Soapy Smith and the proposed Corbett-Mitchell boxing bout of 1893.

Mitchell and Corbett fight
January 26, 1894
Courtesy Heritage Auctions

 

(Click image to enlarge)

he most talked-about proposed prize boxing contest of 1893 was the anticipated bout between James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett and English champion James Mitchell. It would be Corbett’s first defense of the heavyweight boxing title since his defeat of John L. Sullivan the previous year.
    Mitchell was widely acknowledged as the best barroom fighter in the world, but despite several attempts he could not entice Corbett to a brawl outside of the regulated boxing ring. The famed fisticuffs match was originally set to take place in December 1893 at the Columbia Athletic Club in Roby, Indiana with a $45,000 purse. Governor Matthews of Indiana had warned the planners that he planned to have them all arrested if they continued with their plans for the slugfest, and that if necessary he would "call out the state militia" to stop the fight. In a boxing contest scheduled at the Club on September 4, 1893, the Chicago Tribune reported (September 6, 1893) that Matthews sent 700 soldiers to surround Roby arena and point a Gatling gun at its front door. In order to assure a peaceful outcome to the situation, the athletic club's president, Dominic O'Malley, agreed to postpone the fight scheduled that week. No fight was ever fought in the club again. By November the Columbia Athletic Club was dissolved and the Roby arena abandoned.
    The Jacksonville Club of Jacksonville, Florida was the next proposed location for the fight. Soapy Smith, Bat Masterson and other major sports of Denver offered up a higher purse of $25,000 if the the prizefighting managers would choose Denver, Colorado as the location for the fistic-exchange. This is just one of several times Soapy worked behind the scenes and just behind the ropes of the sport of boxing. The offer was published in the St. Paul Daily News on November 13, 1893, as follows.

Denver Wants It.

_______

DENVER, Col., Nov. 13—A company of enthusiastic sports have a project started to get Corbett and Mitchell to settle their contest in this city [Denver] for a purse of $25,000.

Among the leaders in the scheme are Bat Masterson, Reddy Gallagher [Denver boxer and occasional tough for the Soap Gang], Bob Austin [Arcade saloon] and “Soapy” Smith. Chief of Police Kellogg was appealed to to allow the fight to take place here, but he refused to commit himself. The police board will be visited to-day to find out what position the will take.

    Although the purse amount was heftier, anything above an "exhibition" about boxing was illegal in Colorado, and it appears that Soapy, Bat and the others were not successful in getting the police board to allow the fight. 

    The gloved fight took place at the Duval Athletic Club in Jacksonville, Florida on January 26, 1894. Jim Corbett won with a knock-out in the 3rd round.

Sources and additional information:
1. Kansas City Stories
2. Box Rec
3. Chicago Tribune











Soapy Smith's Scheme: The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight
 

Soapy's involvement in boxing: pages 97, 194, 275, 406.

"He pretended righteousness as he leveraged to his advantage the greed of his fellow man, who himself awaited the opportunity to cheat him."

—Alias Soapy Smith

JUNE 15

1607: Colonists in North America complete James Fort in Jamestown.

1775: George Washington is appointed head of the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress.

1836: Arkansas is admitted into the Union as the 25th state.

1844: Charles Goodyear is granted a patent for the process that strengthens rubber.

1846: Great Britain and the U.S. agree on joint occupation of the Oregon Territory.

1864: An order to establish a military burial ground becomes Arlington National Cemetery.

1867: Indians and the 3rd Infantry battle at Big Timbers, Kansas.

1877: Four civilians are killed by Nez Perce Indians at John Day's Creek, Idaho Territory.

1877: Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American to graduate from the Military Academy at West Point.

1878: A military escort takes Jesse Evans from Lincoln to Mesilla, New Mexico Territory to stand trial for the murder of John Tunstall.

1881: The James-Younger gang robs the Chicago and Rock Island train of $1,000 in Winston, Missouri.

1883: The first eastbound Northern Pacific train arrives in Helena, Montana Territory.

1898: The House of Representatives approves annexation of Hawaii.

1898: The White Pass and Yukon Railway begins laying track rail in Skagway, Alaska.