A DISGRACEFUL EXHIBITION.

Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 30, 25 December 1878, Page 3

A DISGRACEFUL EXHIBITION.

One of those disgraceful exhibitions called a “glove fight,” but in reality a prize fight, took place on Monday evening, December 2, at Mace and Thompson’s hotel, Bourke street, Melbourne, between Larry Foley, a well-known Sydney pugilist, and Peter Newton, who is equally celebrated in pugilistic circles in Melbourne. It was understood that £IOO to £SO had been wagered on Foley, but a large sum of money was also invested in bets. The affair created a great deal of excitement, and outside the hotel upwards of 1000 people had congregated, listening to the yells and cries of the excited partisans as one man or the other got the advantage. Although £1 and 10s had been charged for admission, there were about 300 or 400 people present, and the excitement amongst the audience as the fight progressed was something intense. Oaths and yells sounded in the air, interspersed now and then with a free fight, and for the time being the room was a perfect Pandemonium. A ring was pitched in the centre of the room, and after the usual preliminaries had been arranged, _ the fight commenced, Newton being picked up by Abe Hickeu and Ned Bitten, while J. Thompson and S. Isaacs performed a like office for Foley. The men fought something like fifty rounds, in an hour and a quarter, and as it was evident that a serious breach of the peace would be committed, Sub-Inspecter Larner interfered and ordered the men to cease fighting. This created more excitement, and after a vain attempt to go on, the combatants were carried out of the room amidst a round of cheers. Foley showed visible signs of the punishment he had received, both his eyes being blackened, his upper lip cut, and face very much swollen. Newton was cut a little on the forehead, and very much distressed, so that opinions were pretty equally divided as to what would have been the result. It was some time before Bourke street resumed its wonted appearance, and the three or four policemen stationed outside the hotel had some difficulty in keeping the pathway clear.