Challenges from Cousens and Josh Hudson | 117, 118 |
| Bill Charles, “the Welsh Champion” | 118 |
| Claims the Championship | 118 |
| “Too heavy” for Young Dutch Sam | 118 |
| Sign articles with Simon Byrne | 119 |
| “The Deaf’un’s” courage and humanity | 119 |
| The “Irish Champion” and “the talent” | 119 |
| The day before the battle | 120 |
| The fight and fatal result | 121–125 |
| Verdict of “manslaughter” against Burke and others | 126 |
| Subscription for the Widow Byrne | 126 |
| Trial and acquittal of Burke | 127 |
| Presentation of a service of plate to the Editor of Bell’s Life in London | 128 |
| Challenged by O’Rourke | 128 |
| And by Young Dutch Sam for £500 (!) | 128 |
| And by Jem Ward for £500, but not less than £100 a side, | 128 |
| O’Rourke’s challenge and departure for America | 129 |
| The Deaf’un’s “ancient statues” | 129 |
| Harry Preston and “the Deaf’un” | 130 |
| Plays at Sheffield in “Valentine and Orson” | 131 |
| Burke’s “farewell,” and high stakes for prize battles | 131 |
| A maximum stake of £200 voted | 131 |
| Sails for America | 132 |
| His welcome in the New World | 132 |
| Sails South to meet O’Rourke | 133 |
| Riots in New Orleans, and escape of “the Deaf’un” | 133 |
| Returns to New York | 134 |
| Battle with and defeat of O’Connell | 135 |
| The New York Herald and the P.R. | 135 |
| Burke’s arrival in Liverpool | 138 |
| The “big ones” of 1838 | 138 |
| A general challenge from “the Deaf’un” | 138 |
| The school of “Tom and Jerry;” a trip to France | 139 |
| Returns, and is beaten by Bendigo | 139 |
| “The Lament of Deaf Burke” | 140 |
| The Deaf’un again in the field, and matched with Nick Ward | 141 |
| Beaten by Nick Ward | 141 |
| The Deaf’un’s oratory | 142 |
| Indicted with Owen Swift, Ned Adams, Dick Cain, Lord Chetwynd, and others | 143 |
| The “Battle of Bedford” and Parson Cautley | 143 |
| Address of Deaf Burke to the Grand Jury of Bedford | 144 |
| The trial and its result | 148 |
| Receives forfeit of £15 from the Tipton Slasher | 148 |
| Night-houses in the Haymarket | 149 |
| Bob Castles and “the Deaf’un” | 149 |
| A match between Old Ones | 149 |
| The voyage to Rainham Ferry | 150 |
| The fight. Burke the conqueror | 151 |
| “Triumphant epistle of Deaf Burke to Bob Castles” | 155 |
| Dissipation, disease, and death | 156 |
| C | |
| CASTLES, BOB | 149 |
| CAUNT, BENJAMIN (Champion) 1841. | |
| A native of Nottinghamshire | 47 |
| Hucknall Torkard and Lord Byron | 47 |
| His first defeat by Bendigo | 47 |
| Beats William Butler | 47 |
| Beats Boneford | 48 |
| Second match with Bendigo | 48 |
| A mail-coach Journey to Doncaster in 1838 | 48 |
| The road to the fight | 52 |
| The combatants “interviewed” | 53 |
| Incidents and mishaps | 54 |
| The fight; a magisterial interference | 56 |
| The fight won by a “foul” | 58 |
| Remarks on the battle | 59 |
| Caunt receives the stakes | 60 |
| A new match for £100 a side and a forfeit | 60 |
| Challenges by Brassey and Caunt | 60 |
| “An heroic epistle from Brassey to Caunt” | 61 |
| Estimates of the men | 62 |
| Newmarket and its neighbourhood | 64 |
| A battle of “big ’uns” | 66 |
| Caunt the victor | 69 |
| Claims the Championship | 69 |
| Challenged by Nick Ward | 69 |
| Loses with Ward by a “foul blow” | 70 |
| A second match made | 70 |
| Stratford-on-Avon the rendezvous | 71 |
| The field of battle, Long Marsden | 72 |
| The Champion’s new belt | 73 |
| Caunt defeats Nick Ward | 74 |
| Caunt “Champion,” sails for America with the “Belt” | 77 |
| A “buncombe” challenge | 77 |
