Half of the issue is given over to this fight, with two of these pages devoted to the suicide of Harry's brother, Johnny, on 31 May 1855. A rather scandalous picture shows the actual suicide with Johnny cutting his own throat. Johnny Broome had been Champion of England but had lost his fortune gambling and with poor business decisions, but a recent scandal involving a game of cards had shamed him in the eyes of the public.
Harry Broome, a champion himself, gave up the ring on the death of his brother, but press comments from Tom Paddock claiming that he, Tom Paddock, was the best fighter in England as he had beaten everyone and Harry Broome was no longer a fighter, brought this announcement from Harry in Bell's Life, 2 December, 1855.
"MR. EDITOR, It was my intention never to have entered the Ring again, but the persuasions of my old friends and backers have determined me to pull off my shirt once more. I now come forward for the satisfaction of the public, to determine who's the better man, Tom Paddock or myself. I will fight him for £200 a-side and the Champion's Belt."
The two met in May of 1856. The crowd had its fair share of the Fancy, two Members of Parliament, an Indian Prince with his entourage, several well-known prize-fighters, and huge crowds of supporters of each man.
Unusually for Harry, he began the fight by dodging and ducking, springing on his feet more like a featherweight than a heavyweight. The tactic puzzled Paddock and the early rounds were Harry's. To the left we see Harry thrusting his fist into Paddock's body.
From round 20 onwards the fight was all Paddock's. Harry's mouth was swollen, there was a gaping gash from lip to chin, his nose was pulpy, his left eye was blue and swelling, and his ear was enlarged and dripping with blood. The article gives the final rounds of the bout and these are completely one-sided; Broome had lost his power and loses the fight.
This was to be Harry Broome's last fight and he never entered the ring again. Harry died at the age of 47, in 1865.
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