Tom Hyer Beats Yankee Sullivan

Tom Hyer won the American Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in 1841. Like most prizefighting champions of the Nineteenth Century, he did not fight very often. Hyer normally paid his bills as an enforcer for political parties in New York. Αρχικά, Ο Hyer χρησιμοποίησε τα ταλέντα του για τους Whigs αλλά άλλαζε πίστη στους Whigs “Know Nothing Party” with his friend William “Bill το Butcher” Να.

38-year-old Yankee Sullivan was born James Ambrose in Ireland but grew up in London’s East End. After receiving a twenty year sentence in Australia, of which he served eight, Sullivan organized a gang. Βαρεθήκαμε με τις γελοιότητες του Σάλιβαν, Οι αυστραλιανές αρχές άρχισαν να τον βαραίνουν. Ο Σάλιβαν αποφάσισε ότι η Νέα Υόρκη προσφέρει καλύτερες δυνατότητες.

Όταν ο Σάλιβαν έφτασε στη Νέα Υόρκη, ισχυρίστηκε ότι είχε δώσει πολλούς αγώνες για έπαθλο στην Αυστραλία (which could not be verified). Ο Σάλιβαν αμφισβήτησε σχεδόν αμέσως τον Hyer για τον τίτλο του. Συμφωνήθηκε ένας αγώνας. Οι άνδρες πολέμησαν στο Still Pond, Maryland on February 7, 1849. Prizefighting was illegal, so they had to move the bout once as they just avoided an army of policemen sent by Maryland authorities. Οι μαχητές και τα δευτερόλεπτα τους κυριολεκτικά πολέμησαν τους αστυνομικούς για να γλιτώσουν τη σύλληψη.

Sullivan’s and Hyer’s seconds met at 4 μ.μ. στο Still’s Pond. The men fought at 5 μ.μ. Με 5:30 μ.μ., Hyer had successfully defended his title.

Sullivan started out strong. Observers had Sullivan winning the first three round handily. Sullivan scored the first knockdown at the end of the third with a blow to Hyer’s neck. Αυτό το στιβαρό σουτ ξύπνησε τον πρωταθλητή.

Hyer picked up the pace and drew first blood. While both Hyer’s eyes were swollen, Hyer seriously injured Sullivan’s right eye. Hyer also threw Sullivan a couple of times. Οι ρίψεις ήταν νόμιμες στη μάχη με γυμνές αρθρώσεις. Μια επιτυχημένη ρίψη κανονικά τελείωνε έναν γύρο.

The February air was very cold, so neither fighter was taking much rest. They seemed determined to keep the fight going and rested little between rounds.

Hyer twisted Sullivan’s right arm in the fifteenth round but his most damaging tactic was not letting Sullivan fall. Hyer realized that Sullivan was injured in the sixteenth round. As Sullivan started to fall to end the round, Hyer caught him and trapped Sullivan’s head under his arm.

Hyer held Sullivan up as he pummeled him with powerful blow after blow. When Sullivan became to heavy for Hyer to hold up, he released Yankee’s limp body. Sullivan was unable to come back to the scratch in time delivering the victory to Hyer.

According to the February 17, 1849 έκδοση της Sunbury American (Sunbury, Pennsylvania) Sullivan had to be carried from the ring by his supporters, while Champion Hyer quickly bundled up and took a boat back to Frenchtown. Sullivan’s face showed the full effect of the battle, ενώ ο Hyer είχε πρήξιμο γύρω από τα μάτια του.

Hyer and Sullivan quickly returned to New York to avoid arrest. They also buried the hatchet. When Hyer retired in 1851 without fighting again, Sullivan claimed the title. Hyer and “Bill το Butcher” backed Sullivan in his battle with John Morrissey, a prizefighter and Tammany Hall enforcer.

After the end of his prizefighting career, Sullivan travelled to San Francisco, where he became an enforcer for the local political machine. He committed suicide or was killed while in the custody of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1856.

According to newspaper reports, he slit his wrist with a knife brought with his dinner on July 1, 1856. Due to Sullivan’s death in Vigilance Committee custody, Μερικοί παρατηρητές πίστευαν ότι ο Σάλιβαν σκοτώθηκε από επαγρύπνησης, αλλά δεν παρουσιάστηκαν ποτέ πραγματικά στοιχεία.

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