45 and 46.—The mischief pretty equal, and the fighting excellent. Perkins down in both rounds.
47.—A desperate rally; both did their best; the Pet hit down, but Reid also fell on his hands and knees, rather weak.
48.—Perkins’s right eye was now completely closed, and his left looked queer. Reid went in to finish, but was manfully met; still Perkins had the worst of the fighting, and was hit down.
49.—Reid all gaiety, and again fresh; the Pet steady, but dreadfully punished in the phiz. The Londoner made play, and hit away right and left, the latter on the body. Perkins met him on the nose with his left, but in the return was hit down with a left-handed job.
50.—Reid was now the favourite at long odds, but the Pet’s game did not desert him; his heart was still in the right place, and he made a desperate effort to redeem his falling fortune. Reid, however, was too strong, and dropped him with a left-handed touch in the physog. The Pet fell forward on his face weak.
51, 52, and 53.—All in favour of Reid, though Perkins did wonders, and fought with unshrinking courage. In the last round he fell on his knees, resting on his adversary’s shoulder. Reid smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away. (Cries of “Take him away!”)
54, and last.—The Oxford man came up to make a last effort, but it was evidently all over. Still he did his best—made some weak returns to slashing hits, and at last received the coup de grace; he fell, but gloriously, and his seconds, thinking he had had enough, gave in for him, the fight having lasted exactly an hour. Both men were heavily punished. Reid walked to his carriage amidst the cheers of his “pals,” and Perkins, having recovered from his temporary doze, rose soon after and followed his example, terribly mortified in spirit as well as altered in frontispiece.
Remarks.—This was one of the best and fairest mills on record, and was throughout full of bustle and spirit. Reid, though not quite up to the mark of former times, was all his friends had a right to anticipate. He was active, vigorous, and quick, and never threw a chance away, save on one or two occasions, when Perkins slipped down intentionally, and when he might have been hit, but his opponent generously withheld his blows. This added to his credit; but it is due to say he suffered severely for his victory, and was heavily punished in the counter-hitting. The Oxford man fully maintained his fame, and although beaten fell gloriously before his superior in strength and weight, if not much so in science. Such was the equality of mischief in some of the latest struggles in the fight that there was no certainty till the fiftieth round; and on two or three occasions Perkins was the favourite with his friends, and backed at odds. With the exception of going down too often on the cautious system there was no fault to be found with the Oxford hero; and even this, though not consistent with the idea of “stand-up fighting,” was justifiable in point of good generalship. In fact, it was impossible for a beaten man to have done more to deserve the respect and approval of his backers.
About a week before the fight, Reid, in a foolhardy experiment to show how he would muzzle his antagonist, struck his knuckles against a door, and swelled up his hand; but from this piece of folly he sufficiently recovered not to show its effects. On the night after the fight both men showed at their respective headquarters at Oxford, and exhibited heavy marks of the conflict of the morning. The University city was all bustle and commotion, and both pleased and displeased had enough to say on the subject
Tom Spring, Gully, Phil Sampson, Tom Gaynor, and several of the old school of boxers were on the ground, and resolutely assisted in preserving order.