Lot 82
There are only 5 tickets and 3 stubs known to have survived from this historic match-up and this £5 'Reserved' ticket with matching stub is currently the only complete ticket in private hands. A must have item for collectors of both sporting and social history.
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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 title holder Burns who had been lured by Hugh McIntosh, a local entrepreneur, reputedly on the promise of a £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. The main 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.
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| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| A$0 | A$99 | A$10 |
| A$100 | A$999 | A$20 |
| A$1,000 | A$4,999 | A$50 |
| A$5,000 | A$9,999 | A$100 |
| A$10,000 + | A$250 |