Jem Mace Establishes World Title Again

Svibnja 10, 1870, 39-year-old prizefighter Jem Mace met 30-year-old prizefighter Tom Allen in Kennerville, Louisiana for the World Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship. Zahtjevi za prvenstvo u to su vrijeme bili vrlo mutni. Lupeži i prljavi trikovi često su prikrivali tko je zapravo američki prvak. Jem Mace, koji se dva puta smatrao svjetskim prvakom dok se borio u Engleskoj, potpisan je za susret s Tomom Allenom kako bi ponovno uspostavio prvenstvo.

Mace je rođen u Norfolku, England on April 8, 1831. Nicknamed “The Gypsy”, nekoliko suvremenih novinara i kritičara borbe spominjalo je njegovu romsku etničku pripadnost iako je Jem Mace u svojoj autobiografiji zanijekao bilo kakvo cigansko porijeklo. He fought in England, Irska, America and Australia in a career that lasted until Mace was in his mid-sixties.

Tom Allen was also born in England. He was born in Birmingham on April 1, 1840. Like Mace, Allen se preselio u Ameriku nakon što je borba za nagrade zabranjena u Engleskoj tijekom 1860-ih. Allen je živio u St. Louisu do svoje smrti u travnju 5, 1903. Allen je osvojio Svjetsko prvenstvo tijekom 1873.

Ovaj meč između Macea i Allena bio je brutalna afera. Mace je bio majstor boksača koji je lunario kao instruktor boksa. Samo vaganje 165 funti, Mace je više bio srednji. He used scientific boxing, speed and pace to wear out his opponents. Allen je bio tipičniji od nagradnih boraca tog dana. Podmetnuo bi noge i bombardirao koristeći veličinu i snagu kao glavno oružje.

The men met at the center of the ring for the customary handshake. Brzo su krenuli na posao u meču koji je trajao deset kola. The fight was conducted under London Prize Ring rules. A round ended when one man fell, took a knee or was thrown. Borba za nagradu golim zglobovima dopuštala je i hrvanje i bacanja uz udaranje.

Mace je koristio svoj tipični znanstveni stil, ali nije pokušao izbjeći Allena. He stayed very close to Tom Allen. Using body movement to avoid some of Allen’s stronger blows, Mace peppered away on Allen’s face. By the time Allen fell to end the first round, desno oko mu je bilo gotovo zatvoreno, a cijelo lice crveno i natečeno.

Allen continued to land telling blows to Mace’s head and neck causing him to fall to a knee a couple of times. Mace je ipak imao većinu akcije. Neprestano gužva Allen, držao je većeg čovjeka izvan ravnoteže i nije mogao snažno udarati iz blizine.

In the eighth round, Allen’s right eye was completely closed. Umjesto toga, Mace je počeo raditi na lijevom oku. Besides the damage done to his face, Mace also unleashed a brutal body attack throughout the fight. In the tenth round, Mace followed up on a body attack with several power punches to Allen’s eye, nose and jaw. Both men fell at the same time like the scene at the end of Rocky II (1979).

Mace got back to his feet. Allen however could only make it to one knee by the time both men were called to the scratch. His cornerman threw in the sponge to signify Allen’s surrender. Jem Mace je po treći put proglašen svjetskim prvakom u teškoj kategoriji.

Mace would not hold the title long but he was able to reestablish the belt after almost 15 godine sumnjivih tvrdnji. Više fokusiran na zarađivanje novca, Mace would fight his last fight in 1896 na 65 godina starosti davno prošli svoje prvenstvene dane.

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