16.—In this round Burn was hit sharply; and in going down his left leg fell under him, and great fears were entertained it was broken. (“Spring for ever,” and twenty to one; indeed it was thought Burn would not come again.)
17.—Burn endeavoured to show fight, but he was again sent down at the ropes, and £10 to a crown was offered.
18 and last.—Burn was soon down, and Spring proclaimed the conqueror. Tom walked out of the ring with apparent ease, and with very few marks.
Remarks.—Although this was pronounced a bad fight, Spring is justly entitled to much praise, from his good style of fighting, and the skill he displayed in not going “to work” too rashly, from his bad condition. Had Spring been as well as he ought, the battle must have been over in half the time. It, however, was the general opinion of the fancy, that Burn, previous to the contest, could not be disposed of in half an hour, and numerous bets were made to that effect. The judges too insisted that Spring was not a hard hitter, and they did so at the conclusion of this battle; but he repeated his blows so often on the nob of his opponent that they ultimately proved effectual. Burn, after the first round, appeared to have lost confidence. Gameness alone will not reach the top of the tree. Spring behaved bravely to his opponent, and was much applauded. He had Burn at the ropes in a defenceless state, but he saw the battle was his own, and he lifted up his hands and walked away. If it be admitted that Spring was not a hard hitter, it cannot be denied that he possessed a superior knowledge of fighting, and was too difficult a man for Burn to get at.
A match was on the tapis between Spring and Sutton, the Black, but it went off.
In consequence of some dispute about impropriety of conduct, between Spring and Josh. Hudson, after the battle of Cooper and Shelton, at Moulsey Hurst, on Tuesday, June 27, 1820, a purse of £20 was immediately subscribed by the amateurs for Spring and Hudson to fight. Both men accepted the offer without the least hesitation; more especially as an amateur offered £5 to Hudson, if he would only fight one round with Spring. Five or six rounds, however, were sharply contested, in which Joshua drew the cork of his antagonist, but on his getting the worst of it, Hudson pocketed the £5, and Turner judiciously took him out of the ring. This was the fourth battle on that day. Spring looked upon this £20 as a sweetener for his recent losses on Shelton, whom he had backed. The dispute in question, it seems, was owing to Spring refusing to admit Hudson into the room where Shelton had been put to bed.
During the time Spring was at Norwich, when Painter fought with Oliver, five guineas a-side were deposited for a match between the Gas-Light Man and our hero. The backers of Hickman, however, did not come forward at the appointed time, in London, to make the stakes good, when the £5 was forfeited to Spring.
The friends of Oliver, anxious to keep the game alive, made a match for £100 a-side with Spring.
Thus the game Tom Oliver was pitched upon to try to check the upward career of Spring, and the stakes, 200 sovereigns, were made good over a jolly dinner at Belcher’s, and the day fixed for February 20, 1821. Accordingly, as this was the first spring meeting of gymnastic sports for the year, at daybreak on the following morn the Western Road was all bustle. It was a prime turn-out of the swells; upwards of nine noblemen were present; but it was a “big fight,” and that is sure to bring them to the ring. Salt Hill was the place first named; but a hint from the beaks removed it early in the morning, and the ring was again formed at about two miles from Arlington Corner. Here the magistrates again interfered, it is said, at the request of a lady of rank, whose sons were great supporters of this British sport, and the “beaks” were not to be gammoned into good humour, although Oliver had made his appearance in the ring. The bustle and confusion created to be off instanter was truly laughable, and the “devil take the hindmost” was the order of the day. But in a few minutes the scene was truly delightful. It was a perfect steeple chase. The string of carriages for miles winding round the road, the horsemen galloping and leaping over the hedges, the pedestrians all on the trot, and the anxiety displayed on every countenance to arrive in time, all following the Commander-in-Chief and Bill Gibbons with the stakes. The surprise occasioned in the villages through which his motley group passed, the children out of doors at the farm houses shouting, the “Johnny Raws” staring, the country girls grinning, the ould folks wondering what was the matter, and asking if the French were coming, the swells laughing and bowing to the females, and all the fancy, from the pink on his “bit of blood,” down to the toddler, full of life and spirits, formed a most interesting picture. At length Hayes was reached, and the ring formed without delay. Oliver threw his hat into the ring about six minutes to three, followed by Tom Owen, in his white topper, and Richmond. Spring appeared shortly afterwards, repeating the token of defiance, attended by the Champion of England and Painter. The colours, yellow for Oliver, and blue for Spring, were tied to the stakes. On meeting in the ring, the combatants shook hands together in true British style, and Spring asked Oliver how he did? “Pretty bobbish,” said Oliver, smiling; “very well.”
THE FIGHT.