| Charles Freeman, “the Giant” | 78 |
| “The Michigan Giant” and “New York Baby” | 78 |
| Returns to England, March, 1842 | 79 |
| Caunt’s “Champion Cup” | 79 |
| Challenges Bendigo, Tass Parker, and the Tipton Slasher, in six months, each for £200 | 79 |
| Bendigo again in the field | 80 |
| Caunt loses his third battle with Bendigo | 80 |
| A dreadful domestic calamity | 80 |
| Caunt and Nat Langham; a silly feud | 81 |
| Matched for £200 a side | 81 |
| Ben’s challenge to Tom Sayers | 83 |
| Misgivings as to Caunt and Langham’s encounter | 84 |
| The battle | 86 |
| A “draw” and a “dispute” | 88 |
| The “dropping” system | 92 |
| Caunt in retirement | 93 |
| His death, Sept. 10, 1861 | 93 |
| H | |
| HURST, SAM (“the Staleybridge Infant”). | |
| His battle with Tom Paddock | 307 |
| Matched with Jem Mace | 459 |
| His battle with Jem Mace | 460 |
| Defeat and retirement | 463 |
| J | |
| JONES, AARON. | |
| His fights with Harry Orme | 253, 262 |
| Ditto with Tom Paddock | 283 |
| Beaten by Tom Sayers | 237, 287 |
| Fight with Bob Wade | 245 |
| Challenges Tom Sayers | 419 |
| A renewed match with Sayers | 431 |
| Surviving in 1881 | 358 |
| K | |
| KING, TOM, (Champion) 1862. | |
| His birthplace, Stepney | 490 |
| Adopts a sailor’s life | 490 |
| Voyages to Africa | 490 |
| A foreman in the docks | 490 |
| His inoffensive character and courage | 491 |
| Disposes of a “’long-shore” bully | 491 |
| Introduced to Jem Ward | 491 |
| A challenge for a small stake | 491 |
| A forfeit from Clamp | 491 |
| Matched with Tommy Truckle, of Portsmouth | 491 |
| Beats Tommy Truckle | 492 |
| Arrival of Heenan | 494 |
| Matched with Harry Poulson, of Nottingham | 494 |
| Challenges Sam Hurst for Championship | 494 |
| Matched with Evans (Young Broome) | 495 |
| The Championship and Circus quackery | 495 |
| Ring performances of Young Broome | 495 |
| King defeats Young Broome in two Rings | 496 |
| Large stakes for little fights | 500 |
| Matched with Mace | 500 |
| A tedious interval | 501 |
| The approaching day—anxiety | 501 |
| A clerical “tip” | 501 |
| The journey to the fight | 505 |
| King defeats Mace for the Championship | 505 |
| King resigns the belt | 509 |
| A telegraphic message corrected | 510 |
| Heenan again in the field | 510 |
| Agrees to meet Heenan | 511 |
| Articles for £1,000 a side | 511 |
| Heenan in training | 512 |
| His pedestrian feats | 512 |
| Difficulties as to the place for combat | 513 |
| Three nights of watchfulness | 513 |
| Scene at London Bridge | 513 |
| The “roughs” at fault | 513 |
| A morning ride | 514 |
| Speculation; arrival at the ground | 514 |
| The ring at Wadhurst | 515 |
| The fight | 516 |
| King defeats Heenan | 516 |
| Remarks | 517 |
| Conclusion | 518 |
| L | |
| LANGHAM, NAT. | |
| His qualities and “unlucky” weight | 234 |
| Born at Hinckley, Leicestershire | 234 |
| His first fight | 234 |
| Comes up to London | 235 |
| An impromptu battle. Defeats Tom Lowe | 235 |
| Challenges Joe Bostock | 235 |
| Beats “Doctor” Campbell | 236 |
| Challenges; matched with Gutteridge | 236 |
| Defeats Gutteridge | 237 |
| Nat receives forfeit from Angelo and Gutteridge | 238 |
| Matched with Sparks the Australian | 238 |
| A trip per steamer and a strategic movement | 239 |
| Nat defeats Sparkes | 240 |
| In want of a customer | 242 |
| Matched with Harry Orme | 242 |
| Beaten by Harry Orme | 243 |
| Goes into business at Cambridge | 243 |
| Alec Keene, Tom Sayers, Harry Brunton | 243 |
| Nat matched with Tom Sayers | 244 |
