Tom Allen Beats Mike McCoole for Title

While bare knuckle prizefighter Tom Allen was born in England during 1840, he spent the majority of his adult life in St Louis after relocating to the United States in 1867.  After a disappointing loss to Jem Mace in 1870, where he impressed spectators with a gallant performance in a losing effort, Allen started campaigning for a shot at American Heavyweight Bare Knuckle Champion Mike McCoole.

In the bare knuckle prizefighting days, fights were few and far between.  Prizefighting was  illegal and both fighters and spectators ran the risk of being arrested.   Also, since fights were so few and far between, a loss wouldn’t prevent a fighter from getting a title shot, if they were well thought of.  John C. Heenan fought three fights, all for recognized championships.  He lost two and drew one.  However, he received fights because of his reputation for skill and toughness.

McCoole and Allen would argue over the circumstances of the fight for the next three years between 1870 and 1873.  Finally in September of 1873, they agreed to have a match in St Louis for $1,000 a side.

St. Louis was an ideal spot for this contest because there were a number of islands out in the Mississippi River that were sort of a no-man’s-land between Missouri and Illinois.  Authorities, who would have arrested the prizefighters, would not necessarily go to these islands.  Police officials would need a boat to traverse the sometimes treacherous Mississippi River to land on an island with a bunch of fighters and rough men, where you may or may not have authority.

The contest occurred on one of these islands on September 23rd, 1873 about 14 miles up river from St. Louis.  2000 spectators were transported to the island by steamer.  The police didn’t arrive to stop the fight.

The fight itself was extremely one-sided.  Allen was barely touched but McCool was beaten into a horrifying bloody mess.  Lasting only 20 minutes contested over 7 rounds, Allen was the first one to draw blood in Round 1.  By constantly pummeling McCool’s face, Allen got the first knockdown at the beginning of Round 4.

By the start of the seventh round, McCool’s left eye was completely shut, he had a bleeding cut underneath the right eye and he could hardly hold his hands up anymore.  The right side of his upper lip was cut.  His nose was obviously broken. As both men toed the scratch to start the 7th round, the more timid in the crowd shielded their eyes from the carnage.

Allen said, “It is a sin to send that man up to be punished.  If you don’t take him away, I’ll disfigure him for life.  He is the gamest man I ever met.”  The crowd also yelled for the seconds to stop the fight.  However, the round commenced but Allen refused to do any real damage to McCoole.  At the end of the 8th round, McCoole’s second Tom Kelley finally threw up a white handkerchief as a token of defeat for McCoole.

With this victory, Tom Allen was the recognized World Heavyweight Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Champion likely because he was considered an English champion even though he didn’t bring an English title to the United States.

The fight did not escape the attention of authorities.  In November, the Governor of Illinois issued an arrest warrant for Tom Allen after it was determined that the island was actually on the Illinois side of the Mississippi.  However, nothing really ever came of the charges.  Allen would have one more fight in 1873 and then would not fight for three years.

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Source: Helena Weekly Herald (Helena, Montana), September 25, 1873 edition, p. 3

 

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