The Sweet Science on the Sandbar

An illegal boxing match finds a home in the middle of the Rio Grande.

February 21, 1896. Peter Maher takes on Bob Fitzsimmons in a heavyweight championship fight. US and Mexican officials had banned the match, so promoters–including the legendary Judge Roy Bean–held it on a sandbar in the Rio Grande River. The participants, their camps and attendees (including Bat Masterson) arrived in nearby Langtry, TX and then walked to the fight sight. The match itself was anti-climactic: Fitzsimmons knocked out Maher in the first round.