| A trip per Eastern Counties Railway | 245 |
| A model mill; Nat defeats Tom Sayers | 246 |
| Tom and Nat, rival pubs | 251 |
| A ridiculous match. Langham and Ben Caunt | 251 |
| “A draw.” Nat dies at the “Cambrian,” Sept. 1st., 1871 | 252 |
| L’ENVOY TO THE READER. | |
| The extinction of the Ring | 518 |
| Fabricated accounts of Prize Fights | 519 |
| The Crusade against the Ring | 519 |
| The noble supporters of Boxing | 519 |
| Ages of the Champions from Broughton to Tom King | 524 |
| Parliamentary discussions | 524 |
| Railway directors and special trains | 525 |
| Anecdote of Lord Palmerston | 526 |
| Cant and cowardice versus manly courage | 527 |
| Farewell to the reader. Finis | 528 |
| M | |
| MACE, JEM (Champion). | |
| His merits as a boxer | 444 |
| Degeneracy of pugilists and Ring-patrons | 444 |
| Birth of Mace | 444 |
| His parentage | 445 |
| His travelling propensities | 445 |
| His first Ring fight | 445 |
| Matched with Bill Thorpe | 445 |
| Rapid increase in weight of some pugilists | 445 |
| Mace beats Bill Thorpe | 445 |
| Comes to London. Proposals for matches | 448 |
| Returns to Norwich, and matched with Mike Madden | 449 |
| A dispute and a disappointment | 449 |
| Six months’ quibbling | 450 |
| A new match and a “bolt” | 450 |
| Reappears as “George Brown’s Novice” | 450 |
| Matched with Bob Brettle | 451 |
| Beaten (?) by Bob Brettle | 451 |
| Appears as “Bob Brettle’s Novice” | 452 |
| Matched with Posh Price of Birmingham | 452 |
| Defeats Posh Price | 453 |
| Becomes a publican | 454 |
| Challenges; matched with Bob Travers (Black) | 454 |
| Career of Bob Travers | 454 |
| Beats Bob Travers (an adjourned fight) | 456 |
| Quarrel with Bob Brettle | 457 |
| Match for £200 with Brettle | 458 |
| Beats Brettle in an adjourned fight | 459 |
| Matched with Sam Hurst | 459 |
| The “Staleybridge Infant” | 459 |
| Defeats Sam Hurst | 460 |
| Mace hailed as Champion | 462 |
| Tom King challenges the title | 462 |
| Mace defeats Tom King | 465 |
| Heenan returns to England, 1861 | 468 |
| Mace in business as a publican | 468 |
| Brettle backs “an Unknown” against Mace | 469 |
| Brettle receives £25 from King’s backers to retire | 469 |
| Mace defeated by Tom King | 469 |
| Matched with Joe Goss, of Wolverhampton | 469 |
| Mace stakes £600 to £400 on the part of Goss | 469 |
| Match-making “considerably mixed” | 469 |
| Fighting career of Joe Goss (note) | 470 |
| Precautions against police interruption | 471 |
| Riotous conduct of roughs at railway terminal | 471 |
| An early journey into Wiltshire | 472 |
| The “referee” difficulty again | 472 |
| A police intervention | 473 |
| A disappointment, and return to town | 473 |
| An adjournment “down the river” | 473 |
| The fight on Plumstead Marshes | 474 |
| Mace defeats Joe Goss | 474 |
| A “side-light” on “bogus” stakes | 475 |
| The anti-pugilistic press | 476 |
| The Morning Star and Dial | 476 |
| The Saturday Review: reflections on the fight | 476 |
| A “champion” from the New World | 477 |
| Mace and Coburn matched for £1,000 | 477 |
| Cavilling negotiations | 477 |
| A sketch of Joe Coburn | 477 |
| Edwin James & Co. | 478 |
| Contrast of olden Ring “patrons” and modern Ring “agents” | 478 |
| Lord Shaftesbury an admirer of boxing (note) | 478 |
| Provincial tours | 479 |
| A journey to Dublin | 479 |
| A public “secret” more Hibernico | 479 |
| Press men in Dublin | 480 |
| Irish arrangements | 480 |
| A London celebrity | 481 |
| A scene at the rendezvous | 481 |
