January 2, 1865. For 185 rounds, Con Orem and Hugh O’Neill battled bare-knuckled to a draw in Virginia City. The fight was best described by Granville Stuart:
“…each man toed the mark and the battle begun and lasted three hours and five munutes, in which one hundred eighty- five rounds were fought. At this junction a sudden feeling seemed to animate the backers of both men. The referee was called on by both parties to stop the fight. (the men themselves were still game and ready to go.) This was accordingly done to the satisfaction of most people present. Bets were declared off and the ring money was divided evenly.”
The prize purse was $1,000. As it was a draw, each man ended up receiving $425 and half of all the gold dust “pokes” thrown into the ring.
