5.—This was a sharp round; Parish appeared to more advantage than heretofore. The left hand of Randall was much lacerated; nevertheless, in this painful state, it did not prevent him from doing execution. In closing, Parish met with a heavy fall, and was undermost.
6.—The Waterman scarcely ever attempted to strike first; had he done so, in all probability a greater chance might have presented itself. In one or two instances he lost nothing by commencing the attack. In closing, a desperate struggle took place to obtain the throw, after fibbing had been administered; Randall got Parish down and rolled over him.
7.—It was evident Randall was the stronger man, the better fighter, superior on his legs, knew how to shape himself for every situation he had to encounter; in short, he appeared a complete master of the art of war. Some hard milling occurred in this round, and Parish made some good hits; but he could not turn the scale. Randall put in a bellier, and got away. The Waterman followed him in the gamest manner, and never showed anything like flinching throughout the fight. Randall put in a desperate hit in the Waterman’s neck, then laughed and nodded at him. In closing, both down. The friends of Randall were under some alarm, from the quantity of blood he had lost from his left hand; and a medical man of some eminence, who was among the spectators, was rather apprehensive it might produce fainting.
8.—Randall was not to be got at, and he distinctly took the lead in this round. Parish gave him a sort of half-arm hit in the mouth. Both down.
9.—On setting-to Randall drew on one side to void the claret from his mouth; but this was the most effective round in the fight. It was singular to view Randall hit, hit, and hit again till the Waterman went down on his back. (A guinea to a shilling was laughed at.)
10.—In this round the Waterman appeared conspicuous. He got Randall into the corner of the ring, and put in a body blow that made the Nonpareil wince again; in fact, he reeled a little, and had it been heavier it is likely he must have gone down. But the recovery of Randall was excellent, he got out of his perilous situation in the masterly style of a consummate tactician, and the marks of his left were seen imprinted on the body of his opponent. After some little traversing in the ring, Randall was again in the corner, when it was curious to observe the mode he took to obtain distance: he leaned his body back quite through the ropes, and planted, by this means, a heavy hit on the Waterman’s mouth, which soon gave him an opening, when he came lashing out. Some blows were exchanged, and Parish with much dexterity hit Randall under the ear, marking him. The Nonpareil now gave his man no quarter, and, in closing, he threw the Waterman so desperately that his shoulder was nearly dislocated. This was the most effective round in the fight, and Parish received considerable applause.
11 and last.—The Waterman was entitled to every consideration from the manly manner in which he contested every round. Although he did not gain much by in-fighting, he should have tried it at an earlier part of the fight; he could not have been worse off. In out-fighting in this round he was fairly beat to a stand-still; and although he endeavoured to stop scientifically his altered face was again punished. In closing, he received the usual severity; and, on going down with his brave competitor was not able to meet him any more at the scratch. The shouts of victory were loud and lasting, and the Nonpareil was carried out of the ring in triumph. The battle lasted fifty-three minutes.
Remarks.—The capabilities of Randall in the ring were so evident that comment is scarcely necessary. What the most skilful master of the sword exhibits with his weapon, Randall displayed with the fist. His mode of fighting did not appear to originate from the common advantages of teaching: it seemed completely intuitive, and looked more like a natural gift than resulting from the minutiæ of art. Randall gained nothing from chance blows; and rarely ever made a hit without its proving effective. If his blows were not stopped, his distances were so well measured they were sure of arriving at their destination. It was asserted he never hit past the head of his opponent; and though considerable time was lost in the caution observed before he struck, it was amply repaid in his coming off victorious without punishment. However unpleasing it may be to state, the positive fact is, Parish had no opportunity of turning the battle in his favour: it was all on the side of Randall from beginning to end; but, notwithstanding this remark, Parish must be allowed to have sustained the character of a brave man, and a good fighter. Although his face received such tremendous punishment, his peepers were never closed, and he showed himself on the same evening at the White Hart, on the Bromley Road, quite chuffy, refusing to be put to bed. The absence of Mr. Jackson was a severe loss to the combatants, particularly to the losing man, who, in this instance, had not one single farthing collected for him.
To conquer Randall seemed the enviable object of all the light weights; a new customer accordingly offered himself, of the name of Burke, from Woolwich, for 100 guineas a-side. He was a fine, strong young man, taller than Randall, and possessing great confidence in his own abilities. Burke was also thought highly of by the officers at Woolwich, from the capabilities he had displayed in two or three bouts, and he was backed without any hesitation; indeed, his friends had quite made up their minds as to his success. Equally confident were the partizans of Randall. As to himself, he viewed this contest with perfect indifference; in fact, victory appeared so easy to him, that he scarcely underwent the usual preparation of training. The day arrived, Tuesday, June 16, 1818, when the battle was to have been fought at Moulsey Hurst, but the magistrates interfered. Combe Wood was the next bit of turf selected for the contest, when a second interruption occurred from the presence of the beaks. However, this dilemma was soon got rid of, and the parties made the best of their way towards Wimbledon Common, followed by the anxious cavalcade. The ring was made in a twinkling, and Burke followed, by Oliver and Clarke, as his seconds, entered the ropes and threw up his hat. Randall immediately after repeated the token of defiance, waited on by Paddington Jones and Dick Whale. Seven to four on Randall.
THE FIGHT.