One of the big international fights of the Victorian era was between Gentleman Jim Corbett, of the United States, and challenger Charlie Mitchell of England. A brilliant write-up appeared in issue 46 of Famous Fights and a full nine of the 16 pages of the paper are dedicated to the contest. Corbett is well remembered to this day, due in no small part to his victory over John L. Sullivan, but Mitchell is less well known. Mitchell was short for a heavyweight, so much so that the writer comments, 'Corbett towered over his opponent, and looked almost half as big again'. Even more of a concern for Mitchell fans was his weight. Due to a bout of malaria during training, he came in at under 11 stone (154 pounds) at the weigh in.
The first round was evenly fought but as the bell sounded to signal the end of the three minutes, blood was seen on Corbett's chin. As the second commenced Corbett launched a savage attack, and Mitchell already seemed tired. Mitchell fought gallantly and landed blows to Corbett's ribcage but the strength of the bigger man began to tell. After a flurry of blows the first knockdown went to Corbett. Mitchell rose to his feet, groggy, as the second round ended. The third was worse for Mitchell, he went down, got to his feet after a nine-count, then was knocked all around the ring, and then fell heavily on his face. Mitchell was counted out by the referee.
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