| Goold’s Cross, Limerick, named | 481 |
| A shindy, and the match “off” | 482 |
| A farce, and the a stakes claimed | 482 |
| The stakes drawn | 482 |
| Irish humour | 483 |
| An archiepiscopal hoax | 483 |
| Comments thereon | 484 |
| Colours and “good faith” | 485 |
| Mace offers to fight Coburn for £100 | 486 |
| Degeneracy of the Ring | 486 |
| New “big ones” and the Championship | 486 |
| “Train-swindles” | 486 |
| Mace and Joe Goss’s second match | 486 |
| A “no-fight” | 487 |
| A new giant, O’Baldwin | 487 |
| O’Baldwin claims the belt | 487 |
| Mace’s “Unknown” | 487 |
| O’Baldwin and Joe Wormald for £200 | 487 |
| O’Baldwin loses his way | 487 |
| Forfeits £200 to Wormald | 487 |
| Mace offers to fight O’Baldwin | 487 |
| Mace arrested and held to bail | 488 |
| Sam Hurst brought on the stage | 488 |
| Flight of the Champions to America | 488 |
| Their “doings” there | 488 |
| Mace beats Tom Allen at New Orleans | 488 |
| Returns to England | 488 |
| A publican at Melbourne, 1881 | 488 |
| MASON, FRED (“the Bull-dog”) | 309, 311 |
| O | |
| ORME, HARRY. | |
| His birth. Harry an “East-ender” | 253 |
| His brief but brilliant career | 253 |
| Aaron Jones of Shrewsbury | 253 |
| Orme defeats Aaron Jones | 254 |
| Is matched with Nat Langham | 256 |
| Beats Nat Langham | 257 |
| A second match with Aaron Jones | 259 |
| The “ring,” at Newmarket | 259 |
| Hazardous ground. A shift | 260 |
| Fight No. 1 | 262 |
| Fight No. 2. A second interruption | 263 |
| A misunderstanding. Jones refuses a third meeting. The victory awarded to Orme | 266 |
| The stakes given to Orme. Legal proceedings | 268 |
| Orme viewed as the “coming Champion” | 269 |
| Matched with Harry Broome | 269 |
| Defeated by Harry Broome | 269 |
| Becomes landlord of the “Jane Shore,” Shoreditch | 269 |
| His death, June 9, 1864 | 269 |
| P | |
| PADDOCK, TOM. | |
| The Championship at the appearance of Tom Paddock | 271 |
| Tom fought the best men of the day | 271 |
| Born at Redditch | 272 |
| Beats Pearce, of Cheltenham | 272 |
| Defeats Elijah Parsons | 272 |
| Nobby Clarke | 274 |
| Paddock backed against and beats Clarke | 274 |
| Second match with Nobby Clarke | 276 |
| Clarke loses by a “foul” blow | 276 |
| Paddock as Johnny Broome’s Unknown | 276 |
| Loses the fight with Bendigo by a “foul” | 276 |
| Forfeit with the Tipton Slasher | 276 |
| “Draw” with the Tipton Slasher | 276 |
| Receives forfeit from Jack Grant | 277 |
| And from Con. Parker | 277 |
| Is beaten by Harry Poulson | 277 |
| Beats Harry Poulson | 277 |
| Convicted of “a riot,” and imprisoned ten months | 278 |
| Letter from “Lydon” on the affair | 279 |
| A third match with Poulson | 279 |
| Beats Harry Poulson a second time | 280 |
| Is a matched with Aaron Jones | 283 |
| Beats Aaron Jones | 283 |
| Aaron Jones’s qualifications | 285 |
| Paddock challenges the Championship | 287 |
| Receives £180 forfeit from Harry Broome, who is arrested | 287 |
| The late Mr. Vincent Dowling | 288 |
| Renewed match with Aaron Jones | 288 |
| Beats Aaron Jones | 290 |
| Harry Broome’s challenge | 294 |
| Preliminary proceedings | 294 |
| An excursion by the “Eastern Counties” rail | 295 |
| The fight; defeat of Harry Broome | 299 |
| Sympathy for the loser | 302 |
| The Tipton Slasher again | 304 |
| Tom forfeits to the “Tipton” | 304 |
| Challenges Tom Sayers. Alec Keene’s letter | 305 |
| Caunt challenges Sayers | 305 |
| Paddock’s serious illness; kindness of Tom Sayers | 306 |
| Paddock’s recovery. Match with Tom Sayers | 306 |
| Beaten by Tom Sayers | 306 |
