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A NEW ADVOCATE FOR PRIZE
FIGHTING.
[From the Saturday Review.]
We ventured to suggest last week that one way to
check garotting would be for Londoners to learn to
defend themselves. If a man carries a stick or other
weapon, he should know how to use it; and if he
carries no weapon at all, it is still more desirable
that he should know how to use his fists. In either
case the difference which instruction and practice
make is greater than the uninitiated can compre
hend. A proficient in the art of self-defence would
be likely to take an attack by garotters coolly, for he
would know that even that cruel weapon called a
" knuckle-duster" could not hurt him if the blow
struck with it Ml an inch short of the features it was
intended to obliterate. There is nothing more impor
tant, in receiving an attack, than to judge eiaotly the
length of th? enemy's range, and skill in doing this
may be acquired by" those who will adopt the proper
means. It is now some time since we first pointed
out that there was something to be said for prize
fighting, and certainly we did not then anticipate
such a reinforcement of our argument as is afforded
by the present state of the liondon streets.
Suppose that Tom King, the conqueror in this
week's prize-fight, were walking home late at night
alone with the proceeds of his victory in his pocket,
and that he was observed by two or three garotters
who happened to know his person. It would very
much surprise us if the garotters did not keep at a
respectful distance from that mighty arm which made
such havoc of poor Jem Mace's countenance. The
garotter wonld let King alone ; and, although Mace
has not the same height and length of reach, they
would be equally unwilling to meddle with a boxer of
suob well-pwed drill. Either of these champion*
could so deal with two or three of the ordinary street
ruffians that they would lie. helpless where they fell,
or if they got away they would carry marks by which
they might easily be recognised. That which would
be a dangerous adventure for the ordinary Londoner
would be only a good joke or ? pretty little bit of
practice for King and Mjace. And yet these men
are neither bigger nor more eonrageous Chan many
others, but they happen to hare made a peculiar
study of an art which has been far too generally
neglected. They have fought a very creditable battle,
and if they are quiet well-conducted men, they are
?ore to derive benefit from the awakening perception
in society of the advantages of pugilism. The cur
rent of opinion has been setting in (heir favor for
tome tune, and it will gain strength from the pre
valence of garotting. Everybody now thinks and
talks about a fight for the championship. Indeed,
"so widely spread is the demoralisation produced by
these disgraceful speotaclea,"thateven die Beeordfieom
which we borrow this phrase, took the -opportunity of
its publication on Wednesday afternoon to convey
early information to evangelical circles of the result
of the battle between King and Mace. This battle
would have been more interesting if there had not
existed between the combatants nearly the same dis
parity in aise as made the famous match between
Savers and Heenan so unsatisfactory as a trial of
puguisUo Btitt. King is nearly fire inches taller than
MJiwyind about two atone heavier. King's anperiority
in length of reach is even greater than in height and
freight; but Mace is an exceedingly clever boxer, and
King was, and, perhaps 'etill is, considerably inferior
to him in skilL When these two men fought in
January of the present year science proved too muoh
for size and strength, and Mace defeated his antago
nist after fighting upwards of an hour. It is highly
creditable to King that he has improved ac he has
done since that day; And, as he will probably improve
still further, it v scarcely to be expected that Mace
will be able in any further trial to do better with him
than he has done this week. If two men so unequal
in size are nearly equal in skill, it is certain that
the stronger man will win; and if they are very
unequal in skill, we do not think that the sort of
exhibition which they must make ought to bs
dignified with the tide of a fight for the Cham
pionship. However, as Mace held the belt, he was
bound either to fight King or to give it up, and if he
could have kept out of the reach of King's long arm,
while contriving to <*et in his own hits, he might have
gradually reduced his tall opooenf s strength until he
brought himself upon even terms with. him. Bat,
after trying many times in rain, King did at last
succeed in hitting Mace -with his full force, and no
second blow was needed. Thus within thirty-eight
minutes the fight was begun and ended, and the
strong confidence of Bface'e backers was changed to
disappointment. If Mace had been more cautious,
he raiglit have fought a more protracted, and possibly
a winning battle. But he was trying to "force the
pace," and, as he hit a little short, King caught him
before be could jump back, and gave him, with all
the weight of his body, a counter-hit, under which
he fell helpless. Even after this tremendous blow,
Mace stood or tottered during two more rounds, thus
proving that any suspicion which had been thrown
upon Mb courage was unmerited. That Mice should
have been able to come op to time at all is a great
example of what may be done by pluck and training;
and, on the other hand, King deserves high praise for
having derived from his previous defeat the know
ledge which now gsve bin. victory. The old com
parison between the prif 9-ring and the battlefield of
life may be once more repeated; for there axe not
many competitors in any kind of contest who might
not take a lesson of resolution and perseverance from
the boxer King. Tbo blow which knocked Mace off
his legs was compared by some of the spectators to a
shotfrom an Armstrong gun. Perhaps this comparison
was suggested by the scents of the engagement, which
was those same dreary Essex marches amid which long ?
