101.—Poulson, nearly blind, dashed in with determination, and heavy counter-hits were exchanged, Tom getting well on the mouth and Harry on the nose, and Sayers slipped down. Three hours had now elapsed.
102.—Sayers drew a fresh supply of the ruby from Harry’s right cheek, and, in retreating, fell. Another claim of foul.
103.—Poulson went in and made his right on the side of Tom’s head. Tom retreated, advanced, making his usual feint, but, on seeing Poulson coming at him, he tried to get back, and, his legs slipping apart, he could not get himself into a defensive position, and fell. Another claim of foul was here made; but the referee, who had not seen the round, owing to the interposition of the bodies of the seconds and backers of Poulson, pronounced “fair;” and in his decision we decidedly concur, as, in our opinion, the fall on the part of Sayers was entirely unpremeditated and accidental. It was for some time before order was restored; and the delay was of the greatest advantage to Sayers, while it had an opposite effect on Poulson, whose left eye was now all but closed.
104.—Tom came up gaily, dodged his man, who came towards him, and then nailed him heavily on the proboscis and left peeper. A close followed, and Sayers got down.
105.—Slight exchanges, in which no damage was done, and Sayers slipped down.
106.—Poulson dashed in to make a last effort, and heavy counter-hits were exchanged. Sayers caught him on the left eye, and received a heavy rib-bender and then a crack on the left ear, whereupon he dropped.
107.—Sayers, bleeding from the left ear, came up slowly and feinted in his usual style; caught Harry on the right eye, and then on the mark. Poulson popped his right heavily on the ribs, and another give-and-take rally followed, at the end of which Sayers, who was still weak on his legs, got down.
108.—Poulson’s face was now much swollen and there was scarcely a glimmer from his left peeper. He was, however, still strong as ever on his pins. He rushed in, knowing he had no time to spare, and caught Tom heavily with his right on the left ear. Exchanges followed, Sayers being straightest. Poulson bored in, and got home heavily with his right on the ribs, when Tom delivered his left heavily on the jaw, and knocked him down.
109, and last.—The last blow had evidently been a settler for the gallant Poulson: he came up slowly and all abroad. The game fellow tried once more to effect a lodgement, but missed, his head came forward and Tom delivered the coup de grâce by a heavy right-hander on the jaw, which again knocked the veteran off his legs, and, on being taken up, he was found to be deaf to the call of “Time.” He recovered in a few minutes, and shed bitter tears of disappointment at the unsatisfactory and unexpected termination of his labours. Sayers walked to a public house adjoining the field of battle, and of course was vociferously congratulated by his friends and admirers upon his triumphant success. Poulson was also conveyed to the public-house, and, after taking some refreshment, became himself. He was quite blind, and his mug otherwise much battered, but beyond this had sustained no serious injuries. Sayers complained a good deal of the punishment about his body, and the repeated visitations to the side of his head, but of course the fact of his being the winner went far to allay the physical suffering he endured. Both were enabled to return to town in the same train with their friends, and arrived at their respective houses about half-past nine o’clock. The fight lasted three hours and eight minutes.
Remarks.—Owing to the minute details which we have given of all the material incidents in this really extraordinary battle, we may spare our readers the trouble of reading many observations upon the respective merits of the men, of which the account of the different rounds will have enabled them to form as correct an opinion as ourselves. Tom Sayers, by his quickness on his legs, his steadiness and excellent judgment, not only astonished his adversary and his backers, but completely took his own friends by surprise. He had evidently much improved, in every possible way, since his defeat by Nat Langham. Great fault was found with him for his too constant resort to the dropping system; but for this he had every excuse. He scarcely ever went down without having had a bustling round, and once only during the battle did we observe anything at which an impartial man would cavil. This was at a period in the middle of the fight when he was extremely weak, and at the time no appeal was made by the friends of Poulson. It must be taken into consideration that Tom was anything but himself, and the ground was far from favourable for keeping on his legs and getting out of the reach of his weighty and powerful adversary. It has been urged that the ground was as much against Poulson as Sayers; but this was hardly so. Poulson is a steady ding-dong fighter, of the squarest build, does not depend much on his defensive tactics, and makes little use of his legs; while Tom had to be continually jumping back, and, when opposed to such superior weight, would of course find proportionate difficulty in keeping on his pins. Indeed, many times when he fell he came to the ground with such a “thud” as must have shaken a good deal of his strength out of him. We are aware that since the match had been made many things had occurred to harass Tom’s mind, and that he had pecuniary difficulties to contend with which, we trust, will not exist in future matches; and this, again, must be taken into consideration. He does not want for friends, and, we doubt not, with steadiness and good conduct, will find himself on the high road to prosperity. Of Harry Poulson’s gallantry and manliness we cannot say too much. He fought from first to last in a game, straightforward manner, with an evident determination to do his best to win in a fair and honourable way. He scorned to take advantage of many opportunities of falling on his man, when he might have done so with perfect fairness, and otherwise comported himself in a manner as reflects the very highest credit upon his character as a man, and a demonstrator of the noble art of self-defence. Although evidently annoyed at being unable to get home as he expected, he still never allowed his temper to get the better of him; and often when Tom, from his shifty tactics, evaded what had been intended as a finisher, he stood and shook his head at him, as much as to say it was too bad, but not once did he allow a harsh or angry expression to escape him. He is truly one of the gamest of the game; but he is too slow, and depends too much on his right hand, to have much chance of success against a really finished boxer. We do not consider that his age had anything to do with his defeat, for he is as fresh as most London boxers who are ten years his juniors. His bravery and universal good conduct cannot but secure him the respect and support of all admirers of such good qualities.