| Beaten by Sam Hurst | 307 |
| His death, June 30th, 1863 | 307 |
| PARKER, TASS. | |
| His battles with the Tipton Slasher | 191 |
| His fight with Brassey of Bradford | 347 |
| Ditto with Harry Preston | 351 |
| PERRY, WILLIAM (“the Tipton Slasher”). | |
| His birth at Tipton | 157 |
| The Slasher’s coup d’essai | 157 |
| Beats Tim Dogherty, near Chelsea | 158 |
| Returns to the “Black Country” | 158 |
| Fights and beats Ben Spilsbury | 158 |
| Matched with “the Gornel Champion” | 159 |
| Beats Jem Scunner, and becomes “a lion” | 159 |
| Tass Parker, Harry Preston, &c. | 159 |
| Forfeits £15 to Deaf Burke | 160 |
| Johnny Broome “manipulates” the “Tipton” | 160 |
| Charles Freeman, “the American Giant” | 161 |
| Theatres, the Circus, and the P.R. | 161 |
| A challenge to Freeman by “an Unknown” | 161 |
| William Perry is declared as “Broome’s Novice” | 162 |
| Matched for £150 against Freeman | 162 |
| The Giant “in training” | 163 |
| Description of Charles Freeman | 164 |
| Comparisons of bulk and strength of men | 166 |
| The journey to the field | 167 |
| A contrast | 168 |
| The fight interrupted by darkness | 170 |
| The return and its incidents | 173 |
| The adjourned battle; magisterial interference | 176 |
| Stanzas: “The unfinished fight of the American Giant and the Tipton Slasher” | 177 |
| A trip down the river agreed upon | 179 |
| Freeman’s benefit at the Westminster Baths | 179 |
| The voyage to the fighting ground | 180 |
| Aristocratic Ring-goers: “the Bishop of Bond Street” | 180 |
| “A shave:” Joe Banks, “the Stunner,” Jem Burn, &c. | 181 |
| The fight and defeat of the “Tipton” | 182 |
| The return: Dick Curtis’s benefit | 185 |
| A challenge to Caunt | 185 |
| The stakes given over to Freeman | 186 |
| Death of the American Giant, of consumption; infrequency of deaths from Ring encounters (note) | 186 |
| Johnny Broome and the “Slasher” | 187 |
| Tass Parker and the “Tipton” matched | 187 |
| Unsatisfactory result; police interruption | 189 |
| The adjourned battle | 190 |
| A railway “excursion” | 190 |
| A squabble about the referee | 192 |
| The fight: the “tumble-down system” | 194 |
| Johnny Hannan’s good conduct | 195 |
| The stakes given to the “Tipton” | 196 |
| Third battle with and defeat of Tass Parker | 196 |
| Challenge to Caunt, who declines to fight under £500 a side | 199 |
| Candidates for the Championship (note) | 199 |
| Tom Paddock | 200 |
| A forfeit, and a match with Paddock | 200 |
| A trip per South Western Rail | 200 |
| A day misspent: Wiltshire and Hampshire tabooed | 201 |
| A mill by moonlight | 201 |
| A “pig-shearing” excursion, and a “foul” blow | 203 |
| The Tipton claims the belt | 204 |
| Johnny Broome’s “Unknown” and the “Slasher” | 204 |
| Harry Broome “the Veiled Prophet” | 204 |
| Defeat of the “Slasher” by “Young Harry” | 204 |
| Receives forfeit from Harry Broome | 205 |
| Perry becomes a publican | 205 |
| Rise of Tom Sayers and his challenge of the Championship | 205 |
| Defeat of the “Slasher” by Tom Sayers | 205 |
| Death of Perry, in January, 1881 | 205 |
| R | |
| ROWE, JOE. | |
| His fight with Harry Broome | 314–321 |
| In business, 1881 (note) | 339 |
| S | |
| SAYERS, TOM (Champion). | |
| His birthplace disputed | 359 |
| An Irish pedigree | 359 |
| Born at Pimlico, near Brighton | 359 |
| A bricklayer on the Preston Viaduct, at Brighton | 360 |
| Comes to London. First fight with Aby Couch | 360 |
| Matched with Dan Collins | 360 |
| First fight interrupted by darkness | 361 |
