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The long expected contest between the prize-
fighters Morrissey and Heenan, for the American
championship, was had on the Canada shores of
Lake Erie, about 80 miles from Buffalo, last
Wednesday afternoon, and resulted, after a sharp
and bloody battle, in favor of the former. To
commence at the beginning, it is proper to know
that there is a belt, with a certain traditionary
memory, marking the champion of the American
ring. This belt Tom Hyer won of somebody,
and then Morrissey challenged it of him. Tom
Hyer, however, declared he had retired from the
field, and the miraculous belly band was handed
to somebody else, who, being challenged by
Morrissey, resigned in favor of Yankee Sullivan,
and the two accordingly met, in 1852, at Boston
Corner, then a part of Massachusetts but now
ceded to New York. Morrissey won, and Sulli-
van was for a month lionized in Pittsfield, on a
judicial "parole of honor," terminating with a
most gentlemanly and courteous admonition
from Judge Bishop and a fine of $100 or so.
Since that time Morrissey has held undisputed
sway among the "fancy;" but last spring, John
Heenan, otherwise the "Benicia Boy," a smart
and athletic Trojan youth, conceived the idea that
he was an equal match for the celebrated shoul-
der hitter, and to accomplish his design he gave
up his place in the New York custom house, chal-
lenged Morrissey for the belt, and went into noto-
rious retirement to prepare for the encounter.
The combatants and their friends, a crowd of
about two thousand sporting men assembled from
all quarters of the American continent, went out
from Buffalo by steamboats, at half past 10
o'clock Tuesday evening and landed, Wednesday
morning, at Long Point, Canada, the place which
Morrissey, having the "toss," had selected. The
ring was pitched at 11 a.m. Heenan entered it
at precisely nineteen and a half minutes past 1 p.
m., and Morrissey came in two minutes and a
half later. Two hours were consumed in wran-
gling for a referee, and parties did not come
to scratch until 3.36. They shook hands cor-
dially before commencing. Morrissey looked
more muscular than in any of his previous fights,
and indeed, as the result showed, he had im-
proved greatly in his style since his battle with
Yankee Sullivan. Heenan's form was "beauti-
ful," but his condition did not appear up to the
mark, his skin being very sallow. At the scratch
both men put themselves in fine positions, and
after sparring for a moment they got to work.
Heenan's commencement was strong and mas-
terly, and at the start it looked as if Morrissey
would be beaten. In the first round Heenan drew
the first blood from his antagonist, and was loud-
ly cheered. The first round lasted six minutes,
and was terrific from beginning to end, being one
of the severest ever fought in this country. Hee-
nan kept the lead until the close of the fourth
round, when it became evident that he had been
fighting too fast, and was showing conclusive
signs of weakness. Both men were now covered
with blood which was flowing from several
wounds on each of their faces. When Heenan
appeared the 5th time, he looked very fatigued,
although Morrissey's face showed the greatest
punishment. Morrissey hit him a heavy blow on
the forehead which turned him half way round,
and then countered him terrifically on the nose,
drawing the "claret" in great quanities. Hee-
nan fought wildly, but Morrissey finished the
round by a clean knock down, and $100 to 20
was now offered on Morrissey without takers.
From this time to the close Heenan's strength
kept failing, while Morrissey, maddened by his
own dreadful wounds, seemed to be getting
stronger. By the 8th round Heenan's blows
seemed to have losttheir force, and he had little
effect on Morrissey's adamantine head. The round
closed with Heenan falling from exhaustion. The
game was by this time considered "up" for Heenan
and in the 11th and closing round he came up stag-
gering and looked pitiful, his pluck being en-
tirely out of him from Morrissey's severe hitting
in the latter part of the fight. He was hardly
able to stand, and when Morrissey went up to
him his guard went down, and Morrissey hit him
a very severe blow on the jugular, which knock-
ed him out of time, and he fell on his face, Mor-
rissey stepped away from him. Morrissey, at
the end, jumped over the ropes and walked to
the house, while Heenan did nor recover his con-
sciousness for half an hour after the fight was
over.
This account of the battle is evidently from a
Morrissey partizan. Another and certainly more
satisfactory version, has it that the combatants
literally "clawed each other up," and that Mor-
rissey, though victor, cam out but little better
than his vanquished opponent. This reporter
states that in the 11th round, Morrissey, being
very weak, was carried to the scratch, while Hee-
nan went up alone. The blows given and re-
turned were perfectly terrific, and at last Heenan
fell fainting. His seconds being unable to restore
him to consciousness in the half minute allowed
between the rounds, Morrissey was carried up for
the 12th time, and meeting no opponent was de-
clared the victor. Both Morrissey and Heenan
were shockingly mangled and bruised, and each
were carried away on beds.
And thus ended the fight for the honor of the
American championship. It was short, quick,
and a bloody battle, lasting only twenty-one min-
utes. Sporting men say the records of the ring
do not contain a more desperate and sangninary
fight than this, and we hope they never will.
Morrissey says this is his last fight. There was
intense excitement in all the leading cities of the
country, Wednesday night, to learn the news,
which, provokingly enough, did not come along
until near daylight Thursday morning. A large
amount of money changed hands as the result of
betting on the result. A notorious grog-shop in
Springfield was open all night to get the first
news. The proprietor and his friends had heavy
bets in favor of Morrissey. Two sporting men of
this neighborhood put up $500 apiece on the fight.
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