84.—Bob again bored in, hit with his right, and floored Jem. Bob fell with him.
85, and last.—Jem, all but gone, collected his remaining strength, and jobbed slightly with his left. Bob returned, catching him on the front of the head, and Jem fell at the stake, completely doubled up from exhaustion. Belcher tried to bring his man to the scratch, but he could not stand, and “time” being called, Bob was proclaimed the conqueror, in exactly one hour and a half, amidst the warm congratulations of his friends. Jem remained for some time unconscious, while Bob stood up shaking hands with his admirers, and was carried off in triumph. Belcher was, of course, dreadfully mortified. He accused Jem of laziness, for not going in to finish before; and charged the time-keeper with calling time too quickly at last, when Jem was distressed, while he gave additional time to Bob when he most wanted it. This was denied; and, in fact, the irregularities in time-calling, as we have already stated, were not attributable to the time-keeper, but to those who assumed his prerogative, and thereby created much confusion. Some time elapsed before Jem could be removed from the ring, but on comparing punishment, the odds were fearfully against Bob, who, we think, was more punished than in his last battle. His wiry frame, however, added to the uncommon pains taken by Curtis and Ward, brought him through, and, in fact, as it were, he performed a miracle.
Remarks.—Never was there a fight in which so many extraordinary changes took place. Nor ever was there an event won so completely out of the fire, except the fight between Cooper and Shelton. In speaking critically of the affair, without disparaging the bravery of the men we must pronounce our opinion to be unfavourable to the character of the contest. Bob fought badly. It is true, profiting by experience, he kept his left hand well up, to save his nob from Jem’s right-handed jobs, but in his returns he was irregular and wild, fought round, and with his hands open. He did not hit at points, and, in fact, as far as punishment went, made but little impression; bustle was his motto, and bustle alone gave him the day. Jem Burn fought infinitely better; he hit straight both left and right, but his in-fighting was bad, and he did not make as much of his man as he might in the closes. At the time when Bob was brought to a stand-still, too, he was unable to make an effectual finish. This may be attributed to the disordered state of his hands; but from the distress of his opponent, if he could not hit, he ought to have rushed in and got him down any way, for Bob, at one time, had no notion of protection left. Perhaps his seconds were to blame in not giving him this hint, instead of permitting him, after time was called, to sit upon the knee until Bob made a move. At one time it was a hundred to one in his favour, and yet Bob was suffered to recover, and thus gain those laurels which appeared at an immeasurable distance from his grasp. Looking at the quickness of the fighting, and recollecting that at least 50 minutes were devoted to time, some judgment may be formed of the men’s condition, for it will be seen that 85 rounds were fought in 40 minutes, during which the exertion on both sides was immense. This proves that training had not been neglected, for nothing but the finest physical powers could have stood such a test. There was no standing still, no idle sparring, but all slap-up work. Jem lost the light solely from exhaustion. Nature left him. His frame is not anatomically so well calculated to endure continual work as Bob’s, and thus Nature, and not the want of good milling qualities, lost him the victory. He was weak when he most wanted vigour, for if he could have steadied himself to put in two or three good hits in the middle of the battle, his labours must have been brought to a conclusion. Whatever may have been said of Bob’s game, he, on this occasion, proved himself entitled to every praise. Large sums were dropped by Jem’s friends on the event.
Baldwin, by his defeat of Jem Burn, having turned the tables on one of his adversaries, appeared to think the time had arrived for effecting a similar operation upon another. Accordingly he issued a challenge to Ned Neale for a second trial of skill. The Streatham Youth, ever willing, accepted the proposal, and articles were signed to meet on the 29th of April, 1828, for £200 a-side. The details of this undecided battle, which was interrupted by a magistrate, will be found in Chapter V., under “Neale,” p. 316.
On the Thursday after the fight Baldwin took a benefit at the Tennis Court. He took the money at the door, was as gay as a lark, and bore but little marks of face punishment. He jestingly remarked that he had “just got half through his job of beating Neale when the beak popped in.” As neither man was satisfied with this unsettled question of superiority, a third match was made, the stakes being increased by £50. Wednesday, the 28th of May, 1828, was agreed upon; as the fight between Jem Ward and Carter was fixed for the Tuesday, both men’s friends, thinking them too good to play second fiddle in a second fight on the same day, shifted the tourney a day forward.
St. Albans was, accordingly, all alive on the Wednesday morning, and before one the gathering round the ring at No Man’s Land amounted to over four figures, including a goodly muster of the Corinthian élite of ring-patrons. Neale first put in an appearance, accompanied by Harry Holt and Dick Curtis as his seconds, Baldwin soon after following suit, attended by Young Dutch Sam and Tom Olion. Betting seven to four on Neale. All being in readiness the men were led to the scratch, shook hands smilingly, and their seconds having retired to their corners, threw up their hands for
THE FIGHT.
Round 1.—An opportunity of judging the condition of the men, about which there had been so many rumours, was now given. Neale was a trifle lighter than we have seen him, but looked bright and well, his weight, in all his clothes, being under 12st. 4lbs. Bob was as fine as a star, every muscle in his splendid frame fully developed, his skin fair, his eyes clear, and in every point in first-rate trim. His weight was said to be 12st. 4lbs.; we believe it was a few pounds more. For the first five minutes the men manœuvred steadily, each watching for an opening, and each endeavouring by mutual feints to throw his antagonist off his guard. Both, however, were extremely cautious; and Neale more than once, in jumping back from a threatened attack, displayed great activity. At last Neale, as if impatient of fencing, stepped in, and delivering right and left rapidly, caught Baldwin on the side of his head and on the mouth, drawing first blood from the latter. Bob hit out rather wildly, and closed. In the effort for the fall both were down.
2.—Bob came up smiling, and Ned made himself up for quicker operations. After a short pause he again planted his right and left on his adversary’s nob. Baldwin returned with the left lightly, and closed. Ned grappled for the throw, and chopped him on the back of his head with the right; he then put out his leg for the lock, and threw Baldwin over on his head, falling with him. Five to two on Neale.
3.—On coming up, Neale said, “Fight fair, Bob; don’t push your finger in my eye.” Baldwin nodded, then dropped in his right on Ned’s left side. Ned hit out heavily with his right, but it went over Bob’s shoulder, and some half-arm hitting followed. In the close Baldwin got down easy.