range cannon may be fired without injury to life or
properly. We cannot help *hinlpT?[? that, where there
is room for experiments with rifled guns and iron
plated targets, a few square yards of turf may well be
spared for testing the powers of penetration and
resistance of the human fist and cheek. Surely the
police have plenty to do in looking after garotters,aud
might venture to leave the price-fighters to them
selves. It is rather hard npon the patrons of this
eport that they must sit up all night and steal like
msle&ctors, amid the fog of early moraing, to an out
of-the-way spot where it is only just possible that the
police may be an hour or two behind them. If the
art of self-defence is of any value, we must allow it to
be sustained at the highest point of excellence, by the
means which experience shows to be best adapted for
that purpose. In every art the most practical test is
the most reliable. As English horse breeding would
be without the Derby, so would English boxing be
without an occasional fight for the Championship.
If it be once admitted that men are likely to want to
use their fists or any other weapon, civilisation and
humanity require that they should be taught how to
use them. A signal illustration of the necessity of
such teaching is afforded by the deplorable duel which
has lately occurred in France. We say nothing in de
fence of a state of society which renders duels possible,
or even necessary; but if a man lives amid
such dangers, should he not prepare himself
to meet them creditably? It is melancholy to read
of the poor helpless Dillon going, for the first time,
to a fencing-master the day before his meeting with
an adversary who might be expected to know what
he was about. It is to be feared that the fencing
master's unsuccessful efforts to teach his pupil the
difference between quarte and fierce only made that
pupil nervous, and less able than ever to defend his
life. But whether Dillon took a single lesson in fenc
ing, or none at all, the meeting between him and ML
de Gramont could scarcely fail to be fatal to one or
other of them, because of Dillon's utter want of skilL
A man who has never had a sword in his hand before
thinks that, by a sudden and violent attask at the
first possible moment, he may hit his practised adver
sary while expecting an attack according to the rules
offence. Something of this kind must have been in
tended by the fencing-master who told Dillon that,
by making a particular movement, he might spit his
adversary like a lark. To guard against auch possi
bilities the skilled fencer is compelled to do what he
would not do against an. opponent of equal skill. At
tbe first rash which bis unsuccessful assailant makes he
receives him on his own point, and the sword enters
tbe advancing body up to the hilt; in fact, he
"counters" his antagonist very much as King did
Mace. Thus he inevitably takes life; but if he did
not take it he would lose it. Bat where the eword
is iv practised hands it may reasonably be hoped that
? honour will be satisfied" on less severe terms. The
use of fencing sometimes is that 50a may not hurt
your adversary too much; but we do not recommend
boxing on that ground. On the contrary, society
would thank proficients if,when they begun punching
the head of a garotter, they would not soon remember
to leave off.
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