Lot 88
An extremely rare ticket being one of only six full or part tickets known to have survived
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Notes:
- In 1908 the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion stood at the pinnacle of sporting dominance, and so the result of the Burns-Johnson fight held on Boxing Day at Rushcutters Bay, Sydney shook the white supremacist view of the world to its core. Johnson, the black American champion had been denied a licence to contest the championship in America because of his colour, and had come to Australia to fight the white title holder Burns who had been lured by Hugh McIntosh, a local entrepreneur, on the promise of a reported £30,000 purse (Johnson was paid £5,000). Johnson's victory led to a seven year search for the 'Great White Hope' to reclaim the title for the white man. This extremely rare ticket to the most famous title fight of all time assured the holder a reserved seat. This part of the ticket was meant to be surrendered at the door, and the separated stub (check) retained and shown to the usher. However, the entrepreneurial promoter Hugh McIntosh decided instead to retain the stub and cancel the main ticket on entry with a stamp on the reverse advertising his other business as a 'Tourist Caterer'. The three tickets that we have sighted are all similarly stamped. As a precaution against forgery, McIntosh also had a facsimile of his signature randomly hand-stamped on the front of the full ticket across the perforation so that the ticket and stub could be matched-up if necessary in the case of a dispute. The multi-tasking McIntosh himself, acted as referee for the title bout. Historically important for collectors of both sporting and social history. List of known surviving tickets and stubs: Unreserved 10/- Ticket No.3738 Reserved £2 Ticket No.B250 Reserved £2 Stub No.A273 Reserved £3 Ticket No.A184 Reserved £3 Stub No.A184 Reserved £3 Ticket No.A192 Reserved £5 Ticket No.B40 Reserved £5 Stub No.B40 Condition:
- Very Fine
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