11.—Sampson delivered heavily on Spencer’s mug with his left, and broke away. Spencer rushed in, and some good in-fighting followed. In closing Sampson was thrown.
12.—Sampson again put in a dangerous nobber with his left. Spencer countered, but again received right and left, and in the close Sampson went down.
13, and last.—Sampson waited for his man and delivered heavily with his left. Spencer would go in vigorously, but Sampson met him right and left with punishing hits, and jobbed him down. Spencer was hit stupid; he rolled about, and could not stand when “time” was called. Sampson was proclaimed the victor. The second mill lasted fifteen minutes, making the fight, in the whole, twenty-three minutes. Spencer was heavily punished about the head, but Sampson was not much hurt. Both men were reconducted to Newcastle the same night.
Remarks.—Spencer was the right sort of boxer for Sampson. Men that will go and fight with Phil stand a good chance to be polished off-hand. A rushing boxer like Spencer is a sort of gift to him. It is, however, but common justice to observe that Spencer proved himself a game man and a troublesome customer to the Birmingham hero. The amateurs pronounced it a good battle. The right hand of Phil is at all times dangerous, and his experience in the P.R. and his science united render him a fit opponent for any countryman, let him be as strong as Hercules.
After this slice of luck the friends of Sampson rallied round him, and he immediately sent forth all sorts of challenges to all sorts of boxers by means of his editorial amanuensis and his weekly paper. As, however, these epistles, from their bad grammar and attempts at rude wit, do not commend themselves as “elegant extracts,” we pass them by. One, to White-headed Bob (who was under articles to fight Ned Neale), was pure “buncombe;” others, such as those to Jem Ward, proposed ridiculously low stakes, and others were mere “gag.” One to Big Brown, of Bridgnorth, however, had better fortune.
One of Phil’s challenges having taken the form of “Brown giving me (Phil) £20 to make a match for £300 a-side,” the Big ’un thus replied in another weekly journal:—
“To the Editor of ‘Bell’s Life in London.’
“Sir,—I apprehend that addressing Philip Sampson through the medium of your valuable paper will be to little purpose. There seems to have been a little bounce, but I wish I could flatter myself there was any reliance to be placed on what he has sent forth to the public.
“With regard to his proposal of my giving him £20 to fight me for £300, my intention was to propose fighting him £320 to £300; for be it remembered that he once got £20 of my money in a way not very satisfactory to myself; but it is not my intention that he shall have any more of it unless I am fairly beat out of time by him, which, if he should happen to do, he shall be most welcome to.
“I will fight him £320 to £300, half-way between Birmingham and Bridgnorth, and I will attend at the place he appoints—the ‘Woodman,’ Birmingham—on Monday the 24th inst., between the hours of eight and ten p.m., for the purpose of making a deposit and entering into the necessary articles.