| Tom beats Dan Collins | 361 |
| Various challenges. Matched with Jack Grant | 361 |
| Beats Jack Grant | 362 |
| Matched with Jack Martin | 365 |
| Beats Jack Martin | 366 |
| Matched with Nat Langham | 368 |
| Tom’s first and last defeat | 369 |
| Langham declines a second encounter | 369 |
| Match with George Sims; £50 to £25 | 369 |
| Beats George Sims | 370 |
| Proposes to go to Australia | 370 |
| Harry Poulson of Nottingham | 371 |
| Jem Burn, his backer, and Bendigo his trainer | 371 |
| Sayers defeats Poulson | 373 |
| The Championship in sight | 379 |
| A new belt and its claimants | 380 |
| The Championship in suspense | 380 |
| Sayers and Aaron Jones for £200 | 380 |
| A change of route | 381 |
| A voyage down the river | 381 |
| Sayers fights Aaron Jones | 383 |
| A “draw” and darkness | 386 |
| Renewed battle with Jones | 387 |
| Sayers beats Aaron Jones | 387 |
| Challenges the Tipton Slasher | 392 |
| Excitement in the sporting world | 393 |
| Preliminaries of the battle | 393 |
| Sayers defeats the Tipton Slasher | 395 |
| Challenged by Tom Paddock | 399 |
| Paddock’s illness | 399 |
| Matched with an “Unknown” for £200 | 399 |
| Bill Bainge, or Benjamin | 399 |
| First battle with Benjamin | 400 |
| Recovery of Paddock and his challenge accepted | 401 |
| The “Three Toms” | 401 |
| Anecdote of Alec Keene | 402 |
| Sayers defeats Tom Paddock | 403 |
| Tom Sayers against “the field” | 404 |
| Second match with “The Unknown” for £100 and the belt | 406 |
| Bill Benjamin once again | 407 |
| Sayers announces his intended retirement after his battle with Benjamin | 408 |
| Extraordinary rumours | 409 |
| The second defeat of Benjamin | 410 |
| Bob Brettle, of Birmingham | 412 |
| Sayers fights Brettle £400 to £200 | 412 |
| £200 to £20 that Brettle was beat in ten minutes | 412 |
| Mr. John Gideon’s “arrangements” | 413 |
| A “monster” train | 414 |
| Bob Brettle’s career | 414 |
| Sayers defeats Brettle | 416 |
| Silly imputations on defeated pugilists | 419 |
| Aaron Jones returns to England | 419 |
| Defeat of Heenan by Morrissey | 419 |
| A challenge from America | 420 |
| Negotiations for an international contest for the belt | 420 |
| Aaron Jones in the field. He retires | 420 |
| A match proposed for Heenan and Sayers | 420 |
| Correspondence between New York and London | 421 |
| Arrival of Mr. Falkland. Preliminary arrangements | 423 |
| Heenan and Morrissey. Heenan lands at Liverpool | 423 |
| The day fixed, April 17th, 1860 | 423 |
| A rush for “tickets” | 423 |
| Two monster trains | 424 |
| The journey down | 424 |
| A distinguished company | 425 |
| Appearance of the men | 426 |
| Pictorial representations of the battle (note) | 426 |
| The fight | 427–432 |
| Conflicting reports of the result | 432 |
| Departure of the referee | 433 |
| Return to town | 433 |
| Condition of the men | 433 |
| Humane decision | 434 |
| Two belts ordered | 434 |
| Circus buncombe | 434 |
| Subscription for Sayers at Stock Exchange, Lloyd’s, Mark Lane, &c. | 435 |
| Sayers a partner in a circus | 435 |
| Free living and its results | 435 |
| Sayers’s last appearance in the Ring | 435 |
| The needs of consumption | 436 |
| Last illness | 436 |
| His death | 437 |
| £1,000 invested for his children | 437 |
| Tom Sayers’s personal appearance | 437 |
| His grave and monument in Highgate Cemetery | 438 |
| The Combat of Sayerius and Heenanus—“A Lay of Ancient London” | 439 |
| T | |
| THOMPSON, WILLIAM, of Nottingham (“Bendigo”). | |
| His birth: one of three sons | 5 |
