On
October 12, 1853, an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 fans watched the bare-knuckle
fight for the unofficial American Boxing Championship in Boston Corners, NY
between the 40-year-old champion, Yankee Sullivan, and his 22-year-old
challenger, John Morrissey—over 3,000 of them had arrived by the New York and
Harlem Railroad from New York City according to The New York Times.[1]
Morrissey
entered a ring that had been erected in an abandoned brickyard around 2 pm and
tied his colors, a handkerchief of stars and stripes, to one of the ring’s
center posts. According to the sports reporters covering the fight, he was six
feet tall and weighed 175 lbs.—a light heavyweight in today’s boxing weight
divisions. Sullivan came into the ring next and tied his colors, a black
handkerchief, to the other center post. He was five feet seven inches tall and
weighed 156 lbs.—a modern middleweight.[2]
In
the first round, Sullivan drew first blood by feinting deftly and using his
right hand to smash Morrissey’s nose several times. Morrissey rushed after
Sullivan but missed him with right and left jabs as Sullivan backed away. He
clipped Morrissey’s left eye with a blow and then back peddled and fell through
the ropes, ending the round before Morrissey could reach him.
Morrissey’s
face was crimson with blood, his nose was bleeding and his eye was swollen when
round two started. Sullivan pounded Morrissey’s nose and eye, and again the
challenger chased the champion around the ring. Morrissey finally backed Sullivan
into a corner and began to hammer his body with rights and lefts but Sullivan
slipped away and smashed Morrissey’s sore eye before going down to save
himself.
Round
three began with Morrissey taking a swing at Sullivan that reporters said
“might have felled an ox” but Sullivan skipped away from it, counter punching
with a hard jolt to Morrissey’s ribs. The two fighters traded blows
unmercifully. Morrissey landed several hard body shots and then caught
Sullivan’s left cheek, covering him with blood and whirling him across the ring
before he went down to end the round.
The
fight went on like this, round after round. According to sports writers who
were covering the fight, “Sullivan was far more skillful, more wary, quicker
and craftier.” But, “Morrissey had the punch.” Sullivan was the boxer,
Morrissey was the fighter.
During
the fight, Morrissey’s face appeared “shockingly mangled” and “slashed beyond
recognition” but “he was not tired or weak.” Blood streamed from his nose and
mouth in profusion and his seconds lanced his eye to try and bring down the
swelling because it was beginning to close.
 |
| The site of the fight in Boston Corners, NY |
Sullivan’s
head and face also began to swell from Morrissey’s powerful punches. He
literally chased Sullivan around the ring but as one reporter wrote, Sullivan
was “as elusive as a moth at dusk.” He kept peppering Morrissey’s face with
blows getting in five punches to Morrissey’s one.
Morrissey
began to get irritated by Sullivan’s “slippery” style as the fight wore on and
began complaining about how fast Sullivan kept going down to end a round.
Sullivan in turn began to taunt Morrissey into losing his temper and making
mistakes. Whenever he hit Morrissey’s face, Sullivan would laugh at him as he
peddled away, taunting him saying, “Now, who’s champion?” Morrissey answered,
“That’s to be seen.”
In
the 20th round, Sullivan worked on trying to blind Morrissey’s good
eye by slashing at it and then getting away and dropping before Morrissey could
hit him. During rounds 31 through 36, both fighters began to tire and their
blows were not as hard.
In
the 37th round, Sullivan again began to hit Morrissey’s face and
then back away. Morrissey charged after him wildly and eventually caught him.
He put his hands around Sullivan’s neck in a clinch, got his back against the
ropes and lifted Sullivan completely off the ground, preparing to slam him down
to end the fight. The seconds of both men rushed into the ring and began
fighting with each other. Howling and clawing spectators followed the seconds
and swarmed into the ring. Both fighters disappeared under the wave of an
invading horde. Sullivan and Morrissey became separated and swept out of the
ring in the uproar. After the tumult settled down a bit, the referee decided
that Morrissey had won the fight because Sullivan had left the ring before
being given permission to do so.
The
fight lasted 55 minutes and had gone 37 rounds. In a postmortem which called
for an end to prize fighting, The New
York Times described the Sullivan-Morrissey fight as a “brutal exhibition,”
“a hideous affair,” “sickening,” “deplorable,” and “humiliating.”[3]
Next,
Part VIII, an epilogue.
[1] “History,” Town
of Ancram, NY, accessed October 3, 2014,
http://www.townofancram.org/history; “Sporting Intelligence,” New York Daily
Times, October 13, 1853, 1.
[2] In the 1880’s, a
middleweight was less than 158 lbs. and a heavyweight was any weight. Richard
Kyle Fox, Boxing: With Hints on the Art of Attack and Defense (New York:
Richard K. Fox, 1889), 34.
[3] “The Prize Fight
between Sullivan and Morrissey-Further Particulars,” New York Daily Times,
October 14, 1853, 3; “John Morrissey’s Fight With ‘Yankee’ Sullivan,” California
Digital Newspaper Collection, accessed October 2, 2014,
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19100508.2.199.8#; “The Prize
Fight.,” New York Daily Times, October 14, 1853, 4.
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