Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1917 — MACE BEATS SLASHER SLACK [ARTICLE]

MACE BEATS SLASHER SLACK

First of Englishman’s Long Series of Victories Which Made Him Champion *of the World. Jem Mace defeated Slasher Slack In nifce rounds at Mlldenhall, .England, on October 2, 1855. This was the first of Mace’s long series of victories which made him the champion of the world and the greatest boxer of his time. About four years before Mace had met Licker Pratt in the ring, but Pratt was an experienced fighter and much heavier than Jem, and the latter got a good trouncing. Before that time Mace had traveled over England playing the violin and giving sparring exhibitions at country fairs, and his experience with Pratt did not encourage him to keep on as a pugilist. Several years passed before he again tried his luck in the arena, and his victory over Slack determined him to take up fighting as a profession. Mace had gypsy blood in his veins, although he was not a full-blooded son of Romany, as has been alleged. Small for a heavyweight, his science and skill enabled him long to maintain his supremacy among the big fellows of Europe and America.