ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1888, champion-pugilist, John L Sullivan, was nearing the end of a year-long promotional tour of Britain and Ireland. Sullivan had been bare-fisted prizefighting’s undisputed champion for six years. As was the practice, he had rarely defended his title in a competitive setting, content to fight gloved exhibitions under the Queensberry Rules. However, in January 1888, Sullivan agreed to fight a leading English fighter, Charlie Mitchell. By the 1880s the English legal authorities had, as a result of half a century of dedicated legal intervention, almost eradicated prizefighting from the jurisdiction and, unsurprisingly, on 2 March 1888, Mitchell found himself peremptorily bound to the peace for over 200 pounds. The fight, which ended in a draw, had to take place eight days later on the estate grounds of Baron Alphonse Rothschild near Chantilly, just north of Paris.