| Nottingham Lambs. Puritanism and Pugilism | 5 |
| Early battles, and first fight with Caunt | 6 |
| Challenged by Brassey (John Leechman), of Bradford, and others | 7 |
| Beats Brassey | 8 |
| Receives forfeit from Jem Bailey | 8 |
| Comes to London | 8 |
| Proposed match with Molyneaux, and forfeit from Flint of Coventry | 9 |
| Defeats Langan of Liverpool | 9 |
| Challenges any 12 stone man in England | 9 |
| Looney’s challenge replied to by Jem Ward | 10 |
| Looney declines Ward and is beaten by Bendigo | 10 |
| Challenges from Tom Britton, Fisher, Molyneaux, &c. | 12 |
| Matched a second time with Caunt | 13 |
| Beaten by Caunt | 13 |
| Caunt forfeits in a new match | 14 |
| Deaf Burke returns from America, his challenge accepted | 14 |
| Burke goes to France and the match falls through | 14 |
| Stanzas from Bendigo to Deaf Burke | 15 |
| Burke returns and articles are signed | 16 |
| Narrow escape of Bendigo | 17 |
| Shrove Tuesday at Ashby-de-la-Zouch | 17 |
| The road to Appleby | 18 |
| Bendigo beats Deaf Burke | 18 |
| Challenges from and to Caunt. Benefit humbugs | 22, 24 |
| Bendigo in London. A serious accident | 24 |
| “The fine old English Pugilist;” a fancy chaunt | 25 |
| Bendigo redivivus appears at Jem Burn’s | 26 |
| Matched with Tass Parker | 26 |
| Arrested at the instance of his brother and held to bail | 27 |
| Caunt returns from his American tour | 27 |
| Renewed negotiations and “A Valentine from Bendigo to Brassey” | 27 |
| Third match with Caunt | 28 |
| Preliminaries of the fight | 29 |
| Bendigo defeats Caunt | 30 |
| Disputed result and decision of “the Old Squire” (Osbaldiston), the referee | 36 |
| Caunt and Bendigo shake hands | 37 |
| Pretenders to the Championship | 37 |
| Bendigo accepts Tom Paddock’s challenge | 38 |
| Defeats Paddock | 39 |
| Receives the battle-money and retires from the Ring | 45 |
| Bendigo’s eccentricities. Takes “the pledge” and becomes a preacher | 45 |
| Beelzebub and Ben Caunt; an anecdote | 45 |
| True etymon of the nickname “Bendigo” | 46 |
| Dies from the effects of an accident, aged sixty-nine | 46 |
| TRAVERS, BOB (Langham’s Black). | |
| His Ring career | 454 |
| Beaten by Brettle | 454 |
| Beaten by Jem Mace | 455 |
| W | |
| WARD, NICHOLAS. | |
| His claims to a place in this “History” | 206 |
| His birth in East London | 206 |
| His maiden battle with Jack Lockyer | 206 |
| Matched with Jem Wharton (Young Molyneaux) | 206 |
| Arrested and held to bail | 207 |
| A journey to Moulsey and a disappointment | 208 |
| A black job: Sambo Sutton | 209 |
| “Nick” is defeated ignominiously | 210 |
| “Brother Jem” backs Nick for a second trial | 210 |
| Misgivings: a “Beak” at Bicester | 210 |
| The Philistines out | 211 |
| Drawing a badger | 212 |
| A fight and a fiasco | 212 |
| Matched with Jem Bailey | 212 |
| A trip to Woking: an interrupted fight | 213 |
| A second match; Nick forfeits to Bailey | 214 |
| A match with Brassey “no go” | 214 |
| Articled to fight the “Deaf’un” | 214 |
| A trip to Stony Stratford | 219 |
| Adventures | 220 |
| Nick defeats “the Deaf’un;” a wrangle | 221 |
| Challenges Ben Caunt | 223 |
| The stakes awarded to Nick Ward | 224 |
| Matched with Ben Caunt | 225 |
| A long journey and its vicissitudes | 226 |
| Hostility of the “beaks” | 227 |
| The fight: a bloodless victory for Ward | 229 |
| A chaunt of the Ring: “Nick Ward and Caunt” | 231 |
| The stakes given to “Nick” | 232 |
| Second fight with Caunt, and defeat | 232 |
| Death of Nick Ward, Feb. 17, 1850 | 233 |