The Rest Is History – Episode 593: The Fight of the Century (17 April 1860)

Hosts: Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook
Guest: Prof. Robert Coles, Emeritus Professor, De Montfort University
Date: August 20, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Tom, Dominic, and guest Prof. Robert Coles dissect one of the most sensational and influential events in sports history: the 1860 illegal bare-knuckle boxing match between England's Tom Sayers and America's John Heenan. Known as "The Fight of the Century," this transatlantic contest offers a window into Victorian society, the early culture of sport, and the English (and American) sense of identity, masculinity, and class. The discussion explores the fight itself, its social and political context, and the transformation of boxing from backroom brutality to the codified spectacle it would become.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Victorian England & The Prize Ring

• Poetic Introduction: Tom reads from “Heenan and Sayers,” a 42-stanza poem by Mrs. Elwood Nickerson, reflecting the myth-making around the bout.

  “On one there was a tiger, all ready for a spring. On the other was an eagle, a gallant bird she was, for she had a bunch of thunderbolts and held them in her claws...” (00:56)

• Historical Atmosphere: The fight took place at dawn, April 17, 1860, in a secret Hampshire field, attended by thousands who navigated clandestine trains and muddy lanes to witness the spectacle.

  "Everyone's turning up at London Bridge at 4am on the morning of the fight and nobody knows where the fight's gonna happen, but they're all buying a ticket for Farnborough." – Prof. Coles (12:05)

• Sport and Society: The fight symbolized more than physical contest—reflecting issues of class, order, masculinity, and national identity.

  "It's about what sport means, but also in the long run, how it comes to be tamed and codified and in a way made kind of posher..." – Tom (03:34)

2. The Boxers: Tom Sayers & John Heenan

• Tom Sayers (England): Experienced professional; grew up fighting in Brighton, worked as bricklayer and publican in Camden; seen as single-minded and reliable.
• John Heenan (America): Irish-American, former New York gang enforcer, with only one previous (lost) professional fight—a hard man but a novice in the formal ring.

Memorable Context on Their Training (17:29)

• Training mimicked jockeys—strict diet, no sex, no alcohol, “daubing with vinegar” to harden the skin, and taking pills for weight control.

  “It's about starving yourself, basically. It's about weights, it's about no sex... No coffee, no masturbation.” – Prof. Coles (18:16)

• Heenan’s camp was repeatedly harassed by police and hostile crowds, moving from place to place.

3. The Spectacle: Crowd, Betting, and Pre-Fight Rituals

• Fan Culture: Crowd drawn from all classes—aristocrats, locals, the “fancy,” and future “fans.”

  "From, of course, the word 'the fancy,' we get the word 'fan'." – Prof. Coles (13:36)

• Gambling Dominates: Side bets, ring-side bookies, and the ever-present risk of fighters ‘throwing’ a fight (“cross”).

  “There’s nothing to stop ringside, off course, betting...and it’s nothing to stop a single fighter doing a cross.” – Coles (16:23)

• Colourful Entourages: Sayers’ corner featured quirky characters, including the “Birdman” making odd noises in a cape.

  “My favourite detail, someone called the Birdman making queer halloo sounds in a cape. Why do boxers not have birdmen now in capes and dwarfs and things?” – Tom (21:14)

4. The Fight: Rules, Violence, and Unfolding Chaos

Fighting by London Prize Ring Rules (26:58)

• No weight categories, no point scoring, no fixed round length. Rounds ended only when a man went down (“dropped to one knee”).
• Tactics: Boxing mixed with wrestling, throws, and sometimes dubious tactics. No biting, gouging, kicking, or blows below the belt, but anything else went.

  “You could throw, you could wrestle, but what you couldn't do... you couldn't bite, you couldn't butt, you couldn't kick, you couldn't gouge, you couldn't strangle and of course you couldn't hit below the waist.” – Coles (28:03)

• Physical Punishment: Fights could last for hours (this one went 42 rounds), and ended only when one man could not return to the “scratch.”

Notable Moments & Quotes

• First Blow: Sayers lands a "nobbing" (nose hit), drawing "ruby"/blood—crowd erupts.

  "The first punch in this fight actually went to the old pro Sayers, who landed one square on Heenan's nose. 'Knobbing,' it was called..." – Prof. Coles (30:28)

• Injury & Brutality: Sayers seemingly breaks his right arm; Heenan is half-blinded by jabs.
• Chaos: In round 37, Heenan tries to strangle Sayers in the ropes; crowd invades the ring, police intervene, fighters flee.

  “Heenan...pulls him to the ropes where he wraps his rope around his neck… the crowd surge into the ring and basically the fight stops.” – Prof. Coles (36:28)

What Counts as a Win?

• Both men are incapacitated; both claim victory; neither is declared an outright winner.
• Both are feted as heroes; the event is reframed as a heroic draw to preserve national pride, with both receiving commemorative belts and celebratory receptions.

