49.—Broome’s left eye was now completely closed, and the surrounding flesh was considerably swollen; his nose, also, looked very blue. He went to his man, caught him round the neck with his left, and fibbed him severely with the other hand. Rowe at length caught the offending mawley, and forced Harry’s head back. After a little struggling, Rowe slipped down.
50.—Joe stopped a well-intended smack from Broome’s left. The latter then made his “one, two” on Rowe’s mouth and body. Joe slipped, and Broome was making an upper cut at him as he went down, but just succeeded in stopping the delivery in time to prevent grounds for a claim of “foul.”
51 and 52.—Some good countering took place in these rounds with equal advantage, for what Broome gave on Joe’s mouth and cheek he received in return on his damaged ogle and sneezer.
53.—The men quickly rushed to a close, and after a short struggle Joe succeeded in giving Broome a clean somersault over the ropes, amidst the joyous shouts of his partisans.
54 to 57.—Still the same hit-away style of fighting, no stopping or flinching, Broome occasionally getting his man’s head in chancery and fibbing. In the 56th round Harry put in a smasher on the body of Rowe, from the effects of which he was going down, when Broome sent in another, which did not reach him until he was on his knees. Another claim of “foul” was made by Jem Turner and Sambo, but the blow was evidently accidental, and Spring decided “fair.” Had it been otherwise, it would have been almost impossible for Spring to see, he was so beset by the mob who were creating the disturbance and overwhelming the ring. Spring at length was compelled to come within the arena to watch the proceedings. In the 57th round Rowe went down weak. Both Johnny Broome and Peter Crawley had now been in the ring during some rounds, Broome assisting his brother, and Crawley performing the same kind office for Rowe. Broome led the way, and his presence excited a good deal of angry feeling, but it was “six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.”
58 and 59.—Rowe was getting weaker, and Broome was piping. In the latter round heavy counter-hits were exchanged in Broome’s corner. The latter then put in a heavy body blow, from the effects of which Rowe staggered and went down.
60.—In-fighting in favour of Rowe, who made several good hits on Broome’s dial. Broome retaliated, but not so severely. They closed at the ropes, and both fell together. (The ring was now half full of people, and sticks and whips were being plied without avail on all sides.)
61 to 70.—On coming up for the 61st round, Broome’s face, principally on the left side, was terribly disfigured, while Rowe’s right jaw, cheek, and upper lip were so much cut and swollen as to produce the appearance of dislocation of the jaw. The hitting in these rounds was severe, although Rowe occasionally hit open-handed. In the close they generally fibbed each other severely, and fell together. The space in which they were fighting became gradually more and more circumscribed, and almost invariably in the close the ring-keepers were obliged to surround the combatants, and literally beat the crowd away, to give room for them to struggle for the fall, and to prevent their being injured by the mob.
71.—Tom Spring now, finding that there was not the slightest probability of a clear ring being again obtained, and satisfied that it would be impossible to obtain fair play, resigned his office as referee. The seconds and backers ought then to have each withdrawn his man; instead of this, however, the fight was continued amidst the most dreadful confusion, and in a space about two yards square, until the 81st round, when the men were taken away and conveyed on board the Nymph, after fighting for 2 hours and 21 minutes. All chance of concluding the contest had at this time vanished, and, of course, universal dissatisfaction prevailed. A cowardly attack was made on Johnny Broome by some of the disappointed Eastenders, but Peter Crawley manfully threw his shield over him, and prevented mischief.
Remarks.—We have thus, to the best of our ability, amidst the shameful confusion which prevailed, endeavoured to give as accurate a description of this battle as our opportunities would admit. We can only repeat that at a very early period of the battle the crowd completely overwhelmed the efforts of those who were certainly anxious and creditably active in their endeavours to preserve order. The jealousy of those, however, who could not pay towards those who had paid was so forcibly evinced as to prevent all resistance; and this, combined with a large majority of Rowe’s friends and partisans, who indulged in a very unseemly expression of ill-feeling towards Johnny Broome and his brother, produced the very unsatisfactory conclusion at which the affair arrived, and of course led to the necessity of another meeting before it could be decided which was the better man. We confess we do not feel ourselves justified, from all we have yet seen, in assigning the palm of decided superiority to either. They both fought manfully and bravely, and exhibited all those sterling qualities which are calculated to reflect credit upon the characters of British boxers. There was no flinching, no cowardly attempts to fall to avoid punishment, nor were any of those subterfuges adopted on either side calculated to create the disapprobation of the spectators. On the contrary, when permitted by the disgraceful intrusion of strangers in the ring, they promptly and fearlessly obeyed the call of time, and hit away left and right each with a courageous determination to turn the scale in his favour. In the last few rounds—or, rather, scrambles—which took place, we are inclined to believe that Broome had a little the advantage; but it would be by no means just on our parts to give this as a decided opinion, and the less so as we saw Rowe run vigorously from the ring to the place of embarkation, followed by Broome. We were glad to make our escape from such a scene, and made our retreat along the banks of the river to Greenhithe, from whence we subsequently obtained a passage, not in the “Nymph,” but in a Gravesend boat, on its way to Blackwall, and thus did not obtain a close view of the men. Many heavy blows were exchanged in the course of the turmoil, and some one, with a wantonness perfectly indefensible, flung up a quart bottle in the air, which, alighting on Johnny Broome’s head, might have been fatal, and, as it was, proved anything but agreeable to his feelings. We cannot too strongly impress upon the parties concerned in this disgraceful exhibition that, as in the fable of the goose and the golden egg, they are sacrificing the chances of their own future gratification. A clear ring and no favour is the battle-cry of all fair boxing; and if the spirit of this cry be once abandoned, it is in vain to hope for the continuance of those manly demonstrations of courage and fair play which render prize-fighting defensible. It seems also to be forgotten that, by keeping a wide and extended ring throughout a combat, all have a fair opportunity of witnessing its progress; while, by thus closing in, the greater portion must be debarred from a view of the combatants, and thus disorder becomes inevitable. Added to this, the prejudices of the opponents of the good old sport become trebly fortified, and the interference of the magistrates and the police will find not only apologists, but eulogists, even among those who heretofore would have been the first to decry their interference. Aquatic excursions, by limiting the number of spectators, were, in the first instance, adopted as a prudent and judicious move, and so long as they were confined, by a fair charge, to the men and their real supporters, this object was gained; but the unfair system of starting opposition boats, at low prices, by enabling the worst class of Ring-goers to obtrude upon the scene of action, has superseded this intention, and it now only remains to adopt some new expedient by which fair play and good order can be maintained. Nothing but a determined coalition upon the part of the milling fraternity themselves will prevent the repetition of evils which must altogether extinguish their popularity as a class.