Protection for Prize Fighters

New York, 1895

If They Are Paying for it, Who Gets the Money?

Monday's New York Sun had the following account of a prize fight in Newtown:

Nearly 200 admirers of pugilism tramped through mud at Ridgewood on Saturday night to witness the glove contest to a finish between Dick Phelan and Barney Lynch. Capt. Jack Mace, Ridgewood A. C., was the referee. Both men weighed in at 6 o'clock, Phelan being nearly a pound over weight and Lynch a trifle under the 135 pounds which the articles of agreement called for. Little time was lost in preliminary work. The men went at it smartly. Lynch caught Phelan a hard one on the chest with the left, Phelan stopping the right nicely with his left arm.

In the second round Lynch continued to do most of the work for three-quarters of the time, and then Phelan started the punching business with a light tap on the chest, followed by a beautiful right-hander on the ear that made Lynch reel. Both men fought fast in the third round, and Phelan scored first blood by catching Lynch a hot left flush on the nose. Lynch seemed to lose his steam at this onslaught and dropped his hands, but Phelan mercifully refrained from striking his dazed opponent. Just before the gong sounded, Lynch surprisingly floored Phelan with a savage right-hander that sent him to the boards with a crash.

The fourth round was hot and very evenly contested. As the fight progressed Lynch fell away. In the ninth round, after one minute and eleven seconds of sparring, Lynch was knocked out by a right handed blow, which landed on the chest.

At a prize fight at Laurel Hill on Saturday night murder came near being committed. There were 500 mugs present. The Brooklyn Eagle gives a half column description of the riot that occurred. Thomas Malby of Brooklyn was shot in the left shoulder.

Isn't this a nice state of things? It is what THE FARMER predicted would happen.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 15, 1895, p. 1.