Henning, Fred – Fights For The Championship. The Men And Their Times.

Description

Henning, Fred ‘Fights For The Championship. The Men And Their Times.’ Volume II. 1900 1st edition. 529-pages. Good to good + condition. Some foxing to the blank frontispiece, else very clean, straight, and tight binding.

Volume 2 of Fred Henning’s Fights for the Championship: The Men and Their Times (circa 1900/1902 2nd edition) serves as the larger, climactic second half of the anthology. Spanning approximately 529 pages, it focuses heavily on the grand mid-to-late 19th-century golden era of bare-knuckle prizefighting.

The Later Champions: While Volume 1 covers the 18th-century roots, Volume 2 dives directly into the sport’s peak Victorian-era superstars. It features heavily detailed records and prose covering legendary fighters like Tom Sayers, John C. Heenan, Jem Mace, Jem Smith, and the early reign of “The Boston Strong Boy,” John L. Sullivan.

The International “Great Matches”: A massive focus of Volume 2 is the dawn of massive international prize fights. In particular, it covers the legendary 1860 Tom Sayers vs. John C. Heenan bout—widely considered boxing’s first world championship spectacle—including the dramatic moment the crowd rioted and cut the ropes when Heenan was on the verge of victory.

Vivid Account of Ring Tactics and Injuries: True to Henning’s detailed journalistic roots for the Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, Volume 2 focuses heavily on the literal rhythm of the fights. He provides round-by-round re-creations, illustrating the fighters’ psychological strategies, conditioning, and exact physical damage endured in marathon bouts that often lasted dozens of rounds.

The Intertwining of Race and History: Volume 2 covers crucial historical figures who fought in the later ring eras, such as the famous African American heavyweight Thomas Molyneux and his legacy.

Profuse Illustration Library: The 2nd edition of Volume 2 is specifically sought after because it contains the bulk of the publication’s large illustration archive, pulling rare portraits and ring diagrams directly from obscure 19th-century prints.