Why is it called prize fighting?

A possible definition of prize fighting is any physical contest that offers a prize or "purse" to one or more contestants. In the common vernacular, it refers primarily to boxing.

During the greatest success of prize-fighting, the fight site, whenever feasible, would be where a natural amphitheatre was formed, so that every member of the large crowd could have a good view of the fight.

The ring was usually 24 feet square, with a deep outer ring, in which were only allowed, the two umpires, the timekeeper, the backers and a few favoured friends. Also stationed at intervals in the outer ring, were whippers-out, whose job it was to keep the crowd from encroaching and under control.

There were also times when a stage was used with turf spread upon the boards, which made it a very awkward surface to fight upon. Turf upon solid ground, which was the normal fight site, was the better surface for fights as the pugilists could wear spiked shoes.

The fighters of old were entitled to one second and one bottle-holder. The fighter sat upon his second’s knee and listened to his instructions and the bottle holder sponged him and possibly tried to stop or wipe away any bleeding.

At times the fighters took terrible punishment and the seconds resorted to some drastic action to bring the fighter round. Frequently they bit the fighter’s ears and lanced the swelling beneath a man’s eye in order to prevent him from being blinded and not be able to continue fighting.

Each fighter had “colours” and tied his scarf to the ring post in the corner before entering the ring.

All fights were to a finish, which was until a man gave in or could not come to scratch within time. In terms of the Broughton Rules scratch was “the square of a yard” in the mid-ring.

A round would end when both or one man went down from a blow or a throw. The interval would then be 30 seconds and after time was called the combatants were given eight seconds to reach the scratch.

In the very early fights the seconds carried their badly beaten fighters to the scratch, but this was later changed, and the fighters were supposed to reach the scratch at the call of “Time” unaided.

MORE DAMAGE THAN GLOVED CONTESTS

Fighters took far more damage than in a gloved contest and knock out blows were uncommon as the round ended when a man went down, so he had 30 seconds to recover plus the eight seconds to come up to scratch instead of ten, like in modern boxing.

The constant contact of knuckles on hard bone, whether on the head or arms, caused them to swell and at times the fighters were in agony every time they landed a blow. For this reason, fighters pickled their hands in brine or some astringent before a fight.

Most of the fights were outdoors, so they had natural conditions to contend with. Some fighters would try and manoeuvre his opponent so that the sun was in his eyes. The rain would handicap an agile man on grass or even on a slippery stage.

When the fight was over fighters often had had be taken away and put to bed to recover from the punishment.

Because of the severe punishment they received, bare knuckle fighters engaged in far fewer fights than modern boxers. However, over the years there were some exceptions.

LONGEST GLOVED FIGHT

Possibly the longest gloved fight on record was on 6 April 1893 between Andy Bowen and Jack Burke at the Olympic Club in New Orleans over 110 three-minute rounds lasting seven hours and 19 minutes, which was subsequently declared a no contest by referee John Duffy.

LONGEST BARE-KNUCKLE FIGHT

The record for the longest bare-knuckle fight was possibly the match between James Kelly and Jonathan Smith, which is reported to have lasted six hours and 15 minutes and took place near Fiery Creek, Victoria, Australia, on 3 December 1855, when Smith gave in after 17 rounds.

LONGEST BARE-KNUCKLE FIGHT IN SOUTH AFRICA

The longest bare-knuckle fight in South Africa took place between Barney Malone and Jan Silberbauer on 30 November 1889 outside Kimberley, where they crossed the border into the Free State with the Cape and Bechuanaland police looking on from their own territories.

The fight lasted five hours and 30 minutes. Malone was declared the winner after 212 rounds. The toll taken by both fighters resulted in Silberbauer not fighting for three years and Malone did not fully recover from his injuries for nearly a year.

On 3 July 1893 Malone was involved in another marathon matchup against Jim Holloway when after five-and-a-half hours and 73 rounds the fight was declared a draw. The fight was billed for the South African lightweight title.