By late Dec. 1893, Topeka’s sporting crowd was all abuzz over the coming glove match between their hometown boy, Frank Bradshaw, and Kansas City’s Jack O’Keefe. A glove match was the term used to differentiate from the brutal sport of bare knuckle fighting, generally identified as a prize fight.

To eliminate the brutalism and reduce the potential bodily harm, the rules of the London Prize Ring were revised in 1868. The rules required “fair-sized” gloves and mandated 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute rest in between. Even so, bare knuckle fighting continued to dominate for decades — longer across the west.

The fight was set for the evening of Jan. 1, 1894. The buildup began with O’Keefe’s official visit to Topeka to sign “articles of agreement” for the fight. According to the Dec. 10, 1893, edition of the Topeka Daily Capital, the match was to go 15 rounds with a purse of $500. A later report related that the fighters were to weigh in at 122 pounds.

Bradshaw was the featherweight sparring champion of Kansas. In an earlier fight at Kansas City on Sept. 7, Bradshaw and O’Keefe fought an exceedingly close fight, with the referee deciding the match in favor of O’Keefe, “very much a surprise to the spectators.” The Topeka fight promised to be an exciting contest.

The Capital reported that Bradshaw was putting in a number of hours each day “with good effect,” using the “apparatus” in the gymnasium of the Topeka Athletic Association. On a walk following his rub down, Bradshaw told the reporter that he “never felt better in his life.” This time there would be “no difficulty ... in defeating O’Keefe.”

Jack O’Keefe returned to Topeka on Dec. 28 and immediately began to work out with his trainer in the gymnasium. Jim Purtell was named O’Keefe’s second, tending to the fighter during the bout.

Bradshaw was training with John Madoulet, a well-known wrestler as well as an accomplished boxer in his own right. George Ridley was to be in Bradshaw’s corner as his second.

The event was to take place at Hamilton’s Hall, a concert and convention venue built by Dr. W. C. Hamilton at Quincy and Sixth Street, completed in time for the 16th annual Topeka High School commencement exercises on May 31, 1893. An official opening concert was held June 20. Hamilton Hall quickly became the preferred venue for a variety of social gatherings, including Athletic Association events.

Rumors were circulating throughout the ‘sporting’ crowd that the Bradshaw-O’Keefe contest was going to be a regular bare knuckle prize fight, even though the contest had been advertised as a glove match. That drew the attention of Sheriff Tom Wilkerson and Topeka Chief of Police H. C. Lindsey.

“I propose to be present with a squad of police and will be ready for business,” Chief Lindsey said.

“At the head of the stairs stood Kid Willson, a ‘sport’ from New Orleans ... looked (like) a typical speed ring jockey.”

Wilson announced that the match was only for points and for gate receipts alone. He assured the audience that if they had sense enough not to cheer, which seems hard to believe, there would be no interference from the police.

On stage sat 20 representatives of ‘the talent’ from Kansas City.

O’Keefe’s backers insisted the fight was to be decided by knockout to the tune of a $500 purse plus the gate receipts. James Whitfield, sporting editor of the Kansas City Star, and Clyde Johnson of the Leavenworth Times, joined them.

By the time the opening exhibition began between “Kid” Madoulet and Lee Carr, a small army of city and county police officers occupied the hall. The “touchy” exhibition did not meet expectations, being so painful to the audience that its end was greeted with loud sighs of relief.

At 9:49 p.m. the contestants for the main event shook hands and the contest began. Bradshaw’s nose was bloodied in the first round. Bradshaw was knocked out of the ring in the third round, but came back. O’Keefe continued to dominate in a surprising manner throughout the fight.

The referee imparted a certain level of entertainment to the spectators when in the fourth round, he fell down while trying to separate the fighters. In the eighth, O’Keefe slammed the referee in the face when he got in the way of a flying glove.

Bradshaw took a beating but rallied a little in the 11th and 12th rounds, although his blows lacked force. The 13th ended with Bradshaw displaying a swollen lip and bloody mouth.

There was so much confusion over the articles of agreement that O’Keefe announced to the audience at the beginning of the final round that he could not “afford to slug, as the agreement prohibits it.” To the dismay of the spectators, the referee announced a draw at the end of the fight, as despite O’Keefe’s announcement, the articles of agreement called for a knock-out.

For the spectators, there was little left to do but leave the hall “much disgusted.” The correspondent for the Topeka State Journal, in a final note, observed that even though it was not supposed to be, Mr. Bradshaw must have thought he had been in a prize fight from the beating that he took on The Way West.

“The Cowboy” Jim Gray can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, (785) 5312058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.