Banstead Downs: Having dispatched the upstart Jack Bartholomew, heavyweight lord Big Ben Bryan gave little thought to his second bout of 1800. He could scarcely be blamed for his noncelance; aged Tom Johnson was seventeen years removed from his brief reign as English champ and five winters had come and gone since his battle with John Jackson where he pushed the eventual champion to a second day of battle in their REC elimination round before succumbing to a right hand. Tom Johnson was a used up and old pugilist but what little he had left was leveraged at Banstead Downs to produce a miracle.
Johnson stunned the confident Bryan a mere minute into the fight as his head was snapped back by a right hand stab that drew blood from above the left eye. The old man took the round handily but gave ground back in the second frame. Summoning what energy he had, Johnson worked furiously in the third and tore Bryan's cut wider and deeper in the fourth and fifth. Bryan's trouble expanded in the sixth when a gash under his right eye was opened by an inadvertent head but. With claret all about, Bryan began to take matters seriously as he drew blood from Johnson and knocked him down twice between the seventh and tenth stanzas. The two came to scratch for the eleventh in a dead draw at five rounds apiece but Johnson looked weak and ready to be plucked. A wild throw from the bloody and swollen Bryan left the champ wide open to a Johnson wallop. The sudden blow stunned Bryan and gave Johnson momentary new life. A lightning quick combination put the wobbly champ down and out cold. Bryan made a feeble attempt to rise at the count of nine but rolled over and remained on his back until his seconds could lift him some minutes later.
The suddenness of the event took the gathered crowd by surprise but the result finally sunk in. Fifty-year-old Tom Johnson had claimed the Royal Explorers Club prize and was the new World Heavyweight Champion!
OTHER DOINGS:
Wee lad Caleb Baldwin has made a splash in London notching three victories in his virgin year. He now has a five round destruction of Young Gregory and two rousing decisions to his credit.
RETURN FROM THE GRAVE