Henry Cooper by Robert Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

true bred Irishmen
    I hope you will draw near,
    And likewise pay attention
    To those few lines I have here.
    It is as true a story
    As ever you did hear,
    Of how Donnelly fought Cooper
    On the Curragh of Kildare. *
    One important spin-off of the Sayers/Heenan encounter was that amateur boxers started to consider their position. The Corinthian tradition, as exemplified by men like Palmerston, was alive and well (if creaking, slightly) and living within the Amateur Athletic Club (AAC), a new organization whose members viewed with dismay the increasing socio-legal pressure to impose an absolute ban on boxing in all its forms, amateur or professional.
    A founder member of the AAC was John Graham Chambers, not long down from Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he had befriended John Sholto Douglas, the eighth Marquess of Queensberry. Chambers determined that a set of rules that might serve to legitimize boxing was now mandatory, as the pressure mounting on the sport was huge, and those who were proponents of it were justifiably nervous.
    In 1865, Chambers set to work. What he came up with was in effect the invention of twentieth-century boxing: a sport we would recognize now. The Chambers rules, whichpassed into history as the Queensberry Rules (their noble sponsor) are relatively simple. There are 12 of them:
    1. To be a fair stand-up boxing match in a 24 foot ring, or as near that size as practicable.
    2. No wrestling or hugging allowed.
    3. The rounds to be of three minute’s duration, and one minute’s time between rounds.
    4. If either man falls through weakness or otherwise, he must get up unassisted, ten seconds to be allowed for him to do so; the other man meanwhile to return to his corner, and when the fallen man is on his legs the round is to be resumed and continued until the three minutes are expired. If one man fails to come to the scratch in the ten seconds allowed, it shall be in the power of the referee to give his award in the favour of the other man.
    5. A man hanging on the ropes in a helpless state, with his toes off the ground, shall be considered down.
    6. No seconds or any other person to be allowed in the ring during the rounds.
    7. Should the contest be stopped by any unavoidable interference, the referee to name the time and place as soon as possible for finishing the contest; so the match must be won and lost, unless the backers of both men agree to draw the stakes.
    8. The gloves to be fair-sized boxing gloves of the best quality and new.
    9. Should a glove burst, or come off it must be replaced to the referee’s satisfaction.
    10. A man on one knee is considered down, and if struck is entitled to the stakes.
    11. No shoes or boots with springs allowed.
    12. The contest in all other respects to be governed by the revised rules of the London Prize Ring.
    These rules impose upon boxing a code that puts it firmly within a type of moral framework that is both humane and perhaps even legally defensible. They mark a turning point as the sport finally starts to put its house in order. There can be little doubt that their mere existence ensured the survival of the sport in any form. The most important aspect of them was their clear intention in attempting to ensure that the art of pugilism would be allowed to dominate the ring. A secondary effect was that the sport of wrestling could now develop on its own. Whether we should be particularly grateful to Chambers and Queensberry for that is quite another question.
    There was another Chambers involved in drafting these rules. He was Arthur Chambers (no relation) a professional boxer and a friend of Queensberry’s. The pair had toured America together shortly after the Civil War. It is likely that his contribution was to add to and modify the originalproposals to include several new elements, which result in an activity that is clearly recognizable today; indeed, a fight fought under these regulations would still be perfectly legal. I list them on the following