  "Sports writers...busy turning a nasty case of common assault into a heroic draw between two great sporting nations." – Tom (38:12)

5. Legacy: Aftermath, Meaning & The Transformation of Boxing

• Cultural Legacy: Both men enjoy brief celebrity—Sayers in British pantomime and stage, Heenan in American society (marrying a famous actress). Their lives, however, are shortened by ill health (both die in their late 30s).
• Grand Funerals: Sayers receives a huge public funeral, attended by thousands (and his dog, Lion).

  “They reckon about 10,000 people followed the casket.” – Prof. Coles (42:58)

• Symbolism and “Bottom”: Sayers celebrated for “bottom”—a Victorian term for stamina, grit, and stoicism; likened to the British infantry square, a symbol of steadfastness.

  "Boxing…might be described as the plebeian version of national history. It’s the plebeian version of honor, the honor fight..." – Prof. Coles (46:09)

On Inclusion and Englishness (48:24)

• Notably, the fraternity of the ring could confer a kind of honorary “gentleman” status—even on outsiders (e.g., Jewish boxer Daniel Mendoza, Black American ex-slave Bill Richmond).
• Political Meaning: Boxing as a bastion of “Tory England,” resisting liberal metropolitan “do-gooders,” celebrated for its rough, traditional continuity.

  "Only Tories could be true sportsmen. Only Tories had bottom. Is this a kind of Tory England… resistant to reform?" – Tom (49:45)

6. Taming the Ring: From Bare-Knuckle to Queensberry Rules

• Culture Shift: After the Sayers-Heenan farce, pressure mounts for reform.
• Modernization: Aristocratic Cambridge undergraduates (including the Marquess of Queensberry) help codify boxing—introducing gloves, weight categories, and fixed rounds.

  "The Queensberry Rules emanate out of Cambridge University, where young gentlemen spar... they swap bare knuckles for gloves..." – Prof. Coles (53:18)

• Irony: Modern rules, intended to “civilize” boxing, arguably make it more violent (encouraging knockouts).

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "It's about what sport means, but also in the long run, how it comes to be tamed and codified and in a way made kind of posher, as we will see." – Tom (03:34)
• "If you want to know what's going on in this field in Hampshire in 1860, what you don't do is read Mrs. Nickerson's poem because it's quite clear that she's not been within a thousand miles of this fight which took place the year before." – Prof. Coles (04:35)
• "Everyone's turning up at London Bridge at 4am on the morning of the fight and nobody knows where the fight's gonna happen, but they're all buying a ticket for Farnborough." – Prof. Coles (12:05)
• "It's about starving yourself, basically. It's about weights, it's about no sex, I don't know, that goes with you. No coffee, no masturbation." – Prof. Coles (18:16)
• "My favourite detail, someone called the Birdman making queer halloo sounds in a cape. Why do boxers not have birdmen now in capes and dwarfs and things?" – Tom (21:14)
• "[The] first punch in this fight actually went to the old pro Sayers, who landed one square on Heenan's nose. Knobbing, it was called..." – Prof. Coles (30:28)
• "Heenan...pulls him to the ropes where he wraps his rope around his neck… the crowd surge into the ring and basically the fight stops." – Prof. Coles (36:28)
• "They started the fight, the press started the fight. It's in the London and New York press once a week for a whole year before it takes place. And then it's never out of the press afterwards." – Prof. Coles (38:48)
• "Boxing…might be described as the plebeian version of national history. It’s the plebeian version of honor, the honor fight." – Prof. Coles (46:09)
• "The Queensberry Rules emanate out of Cambridge University, where young gentlemen spar... they swap bare knuckles for gloves..." – Prof. Coles (53:18)

Structure of the Episode (Timestamps)

• Opening & Poem: 00:00 – 02:20
• Introduction of Fight and Socio-Historical Context: 02:22 – 06:00
• Guest Introduction (Prof. Coles) & Setting the Scene: 03:46 – 14:20
• Boxers' Backgrounds & Training: 14:20 – 23:19
• Crowd, Betting, and Entourages: 12:05 – 22:12
• The Fight Begins & Rules Explained: 26:16 – 32:09
• Fight's Progression & Violence: 32:09 – 38:12
• Aftermath, Legacy, and Social Meaning: 38:12 – 53:18
• Modernizing Boxing: Queensberry Rules: 53:18 – 54:24
• Conclusion & Farewell: 54:24 – 55:09

Tone & Style

The episode is lively and wry, with Tom and Dominic’s characteristic blend of scholarly insight and banter, riffing on both the violence and absurd ritualism. Prof. Coles contributes deep expertise with a gift for memorable, colourful details. The language is vivid—“dripping with ruby,” “the crowd surge into the ring”—with a knowing, sometimes ironic appreciation of both the romance and brutality behind boxing’s history.

Summary

This episode offers a gripping, panoramic view of Victorian England through the lens of a single event: the illegal, chaotic, and utterly riveting Fight of the Century. Through sparkling anecdotes, expert historical analysis, and the retelling of both violence and symbolism, the hosts show how sport intertwines with national myth, class identity, and the taming of tradition. The fight’s legacy—spectacle, hero-worship, and the civilizing turn—echoes in both the sporting world and the wider story England tells about itself.