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BORN : May 2 1835; Troy, New York
DIED : October 28 1873; Green River Station, Wyoming
Buried: November 2 1873; Albany County, NY (St. Agnes Cemetery)
HEIGHT : 6-2 WEIGHT : 182-195 lbs
1855-1857
Heenan defeated many local men and was recognized as an outstanding
fighter
1858
Mar 15 John "Cocky" Woods [Boston, Massachusetts]
Mar 17 John "Cocky" Woods [Boston, Massachusetts]
Oct 20 John Morrissey [Long Point, Canada]
Heavyweight Championship of America; Heenan broke his right hand
early in the contest and fought at a disadvantage
Heenan "married" Adah Isaacs Menken, a famous actress
1859
Apr 4 John Morrissey
1860
Apr 17 Tom Sayers [Farnborough, Hampshire, England]
Heenan seemed to have the advantage - though both men were injured
- when the crowd broke into the ring and stopped the fight.
May 20 Awarded duplicate Championship Belt
1863
Dec 10 Tom King [Wadhurst, Kent, England]
Heavyweight Championship of England; This bout was held at "Cockmounts
Farm"
1864
Apr 4 Tom King [Lewes, England]
This bout was scheduled but cancelled
1868
Sep 4 Mike McCoole
This bout was scheduled but cancelled 1869-1870
Heenan and Jem Mace toured America giving exhibitions.
1871
Feb 11 Jem Mace [New York, NY]
Based on information taken from The
Cyber Boxing Zone, with thanks. Permission sought, but email
addresses all bounce. Date of first publication unknown. Published
here, 06 March 2000
Tom Sayers was a famous prize-fighter, and lives on in the song
'Heenan and Sayers' whose first verse runs:
Come all you lovers of the fisticuff
Attention to my song,
For I'll sing to you a verse or two
It won't detain you long.
It's to describe a champion fight,
Your time I now employ,
Which took place between Tom Sayers
And the bold Benicia Boy.
So! Hurrah my boys for Heenan
And Tom Sayers we will sing,
For they are the best and bravest
Ever fought in a British ring!
Heenan was an Irish-American who came to England to fight Sayers
for a purse of £1000, and was known as the Benicia Boy. The
fight took place at Farnborough, Hampshire on April 17th 1860 and
went on for over an hour. By then Heenan could no longer see and
Sayers had a broken arm. The crowd intervened at this point and
declared the result to be a draw.
This information taken, with thanks, from The
Tipton Slasher .
Permission granted. Date of first publication unknown.
Published here, 29 May 2002
See Also:
The
Benicia Boy Celebrated in Song
John
C. Heenan - Brief Biography
Nominations for the Heenan Hall of Fame are
welcome, and should be sent to Andrew Heenan. While I am happy
to make up a page for any Heenan Achiever, I cannot do the research.
Please include what details you can, and the web address of
any pages with further information.
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