[Bryan Swartz]

Spring/Summer 1860

The 1850s are in the books, having seen the dominance of M&M(Morrisey and Mace), establishment of the European title, and a new generation replacing the 'American Quintet'. Now the 60s are set to start with some new developments: the first world title fight, and the inaugural 'all-time' tournament, known hereafter as Turn Back the Clock(TBTC). TBTC I will consist only of a Champions bracket, and five fighters.

Massa 'The New Black' Kendrick
Yankee Sullivan
Tom Hyer
Bill 'The Butcher' Poole
George McChester

The first two were not seen in action during their career as their were no historical fighters in their region to match them up with at the appropriate timeframe.

Meanwhile, a new high of five new fighters debut this year:

George Rooke(USA)
Billy Parkinson(USA, FW)
Sam Collyer(USA, LW)
George Holden(ENG, BW)
Jim Dunn(IRL)

This grows the count to a full dozen in each circuit.

2.03 -- Tom McCoy retires after his record 73rd bout ends in a loss to Sam Collyer in the latter fighter's debut. McCoy finishes at 18-46-9(5), having lost four straight and nine of his last ten. Despite his anemic record, he did have his moments: four title fights with Morrisey in 54-55 for example, though he lost three and drew the fourth. Three wins over Hyer when he was at the top of the mountain(in '41, '47, and '48) were probably the pinnacle of his career, more than a decade in the rearview mirror now. In this particular case, this was more than just losing another old warhorse.

There are now only five ranked fighters on the North American circuit, resulting in Heenan's titles being vacated and the planned world title fight that was six weeks away being canceled! It will happen eventually -- there are several unranked fighters in the pipeline -- but for now there aren't enough for the requirement of at least six ranked to form the basis for a champion.

3.30 -- TBTC I Champions Winner's Bracket First Round: George McChester(1839-1857) vs. Bill 'The Butcher' Poole(1839-1859)

They fought 11 times, with McChester having a slight 4-3-4 advantadge in those contests. Poole is a slight favorite, but really anything could happen here. A really even fight without much drama until the sixth, when Poole had a cut started near his left eye, and then a point deduction for a low blow late in the round. In the 8th both men step up the hitting, and McChester goes down for 5 midway through. A couple more big shots and he's just stumbling around the ring ... and the referee calls it. Poole advances with a TKO at 2:48 of the 8th round.

6.22 Jem 'The Gypsy' Mace vs. Joe Coburn

Our focus shifts now to Europe, where Mace holds court at the new epicenter of the boxing world. In six prior meetings, he won five with a single draw, but Coburn has improved and has won three straight to make himself a viable contender. He looked the sharper fighter in the first round, neutralizing Mace's foot speed by scoring consistently from outside. The next few rounds featured a lot of maneuvering and not all that much fighting, fairly even but definitely not the way the favored champion wanted this to go.

A good round for Mace in the fifth as he really seemed to have Coburn guessing, and more of the same in the sixth to take control of this bout. It looks like the challenger's strategy is just to try and tire him out and win it late, but he seemed to realize in the 8th that this wasn't going to happen and blasted Mace with a hook to begin the round. A wild finish to the most action-packed round of the night, and after a bad 9th in which he missed virtually everything the champion is in serious jeopardy here.

A very drab 10th sees Coburn get a point deduction that he could ill afford. He pours it on with multiple power blows at the start of the 11th, Mace survives and returns with interest in volume punching over the last two minutes of the round. The outcome is still very uncertain heading to the final round. A lot of missing and clinching, very little action and the crowd is going to leave somewhat disappointed in this fight. I don't know, it's pretty much in flip-a-coin territory for me and most other ringside observers.

115-113 Mace, 114-113 Coburn, 114-113 Mace. The Gypsy retains the title, but he didn't impress many today and doesn't seem as invincible as he did a few years ago.

6.29 TBCT I Champions Winner's Bracket Semifinals

First up was Massa 'The New Black' Kendrick taking on Bill 'The Butcher' Poole. Kendrick was a man born before his time, in a place(Saint Kitts & Nevis) that still has little market for the sport. Here he gets a chance to show what he's capable of. He didn't start well, getting called for a blatant backhand and then blasted to open a gash outside his left eye all within the first minute of the opening round. Matters didn't improve much from there, and another stoppage in the fourth was required to attend to the bleeding. There doesn't seem to be much hope of it improving, and they'll stop it here. An easy 4th-round TKO indicates the sport might not have lost much in not having an opportunity to cheer Massa Kendrick's career.

The second fight was of much more interest, with Yankee Sullivan, another man born at an inopportune time, taking on Tom Hyer, by far the most accomplished fighter in the tournament. Sullivan was a bit more accurate over the first couple of rounds, then really got things going in the 3rd when he blasted Hyer with some huge shots to the body in the early going. The American champion was called for an intentional head butt later in the round, and Sullivan ends up with a cut over his right eye that could be trouble.

He seemed more cautious for a while, then a strong round by Yankee Sullivan in the 5th put him back in control of things. A big blast by Hyer to start the sixth changed that, and late in the round the doctor puts an end to this as the cut on Sullivan's eye won't allow him to continue. Tom Hyer wins a controversial and not particularly deserved TKO6 here.